The Hebrew Prophets: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly First Presbyterian Church The poet Robert Frost, in one of his poems wrote that he had a lover’s quarrel with the world. In his 1942 poem “The Lesson for Today,” a long philosophical poem, we find this stanza: On my tombstone should be written, “I had a lover’s quarrel with the Bible.” It truly is a lover’s quarrel. I have been marinated in it since I was a child. I learned critical methods, even a dabbling in its original languages. I have argued with it, dismissed it, embraced it again, cursed those who misuse it, embarrassed myself in my misuse of it, and here I am again encouraging you to read it. Perhaps I want you to share my pain. The Bible won’t go away. I cannot seem to write it off. Its narrative continues to mess with my head and heart. I still want to trust that what it says is true—we matter, something bigger than us cares, and in the end we experience Resurrection and a shining city. Religious scholar Bart Ehrman, who teaches at the I think Professor Ehrman has a lover’s quarrel with the Bible, too. I resonate with what he wrote on page 17: It is important, then, to see what the Bible actually says, and not to pretend it doesn’t say something that happens to contradict one’s own particular point of view. But whatever the Bible says needs to be evaluated. This is not a matter of setting oneself up as God, dictating what is and what is not divine truth. It is a matter of using our intelligence to assess the merit of what the biblical authors say…(p. 17) That is true enough. Yet the Bible has power over us at that exact point. If we do “assess the merit of what the biblical authors say” we are breaking a taboo. It is that very assessment that is considered to be the slandering of the sacred. This taboo is not just for fundamentalists. Biblical scholars across the spectrum all have the desire to bring the Bible to their side. We really have a hard time finally saying, for example, “Yes, the Apostle Paul was probably homophobic, but we don’t have to be.” Folks who have no lover’s quarrel with the Bible have no difficulty saying that. The Bible is as foreign to them as tales of the Norse god, Odin. But for those of us who do trust the Bible as a sacred text, we have a problem. Can it be true if we have the freedom to assess its truth claims? Is it true if we conclude that some of it is not true? Ehrman believes that that question is the foundational question of the Bible. Ehrman writes that it is not only a foundational question for the Bible but for most if not all religions. It is an existential question with which we live. Why do we suffer? The reason we ask it is in order to then ask: How can we end suffering, or at least reduce it, or at even be at peace with it? I bring up Ehrman’s book because he begins with the prophets and how they answered that question. There are a number of different ways the biblical writers answered that question. The dominant answer, the classic answer, is that suffering is God’s punishment for disobedience. The prophets also assert that some suffering is caused by human beings who inflict pain on others. The prophet Amos accused the rich of selling the poor for a pair of shoes. Their suffering was the result of the greed of the rich. One explanation for human suffering is true enough: we bring it on others and ourselves by making selfish and cruel choices. Why do people suffer from grinding poverty, war, and sickness. Some of it can be explained by neglect, cruelty and ignorance. Those who see human suffering in that way, seek to eliminate it or alleviate it. There is suffering that we can do something about. This is why Amos, of all the prophets, resonates so much with those who work for social justice. The hope is we can do something about it, if we care enough to act. Amos, in that sense, is quite modern. That explanation doesn’t account for all suffering, though. It doesn’t account for natural disasters, birth defects, disease, pain in childbirth, and death itself. As much as we might enjoy blaming politicians and leaders for our suffering, we cannot concede to them that much power. The classic explanation for suffering from the Hebrew prophets was that suffering was inflicted upon them as punishment for disobedience to YHWH. The crisis was this: YHWH chose us and made a covenant with us. Why then are we in such misery? Why are we being overthrown by our adversaries? Why do we die from famine and drought? Why do mothers weep for their children and refuse to be comforted? Why doesn’t YHWH answer our cries for help? The answer from the prophets is that this suffering is not the result of indifferent weather patterns, nor is it the result of the Babylonian or Assyrian Empires’ quests for power. This suffering is YHWH’s way of communicating. You are suffering because you have disobeyed and you need to repent. When you do repent, YHWH will restore you. Job didn’t buy it. Job rejects the classic answer. Here is a righteous person who suffers. There are two answers in Job. The first is that suffering is none of his business. YHWH speaks to him finally from the whirlwind and gives no answer. The second answer from the prologue and epilogue that the reader knows, but the character Job does not, is