Replies

First of all, throwing the label “polytheism” is just name-calling and intellectually shallow. To Jews and Muslims, faiths with strict monotheism, the Christian Trinity is polytheistic.

Thus the term is relative with no fixed definition.

Secondly, if we’re polytheistic so is the Bible since it clearly describes the existence of entities called gods who are ruled by Eloheim or YHWH. This is why scholars describe the earliest Hebrew thought as using the Divine Council model.

The evidences that the Divine Council is authentic early biblical thought is so overwhelming that most legitimate religious scholars freely admit it. Here’s a representative sample. None of these sources are LDS btw.

The Anchor Bible Dictionary. (6 Volumes). Editor-in-Chief: David Noel Freedman. (Doubleday, New York). Copyright © 1992 by Doubleday. 1:249-252; 835; 2:214-217; 3:238,302; 4:43,922,1004-1010; 5:986; 6:129,156-157,510-511;
The Triumph of Elohim. From Yahwisms to Judaisms. Ed. Diana Vikander Edelman. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan). © 1995 Kok Pharos Publishing House, Kampen, the Netherlands. This edition published 1996 through special arrangement with Kok Pharos by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp.28 f.2, 30-31,36-38,40-43,60-63,65,71,80,91;
The Early History of God. Yahweh and Other Deities in Ancient Israel. Mark S. Smith. (Harper and Row Publishers, San Francisco). Copyright © 1990 Mark S. Smith. pp. 9-10,26,101,114 e#138,165;
The New Interpreter’s Bible. (In 12 Volumes). (Abingdon Press, Nashville). Vol 1 © 1994. Vol 4 © 1996. Both by Abingdon Press. 1:272-274; 4:347,792,1006-1007,1035, 1093;
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary. In three parts. (Inter-Varsity Press. Tyndale House Publishers. Hodder and Stoughton. Sydney and Auckland). © The Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, 1980. p. 1474;
The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Including the Apocrypha, with General Articles. Ed. Charles M. Layman. (Abingdon Press, Nashville.) Copyright © 1971 by Abingdon Press. 14th Printing, 1992. pp. 285,263,279;
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. (15 Volumes). Editors: G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren & Heinz Josef Fabry. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan). Copyrights © 1974-1997 by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1:254,258,282; 5:519-520;
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. (10 Volumes). Eds: Gerhard Kittle & Gerhard Friedrich. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan). Copyright © 1964-1976 by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 8:347-349;
The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed. J. Achtemeier. (Harper, San Francisco). Copyright © 1985,1996 by The Society of Biblical Literature. pp. 276,1054;
The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Edited by Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer and Roland E. Murphy. Two volumes in one. (Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey). © 1968 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2:20 (1); 6:74 (8); 16:17 (8); 22:9 (A); 35:26 (6), 46 (1), 74 (Pref-2), 98 (Pref-2,6-7);
Dictionary of the Bible. Ed. James Hastings. Rev. Edition by Frederick C. Grant and H. H. Rowley. (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York). Copyright © 1963 T&T Clark and Charles Scribner’s Sons. pp. 32,134,334;
A History of God. The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Karen Armstrong. (Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1994). Copyright © 1993 by Karen Armstrong. pp. 50-51;
Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. Gen. Ed. Watson E. Mills. (Mercer University Press. Macon, Georgia). Copyright © 1990 Mercer University Press, Macon, Georgia. Second and Corrected Printing, July 1991. pp. 176-177, 581,845;
New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. Gen. Ed. William A. VanGemeren. (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan). Copyright © 1997 by William A. VanGemeren. 1:375-376;
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. (12 Volumes) With the NIV. Gen. Ed. Frank E. Gæbelein. The Zondervan NIV Bible Library. 2.5.1. (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan). Copyright © 1989-1997 The Zondervan Corporation. Job. Intro 8; 1:6-12,20; 34:1; Ps 82:1;
Dictionary of the Bible. John L. MacKenzie. S.J. (Collier Books, MacMillan Publishing Company, New York). Copyright © 1965 by MacMillan Publishing Company. pp. 30, 316, 830;
A New Standard Bible Dictionary. Edited by Melancthon W. Jacobus, Elbert C. Lane & Andrew C. Zenos. (Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York). Third Revised Edition. Copyright 1936 by Funk & Wagnalls Company. pp. 46-47;
The Religious Background of the Bible. J. N. Schofield. (Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, London: 1944). p. 181;
The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Rev. Ed. Allen C. Myers. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan). Copyright © 1987 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 55;
The New Layman’s Bible Commentary. In One Volume. Ed: G. C. D. Howley; F. F. Bruce & H. L. Ellison. (Regency Reference Library. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Copyright © 1979 by Pickering & Inglis LTD, Glasgow Scotland under the title Bible Commentary for Today. pp. 308, 618, 659;
The New Bible Dictionary. Organizing Editor: J.D. Douglas. (William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Grand Rapids, Michigan). © The Inter-Varsity Fellowship, 1962. p. 1206;
Judaism and Christian Beginnings. Samuel Sandmel (Oxford University Press, New York: 1978). Copyright © 1978 by Samuel Sandmel. pp. 169, 171, 173.

You’re welcome.