Bible's Polytheistic Origins

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The Hebrew Bible is often cited as the source of the world's monotheistic religions. But the Hebrew Bible itself was rooted in a polytheistic world, and it only gradually shed that worldview over the centuries of its composition. In this course we will explore the polytheistic world that gave rise to the Hebrew Bible, the polytheistic elements of the Bible that have survived, and how these texts and ideas were reinterpreted in light of the rise of monotheism.