that YHWH was playing games with him. YHWH made a bet with the Adversary regarding how much suffering could be inflicted upon poor old Job, before he would break his covenant with YHWH. Suffering in this case is a test. Although, one might legitimately ask, for what purpose? The answer from Ecclesiastes is “All is vanity and chasing after the wind.” The good suffer and wicked prosper, just the make the best of it. Ecclesiastes also resonates with our modern view on things. In the saga of Joseph, which Ehrman points out, is the same theme of the story of Jesus, God uses suffering for redemption. In this case suffering is not caused by God but used by God to achieve a greater good. The New Testament does not really provide any new answers. Although some have suggested that the incarnation shows that God suffers with us. So far we have suffering is unexplainable, suffering is caused by the cruelty of others, suffering is a test, suffering is a means to a greater good. The classic, dominant answer is that suffering is punishment. That is what we find, for the most part in the Torah and the Prophets. Here is the question: Is that true? Were the prophets correct? I am going to argue that they were not correct. As one biblical scholar, John Dominic Crossan put it: if the Hebrew people had been on their knees in prayer, day and night, and been perfect followers of YHWH, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians would have slaughtered them anyway. This is why I find the prophets very difficult to read. I resonate with Amos and the call for social justice. I do like the visions of hope and justice we find there. I call that prophetic message good. The message of punishment, that everything from drought to the defeat by enemies is God’s way of punishing, I cannot accept. I don’t think that theology is good or good for us. That prophetic message to me is bad. I have to have some special category for the almost pornographic language of the prophets as they graphically depict the violence of God on those whom God punishes. Not good, worse than bad, it is ugly. That is my quarrel with much of the Bible and the god who is portrayed there. I simply cannot accept a notion of God who punishes people either then or now because of their sin. Am I setting myself as smarter than God for saying that? Perhaps. Some would say that is exactly what I am doing. I do not think so. I think I am evaluating or assessing the merits of what the biblical authors wrote. Actually, in an odd way, I think it makes me a lover of the Bible and the people who wrote it. I want to understand it and them. Why did they say things the way they did? What was at stake for them? Understanding includes assessing. Because they saw god in a certain way then, does that mean we must see god in that way now? I may be wrong in my assessment. But I think that our personal growth is allowing ourselves the freedom to risk being wrong. We have the freedom, perhaps the responsibility to forge a way of thinking about God and our human plight in ways that move beyond ancient formulations. There is a great deal of suffering in the world. Much of it we can do little about except to be compassionate to others and to ourselves. Yet there is much suffering that we may be able to alleviate and in some cases prevent. I do think that how we think about God does matter in how we respond to the challenges of life. I will give up God’s power and righteousness for God’s compassion any day. TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And both that morning equally lay
John Shuck
April 27th, 2008
Selected
The Good: The time is surely coming, says the Lord, when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps, and treader of grapes the one who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people
The Bad: I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the Lord. I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will make the wicked stumble. I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth, says the Lord.
--Zephaniah 1:2-3
The Ugly: I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will let nations look on your nakedness and kingdoms on your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt, and make you a spectacle.
--Nahum 3:5-6
Today marks the end of our tour through the Hebrew prophets. In our journey through the Bible we have finished the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings), and the Latter Prophets, which is divided into the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel), and the Minor Prophets (Hosea through Malachi).
Next month we begin the Writings. We will read the poetic literature first, Job, Psalms, and Proverbs. Then for June, we will read The Five Scrolls: (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther). We will also read the Post-Exilic Writings: (Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles). And by the end of June we will have completed the Hebrew Scriptures which Christians call the Old Testament. We are reading them, however, in the order of the Hebrew tradition rather than the Christian tradition.
And were an epitaph to be my story
I'd have a short one ready for my own.
I would have written of me on my stone:
I had a lover's quarrel with the world.
