Accidental gods and our desire to deify

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Discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, 1844 Exhibition of Painting, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1844. Photo by Shutterstock.

Jonathan Bastian talks with Anna Della Subin, author of “Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine,” about the myths and history surrounding human deities and what makes us believe in divinity in human form. Later, Professor Charles Stang, director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, explains how 2nd and 3rd century Christians of the Common Era believed that each person had a divine counterpart or twin. Although these ideas were later dismissed as heretical, they persist in writing and literature today. 

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Credits

Producer:

Andrea Brody