Polytheism

==Terminology==
The term comes from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] πολύ ''poly'' ("many") and θεός ''theos'' ("god") and was coined by the Jewish writer [[Philo of Alexandria]] to argue with the Greeks. When Christianity spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, non-Christians were just called [[Gentiles]] (a term originally used by Jews to refer to non-Jews) or [[Paganism|pagan]]s (locals) or by the clearly pejorative term idolaters (worshippers of "false" gods). In modern times, the term polytheism was first revived in French by [[Jean Bodin]] in 1580, followed by [[Samuel Purchas]]'s usage in English in 1614.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Inconceivable Polytheism: Studies in Religious Historiography |last= Schmidt|first= Francis |year=1987 |publisher= Gordon & Breach Science Publishers |location=New York |isbn= 978-3718603671 |page=10}}</ref>