I am not speaking about whether or not an event in the Bible happened or not, I am talking about the big ticket questions, such as, “If God loves us, why do we suffer?” This is the question Bart Ehrman addresses in his recent book.
Daring to assess the merits of the Bible may seem a road less traveled by in our culture. So, I will close with another poem by Robert Frost that reminds me of this congregation and why I am glad I am here:
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Hebrew Prophets: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Torah (Overview)
The Torah which can be translated as Instruction or Law is made up of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It was formed by various authors over centuries. See The Documentary Hypothesis Quick Guide. It tells the story from Creation to the death of Moses before the Hebrews arrive in the Promised Land.
The following guide is taken from an outstanding resource, Reading the Old Testament. Take some time with this website. You can look up general themes, get more specific, find charts, maps, timelines, study guides, glossaries, and artwork.
Here is a diagram of the timeline of formation of the Torah:
Prologue to the Torah
Introduction and Key Terms
Take the Quiz
Genesis 1-11 The Primeval Story
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
Chapters 1-7 Creation to the Flood
Chapters 8-11 Re-Creation to Abram
Genesis 1-11 as a Whole
Take the Quiz
Genesis 12-50 The Ancestral Story
Introduction and Key Terms
Chapters 11:27-25:11 Abraham Cycle
Story Line
Chapters 25:19-35:29 Jacob Cycle
Story Line
Chapters 37:1-50:26 Joseph Cycle
Story Line
Genesis as a Whole
Toledot of Genesis
Themes of Genesis
Outline of Genesis
Take the Quiz
Exodus Deliverance and Covenant
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
Chapters 1-18 Deliverance Traditions
Chapters 19-40 Sinai Covenant Traditions
Exodus as a Whole
Outline of Exodus
Take the Quiz
Leviticus and Numbers In the Wilderness
Introduction and Key Terms
Leviticus
Story Line
Holy Places
Holy People
Sacrifices
Holy Times
Priestly Worldview
Leviticus as a Whole
Outline of Leviticus
Numbers
Story Line
From Mount Sinai to Moab
1:1-10:10 Priestly Code Continued
10:11-22:1 The Journey Continues
22:2-36:13 Events in the Transjordan
Numbers as a Whole
Outline of Numbers
Take the Quiz (Leviticus and Numbers)
Deuteronomy The Torah of Moses
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
Words of Moses
6:4-9 Great Commandment
12;2-7 The Place YHWH Chooses
18:15-22 A Prophet Like Me
26:5-9 The Earliest Creed
30:15-20 Choose Life!
Torah and Covenant
Deuteronomy as a Whole
Themes
Authorship
Style and Structure
Deuteronomistic History
Take the Quiz
Here is the January quick guide for the Torah. Here is the quiz to turn in to win a prize! E-mail your quiz answers to johnashuck@embarqmail.com!
The Former Prophets (Overview)
The Former Prophets are the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. They are also known as the Deuteronomistic History because they follow the theological theme of the author of Deuteronomy.
They follow the history from the entrance into the Promised Land, late 13th century BCE, to the deportation to Babylon in 587 BCE. These works (along with the Book of Deuteronomy and some editorializing of Genesis through Numbers) were likely created in the 7th century BCE during the reign of Josiah (640-609 BCE) after the conquest of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) in 722 BCE.
History is not the best word to describe these works. They are commentary and theological interpretation of history. Former Prophets is more accurate as the authors make prophetic analysis regarding the history of Israel and Judah. That is they claim to speak for God.
The theological theme throughout the Former Prophets is that the people will be successful in the land if they worship only YHWH. If they worship and serve other gods, YHWH will either remove his presence from them or will actively support the other nations in order to punish YHWH's people.
The Former Prophets speak to the situation in Josiah's time and for Josiah. With the threat of Babylon on the horizon, the former prophets have one message, you will retain the land by fidelity to YHWH. Some scholars suggest that the Former Prophets were not completed until the Exile (587 - 539 BCE). In this setting, they speak to the people in exile that the promise that getting back the land will require fidelity to YHWH.
