In her first public lecture at Hartford Seminary on Feb. 8, 2018, Professor Deena Grant spoke on the topic of “Genesis, Creation and the Rhetoric of Biblical Monotheism.” The event also served as a formal welcome to Professor Grant, who began teaching in Fall 2017.

In her talk, Professor Grant outlined the argument for monotheism in the Hebrew Bible and pointed out that it wasn’t always successful. Many people in Israel worshiped more than one God, she said.

Her lecture examined how the Hebrew Bible used and modified Ancient Near Eastern myths to persuade people to worship the God of Israel alone. She cited the Enuma Elish and the Baal Cycle, which have linguistic connections to each other and to the Hebrew Bible.

The full lecture can be viewed here: