One reason for which an author might choose to use seemingly paradoxical language in their works is that paradoxes often have a dramatic air. Because they seem to be impossible by definition, invoking them focuses a reader's interest. It also can heighten dramatic effect by creating a conflict - something that is impossible is apparently the case.
While writers of fiction can of course describe paradoxes and say that they exist, they can also create paradoxical effects without creating actual paradoxes. Saying that someone is both ungodly and god-like creates a seeming paradox, but it is actually not paradoxical at all. In addition, saying someone is a 'god-like man' is not paradoxical, because it makes no claim that the man in question is literally a god - he simply resembles a god. Even if it did claim that he was a god, it might not be using the literal meaning of is, but rather the 'is' of metaphor: 'Richard is a lion.'
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