Michael Palmer provides an excellent overview in his article, The Former Prophets. Here is a brief outline of the writings with the aid of an excellent resource, Reading the Old Testament:
Joshua
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
Chapters 1-12 Campaigns of Conquest
Chapters 13-21 Tribal Territories
Chapters 22-24 Covenant Considerations
Outline of Joshua
Joshua as a Whole
Take the Quiz
Judges
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
What is a Judge?
Chapters 1-3 Narrative Introduction
Chapters 3-16 The Judges at Work
Outline of Judges
Judges as a Whole
Take the Quiz
Samuel
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
1 Sam. 1-12 Samuel Cycle
1 Sam. 13-31 Saul Cycle
2 Sam. 1-24 David Cycle
Outline of Samuel
Samuel as a Whole
Take the Quiz
Kings
Introduction and Key Terms
Story Line
1 Kings 1-11 Solomon and the Unified Monarchy
1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17 Parallel Histories of Israel and Judah
2 Kings 18-25 Judah to the Babylonian Exile
Outline of Kings
Kings as a Whole
Take the Quiz
Here is my quick guide to the Former Prophets and the quiz to complete and turn in for your prize! Send your quiz answers to johnashuck@embarqmail.com!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Conquest: A Sermon
Conquest
John Shuck
February 3rd, 2008
Fist Presbyterian Church
As the year 2000 was approaching, our village in upstate
She asked me if I could, to do so without a lot of references to the wars. She was looking for a nice, humorous history of the 20th century.
So I put a little thing together. It wasn’t exactly poetry. But it wasn’t prose either. I used images, slogans from popular culture, song titles, and personalities that I strung together in a quasi-narrative. My Tuesday morning Bible study was helpful. They were folks about my parents’ age and gave me personal memories regarding events long before I was born. The final product was well-received. I might share it with you sometime.
The point is that when I finished, I realized that I didn’t heed the organizer’s request too well. It was fairly humorous, as she hoped. Yet it is nearly impossible to talk about the 20th century without reference to war. The wars were turning points in our history. For example, an entire generation, folks my parents’ age, is defined by the experience of World War Two.
History almost by definition is a history of war, of conquering and of being conquered. Times of peace, in the overall scope of things, have been brief. Even in times of peace, we find under the surface, a struggle. Some may argue that history is a history of war because we have not found a way to tell stories of peace that are compelling. A story without conflict is not a story. Life is a struggle for survival. The history of our lives collectively and individually, is the story of our struggle.
The Bible is a story of war. As we read Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, we are reading
In the book of Genesis, Jacob, the son of Isaac, wrestles with YHWH. After his all night wrestling match, in which Jacob does not give up, YHWH gives him a new name,
The earliest stories of YHWH are war songs. The scholarly consensus is that one of the oldest pieces of literature in the Bible is found Judges 5. The story is told in narrative form in Judges 4. But in Judges 5 the story is told in the form of a song. You might think of this song being sung in the tent at night. This song would have been part of a repertoire of songs and tales that would be passed on through the generations. This song was finally captured in written form and placed alongside the narrative in the Book of Judges.
It is the son of Deborah and Barak. It is the victory over Sisera. After Sisera’s army is defeated, Sisera flees. He goes to the tent of Heber the Kenite. They had been allies. But the wife of Heber the Kenite, Jael, is on the side of the Hebrews. She gives Sisera hospitality, with a surprise at the end. Here is the song:
Joshua 5:
24‘Most blessed of women be Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25He asked water and she gave him milk,
she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.
26She put her hand to the tent-peg
and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet;
she struck Sisera a blow,
she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27He sank, he fell,
he lay still at her feet;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell dead.
I remember falling in love with Jael when my Introduction to Literature professor read that poem for us when I was a Freshman in college. Jael is a dangerous love, to be sure. You want to be on your guard when she is nicest to you.
That is poetry. That is the poetry of war. It is the praise of cunning. It is the praise of courage and nerve. The earliest songs human being sang about theirs gods were songs of war. YHWH before he was even a creator-god was a god of war. He rides across the sky on his chariot to do battle with Marduk and Baal.
