Twilight of the Gods: Polytheism in the Hebrew BibleWestminster John Knox Press, 1 ian. 2005 - 108 pagini Since the middle of the twentieth century, one of biblical scholarship's chief assumptions has been that ancient Israel evolved out of the polytheism of surrounding cultures into an ethical monotheism. However, this consensus has fallen apart in recent years. Scholars now know that early Israel was surrounded by a very polytheistic culture and that many Israelites thought of Yahweh as the chief God among many gods. Furthermore, archaeology has shown that Yahweh was worshiped along with other gods throughout the period after the exile, when many shrines were in honor of "Yahweh and his Asherah." David Penchansky's Twilight of the Gods is the first accessible book that shows a historical Israel where polytheism and monotheism existed simultaneously in great conflict. He provides a historical introduction, followed by close readings of key Old Testament passages, where he demonstrates how to interpret difficult biblical texts that depict other gods or claim Yahweh is the only God within this new understanding of Israelite religion. |
Din interiorul cărții
Rezultatele 1 - 5 din 16
... never quite resolved the " god ques- tion , " so they oscillated from one extreme position to another . Therefore , upon the surface of strict monotheism that is the Hebrew Bible , one occasionally sees faint stirrings of another ...
... never really intended to receive such a grisly sacrifice , but was only testing the limits of Abraham's devotion . But there is no doubt that Abraham was ready and willing to do the deed . Contrariwise , we know that Mesha completed the ...
... never abates entirely , in this case he chooses not to take a boy's life . In other passages , the slavering God is alive and well . When provoked , Yahweh destroyed the entire earth with a flood , saving a single family , and had to ...
... never permit such a story into his work . 5 Long describes this process : " How powerful , widespread , and persistent has been the covert impulse to remove ideological embarrass- ment when faced with a text which can challenge dominant ...
... never experience emotions in the Hebrew Bible ( 1993 , 11 , citing Kaufmann ) . Rather , the word for " wrath , " when used in contexts such as this , means the wrath of Yahweh . There are in fact some good reasons to imagine Yahweh ...
Cuprins
3 | |
Miqreh Happenstance in Ancient Israel | 13 |
Benê Elōbîm The Divine Council | 23 |
The Dissolution of the Divine Council | 33 |
AntiIdol Polemic An Attack on the Gods of Israel | 41 |
The Goddesses of Ancient Israel | 49 |
Lady Zion The Beautiful Goddess | 67 |
Asherah and Archaeology | 75 |
Conclusion | 91 |
Index of Scripture | 101 |