Fallen Angels

HDS 2507 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course surveys Jewish and Christian traditions about fallen angels beginning with the oldest attested articulations in relation to the Flood, especially in Enochic and related traditions, and tracing late antique and medieval reinterpretations within and between Judaism and Christianity, from the Epistle of Jude to Sefer Hekhalot. Readings will include selections from apocryphal, biblical, magical, mystical, Patristic, and Rabbinic corpora, and key themes will include the origins of sin, aetiology of magic and civilization, the enduring impact of non-canonical writings, and the shared ideas of an antediluvian past among different religious groups in Late Antiquity. Although the class will focus on premodern Judaism and Christianity, students will have opportunities to explore later trajectories and transformations, from Islamic angelology to Japanese anime.