Before the escape from
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to YHWH:
‘I will sing to YHWH, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
2YHWH is my strength and my might,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3YHWH is a warrior;
YHWH is his name.
YHWH is no philosophical first cause. There is no monotheism at this point in
The Song of Moses continues:
‘Who is like you, YHWH, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
Lest we think YHWH is simply an “Old Testament” god, we should hear the song of Mary, the mother of Jesus, again:
‘My soul magnifies YHWH,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
YHWH does change over time. He matures. He becomes wiser in his ways. YHWH broadens his vision. Brute strength is not enough to control his people although he isn’t bashful about using it when he thinks the need arises. YHWH ultimately has to figure out how to deal with the shortcomings of violence. YHWH finds other aspects of his personality.
YHWH discovers that he is deeply compassionate. YHWH has a soft spot for the underdog. If you are interested in looking at YHWH in this way, I recommend Jack Miles, God: A Biography, and the sequel, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God.
The songs we sing and the stories we tell about the gods are stories and songs about ourselves. The evolution of God is our evolution. But before we leave YHWH the warrior, the one who commands obedience, and in the book of Joshua, slaughter, we need to be honest. Have we really left him? My answer is, no we have not. It may be a long time before we do. We may never.
Reading the book of Joshua is about enough to turn most sensitive people into atheists. YHWH is difficult to stomach. But he will not go away. In our attempt to reject YHWH, the warrior, he comes back even more ferociously. In an effort to substitute a deity who is more gentle and mild in his place, we simply bury YHWH the warrior deeper into our unconscious awareness.
YHWH the warrior is very much alive whether we admit it or not. YHWH the warrior is not good to leave unattended in our unconscious. He does destructive things there. In saying 70 of the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is reported to have said:
"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
YHWH the warrior is within us. As westerners, whether we are believers in God or YHWH or Jesus or not, we have inherited them all. Denying their existence is only repressing them. They do not exist out there, but in here. As depth psychologists remind us, the gods are symbolic representations of our drives. They are as real as our secret delight in the misfortune of our enemies. They are as real as the desires and fantasies we admit to no one. YHWH the warrior is our shadow. What do we do with a shadow? We are to embrace it.
"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
I have to be careful here. I could be misinterpreted as suggesting that we need to embrace or glorify war and violence. No. I am talking about psychically embracing the warrior within.
Ghandi is reported to have said that he wanted no one in his non-violent army who wasn’t able and willing to kill. He didn’t want people who hadn’t embraced and known the warrior within themselves. He could do something with those people. One can only be truly non-violent when they are capable of violence, but then come to realize that non-violence is the better way.
We need the warrior. We need the warrior’s strength and courage. We need the warrior’s cunning. We need the warrior’s ability and willingness for self-sacrifice. We can call on that warrior to defend our children, the environment, and human dignity.
If we think of the various archetypes as tools in a toolbox that we can draw on when the occasion warrants, YHWH the warrior is a tool.
However, and this is a big however. We need other tools. As YHWH matured and evolved throughout
I think that our history of war, particularly in the West, is not because we have embraced YHWH the warrior. Just the opposite. YHWH the warrior has controlled us unconsciously.
YHWH the warrior, the one who commands destruction, is within us. Unless we consciously embrace the warrior, name it, and tame it, the warrior will act out in truly destructive and harmful ways. Each of us has the desire to obliterate our enemies. Unless we admit it, we are doomed to act on it. In psychology we call it passive-aggressiveness.
As we read the stories of Joshua through Kings, we are invited to enter them. They are the stories of our violence. We are invited to bring YHWH the warrior to consciousness and to bring the warrior in us to consciousness. Then, and only then, can we name this violence and tame it.
In Psalm 144:1 we read:
Blessed be YHWH, my rock,
who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;
Yes. But we must also embrace YHWH the compassionate. What does YHWH require? From Micah, chapter 6:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does YHWH require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Amen.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Is the Bible History or Fiction? Quick Guide
As we read the stories of the Hebrew scriptures we may wonder if are reading historical reportage of events or if we are reading stories of creative imagination. We may decide that somewhere between these poles the truth is found. Most of us would see the story of Adam and Eve in the garden as a myth rather than an event of history. What about the stories of Abraham, Moses, and David?
There is much debate on this theory among biblical scholars today for both the Hebrew scriptures and the Christian New Testament. The debate is called, somewhat inaccurately, the maximalist-minimalist debate. Maximalists generally affirm that the Bible is accurate historically and minimalists affirm that it is not and that it never intended to be read as such. Most scholars fall somewhere between these poles.
Archaeology and literary and rhetorical criticism have come of age in the past couple of decades to show that the Bible is a work of theology more than history. Archaeology has shown that there is very little evidence for the "events" recounted in the Bible. Literary and rhetorical criticism has helped us see these stories as works of art.
This may lead to the next question of realism. Is there something real and true about the theological claims in the Bible if we view them as imaginative creations? That is an important question. Do these stories in some way, tell us the truth about the human condition and about the nature of reality itself?
For example, is the character YHWH, more than a literary character, a projection of artistic imagination on one hand, and more than an actual being who acted this way in history on the other? Is their a reality to YHWH even if the stories about him are not real in the historical sense? This question will require of us who find the Bible as the normative text for the church to enter into these stories and let the Bible confront us even as we confront it.
Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, has spent a great deal of time thinking about these kinds of questions.
A helpful book is his Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination. He goes through the Hebrew Scriptures, book by book, with a fresh look at these texts.
For more discussion on the maximalist/minimalist debate, you might find these Essays on Minimalism helpful from the on-line magazine, The Bible and Interpretation.
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Documentary Hypothesis: Quick Guide
Julius Wellhausen is famous for the Documentary Hypothesis.
He changed the way we looked at the formation of the Torah. In his theory, there was an original epic, modified by a storyteller we call J. Four hundred years later, this epic is modified by another storyteller we call P. Of course, long before anything is written, these stories are told and retold in oral form.
- J gets her name by calling God, Yahweh. J's narrative was formed in the 10th century BCE
- E calls God, Elohim. E represents the Northern Kingdom's view of history after the Israelite monarchy split in 922. (J represents the Southern Kingdom's view and eventually J and E are combined).
- D stands for Deuteronomic history which accounts for the Book of Deuteronomy and the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings (7th century BCE).
- P gets his name because he is a priest. P's narrative is dated in the 6th century BCE.
Here is a clever diagram:
There are two separate creation accounts in Genesis.
Genesis 1:1-2:4a is a later account written by P in the 6th century during the Babylonian captivity.
Genesis 2:4b-4:16 is the earlier account written by J in the 10th century BCE. This tells the story of Adam, Eve, the garden, the serpent and so forth.
Since Wellhausen's time scholars have learned more about oral tradition. We don't think so much as individual authors sitting down and writing things. It is more accurate to these as strands of different traditions. Here is that same diagram with a bit more detail that includes the Deuteronomic history or former prophets:
Creation: Genesis and Eneuma Elish
The Enuma Elish is a Babylonian epic. Enuma Elish is translated as “When on high” and refers to its opening words. The clay tablets found in the 19th century CE date to no later than the 12th century BCE. The poem itself goes back much earlier, perhaps to 1700 BCE or even 2000 BCE.
For a helpful translation with a summary of each tablet go here. A more literal translation is here.
Fixing their astral likenesses as the stars of the Zodiac.
He determined the year and into sections he divided it;
He set up three constellations for each of the twelve months.
After defining the days of the year by means of heavenly figures,
He founded the station of the pole star [Nebiru] to determine their bounds,
That none might err or go astray.
Alongside it he set up the stations of Enlil and Ea.
Having opened up the gates on both sides,
He strengthened the locks to the left and the right. (10)
The Moon he caused to shine, entrusting the night to him.
He appointed him a creature of the night to signify the days,
And marked off every month, without cease, by means of his crown.
At the month's very start, rising over the land,
You shall have luminous horns to signify six days,
On the seventh day reaching a half-crown.
So shall the fifteen-day period be like one another-two halves for each month.
When the sun overtakes you at the base of heaven,
Diminish your crown and retrogress in light. (20)
At the time of disappearance approach the course of the sun,
And on the thirtieth you shall again stand in opposition to the sun.
I have appointed a sign, follow its path,
. . . approach and give judgement."
[Lines 25-44 are badly damaged and untranslatable. Apparently after Marduk created the moon he then created the sun (Shamash).]
After he had appointed the days to Shamash, (45)
And had established the precincts of night and day,
Taking the spittle of Tiamat
Marduk created . . .
He formed the clouds and filled them with water.
The raising of winds, the bringing of rain and cold, (50)
Making the mist smoke, piling up . . .
These he planned himself, took into his own hand.
Putting her head into position he formed thereon the mountains,
Opening the deep which was in flood,
He caused to flow from her eyes the Euphrates and
Stopping her nostrils he left . . . ,
He formed from her breasts the lofty mountains,
Therein he drilled springs for the wells to carry off the water.
Twisting her tail he bound it to Durmah,
. . . Apsu at his foot, (60)
. . . her crotch, she was fastened to the heavens,
Thus he covered the heavens and established the earth.
. . . in the midst of Tiamat he made flow,
. . . his net he completely let out,
So he created heaven and earth . . . ,
. . . their bounds . . . established.
When he had designed his rules and fashioned his ordinances,
He founded the shrines and handed them over to Ea.
The Tablet of Destinies which he had taken from Kingu he carried,
He brought it as the first gift of greeting, he gave it to Anu. (70)
Now compare to Genesis 1:14-19:
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
A much condensed version! Note the “demythologizing”. Shamash (the sun god) becomes shemesh (the sun). The moon god becomes the moon. Elohim seems to screw in the light bulbs so to speak.
When Marduk heard the words of the gods,
His heart prompted him to fashion artful works.
Opening his mouth, he addressed Ea
To impart the plan he had conceived in his heart:
"I will take blood and fashion bone.
I will establish a savage, ‘man’ shall be his name.
truly, savage-man I will create.
He shall be charged with the service of the gods
That they might be at ease!
The ways of the gods I will artfully alter. (10)
Though alike revered, into two groups they shall be divided."
Ea answered him, speaking a word to him,
Giving him another plan for the relief of the gods:
"Let but one of their brothers be handed over;
He alone shall perish that mankind may be fashioned.
Let the great gods be here in Assembly,
Let the guilty be handed over that they may endure."
Marduk summoned the great gods to Assembly;
Presiding graciously, he issued instructions.
To his utterance the gods pay heed.
The king addressed a word to the Anunnaki: (20)
"If your former statement was true,
Now declare the truth on oath by me!
Who was it that contrived the uprising,
And made Tiamat rebel, and joined battle?
Let him be handed over who contrived the uprising.
His guilt I will make him bear. You shall dwell in peace!"
The Igigi, the great gods, replied to him,
To Lugaldimmerankia, counselor of the gods, their lord:
"It was Kingu who contrived the uprising,
And made Tiamat rebel, and joined battle." (30)
They bound him, holding him before Ea.
They imposed on him his punishment and severed his blood vessels.
Out of his blood they fashioned mankind.
He imposed on him the service and let free the gods.
After Ea, the wise, had created mankind,
Had imposed upon them the service of the gods--
That work was beyond comprehension;
As artfully planned by Marduk, did Nudimmud create it--
Marduk, the king of the gods divided
All the great gods [Anunnaki] above and below. (40)
And from Genesis 1:26-28
26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
Ancient Cosmology: Quick Guide
Imagine if you had never been told that Earth is a globe that rotates and revolves around the sun. You would likely never figure that out. In fact, Copernicus, just over 500 years ago, through observations, showed the Sun as the center of the solar system, not Earth. Copernicus shattered what seemed to be common sense.
Just going by your common sense observations, what would you see? You would see Earth that is flat. You look up and see a big blue dome that stretches to the horizon. By day, a ball of fire moves across the dome. How does that happen? At night another lesser light moves through the dome. And what are all of those white dots at night? You can see them through the dome. They move in patterns. Who moves them? What are they?
syllabus for his Religion 103 class,
"The History and Literature of the Bible."
What holds up this dome? Probably the mountains at the edge. What holds up Earth? Perhaps pillars underneath. From where does the rain come? It appears like outside the dome is water and below Earth is water. On occasion, the spouts are opened and water flows down from the dome and up from Earth. What if it never stopped raining? The space between Earth and Dome would fill up with water. That would be scary. Everything would drown. What if you could build a tower tall enough to reach the dome? That would be awesome! You could reach the dome and talk to the gods. The ancients with variations saw their world--earth and heaven (sky-firmament-dome) in that way. Genesis 1 now makes sense:
6And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.The "waters" are the whole of existence itself. Elohim makes a living space holding back the waters above the dome from below Earth. In the earlier Babylonian myth, Enuma Elish, Marduk does the same thing Elohim does. Except in the Babylonian myth, it is even more "mythological" in that virtually everything is personified. Marduk defeats Tiamat (a personification of the watery chaos) and splits her carcass in two. Half of Tiamat's carcass becomes the dome and the other half Earth. The Babylonians and the Hebrews saw the same physical universe (the dome above and the earth below holding back waters) but they had a different mythology to explain its origins.
Obviously, Genesis 1 has nothing to say to us about the physical creation of the universe as we see it today. However, it can inform us theologically. For example, what is the difference between a god who violently creates Earth and Sky by defeating a chaotic monster versus a god who speaks and it is done and "it is good?"
Later in the Enuma Elish, Marduk creates humans. He creates them from the blood and bone of his enemy, Kingu. These humans are created to be slaves to the gods. What is the difference theologically between and understanding of humanity this a creation of violence enslaved to the forces of the universe and between an understanding of humanity that is the creation of a god who creates humanity in the image of god, and declares humanity good?
For more detail about this, here are some websites: Hebrew Astronomy, Biblical Cosmology, and Council for Secular Humanism. From the Biblical Cosmology website here are some wonderful quotes from Martin Luther who struggled with the Bible and the new cosmology of Copernicus who he calls "an upstart astrologer". I will close with these:
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483–1546) began the protestant reformations with his sincere attempts to interpret the exact meanings of Biblical scripture. Likewise, he made sincere attempts to grasp a Biblical understanding of astronomy.
- "Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were placed in the firmament of the heaven, below and above which heaven are the waters... It is likely that the stars are fastened to the firmament like globes of fire, to shed light at night... We Christians must be different from the philosophers in the way we think about the causes of things. And if some are beyond our comprehension like those before us concerning the waters above the heavens, we must believe them rather than wickedly deny them or presumptuously interpret them in conformity with our understanding." --Martin Luther.
- "...the whole firmament moves swiftly around, every moment thousands of leagues, which, doubtless, is done by some angel. `Tis wonderful so great a vault should go about in so short a time." --Martin Luther.
- "People gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon. Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new system, which of all systems is of course the very best. This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth." --Martin Luther.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
June Quiz (Five Scrolls and Post-Exilic Writings)
June Quiz on the Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther) and the Post-Exilic Writings (Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles):
1. Who said the following: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you”?
a. Ezra to the Levites, during the reading of the law
b. Haggai to Zerubbabel during the building of the second temple
c. Solomon to Hiram during the building of the first temple
d. Nehemiah to Sanballat during the building of the wall of
2. To what event does the book of Lamentations respond?
a. the death of Jonathan
b. the death of Josiah
c. the division of the kingdom
d. the destruction of
3. “By the rivers of
a. in the presence of our enemies.
b. Sing us one of the songs of
c. when we remembered
d. Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain?
4. Which of the following is NOT a quotation from the Song of Solomon?
a. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!”
b. “My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.”
c. “I am black and beautiful, O daughters of
d. “My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards.”
5. To what town do Naomi and Ruth return from
a. Timnah
b. Oboth
c.
d.
6. Which saying does NOT appear in the book of Ecclesiastes?
a. "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
b. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."
c. "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?"
d. "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting."
7. How does this statement conclude: "The race is not to