The Israelite Religion - Theology assignment (from grad studies)

Question 6. When I was in Israel, a woman sat next to me at the Tel Aviv airport. “We are a special people” she remarked in a serious tone. “Yes,” I replied without hesitation. It was not too long into our conversation that she realized I was not a Jew. I hope she knows that I was sincere when I agreed with her that hot summer day. This paper will reflect on these “special people” as the Israelite religion is examined within the socio-religious terms of monotheism, henotheism and polytheism. These socio-religious terms shall first be defined. Monotheism may be defined as only one God existing. Henotheism is the belief in on God without denying the existence of others, and Polytheism is the belief in more than one god or in many gods (Bright, 145). The focus of the Israelite’s religion has been the intense relationship that existed between God and people. Yahweh (Jehovah or the Lord) had chosen Israel with special favour and Israel committed herself to God as God’s people Bright. pp144 & 148). Yahweh came to Israel in Egypt as a God who called his people from nothingness into a new future and hope (Bright. p 157). Yahweh was thought of as being surrounded by a heavenly host or assembly of his angels or holy ones (Bright. p 158). These patriarchal deities survived only in identification with Yahweh and not as rival or subordinate gods (Bright. p 159). In Ps. 82, the gods of the nations are depicted as members of this assembly who for misconduct were degraded to the status of mortals (Bright, p 158). The notion of a heavenly court was shared by Israel and her pagan neighbours. Though there was a repeated temptation by the Israeli people to accord these beings worship, this was censored. The heavenly court plays a larger role in later rather than in earlier periods (Bright, 158). The ancient religions were all developed polytheisms whose high gods were accorded cosmic domain. Tendencies toward a monotheistic were abroad. In one case, the Aten cult was a religion bordering on monotheism. There is impressive evidence regarding the faith of Israel between the twelfth and tenth centuries B.C.E., which traces back to the desert and to Moses, the great founder of Israel (Bright. p 147). That Israel brought the worship of Yahweh with her from the desert seems certain because no trace of it can be found in Palestine prior to her arrival. Israel’s notion of God was unique in the ancient world. Israel’s religion did not consist in certain religious ideas or ethical principles. Her religion rested in the memory of historical experience as interpreted by faith, and responded to in faith. She believed that her God had by his mighty acts rescued her from Egypt and in covenant had made her his people. There is no period of Israel’s history when she did not believe she was a chosen people of God (Bright, p 148). The covenant was a bond in the gracious favour of the divine Overlord in rescuing his people from bondage and giving them their land. It obligated the people in perpetual gratitude to serve him alone and to live in obedience under threat of his extreme displeasure. This concept of covenant is different than those found in the patriarchal narratives. There, the covenant consists in unconditional promises for the future where the obligation was only trust (ibid, p 155). Israel’s faith never changed character (Bright. p 157). From the beginning, Israel did not worship a local natural deity, but a high God of cosmic domain. Israel’s faith from the beginning forbade the worship of any god but Yahweh. This expression is classically expressed in the First Commandment which is thoroughly consonant with the nature of the covenant; the vassal may have but one Overload. One must keep in mind though, that the Israelites did repeatedly worship other gods, as the Old Testament makes clear, but this was not excused or condoned. Israel developed no myth, “the sea is no Chaos monster, Yam or Tiamat, but only the sea…”Ex. 115:1-18. The gods of Egypt are not even deemed worthy of mention (Bright, p 158). In sharp contrast to the pagan religions, in which the image of the god represented his visible presence, representations of the deity were strictly forbidden in accordance with the Second Commandment (Bright, p 160). One can debate if providing Israel’s early faith, the designation of monotheism is appropriate since there is no early literature to explicitly deny the existence of other gods. There are passages where the existence of other gods, seem to be naively assumed such as in Ex. 18:11. However, these are quite as common in later periods when Israel was undoubtedly monotheistic. Certainly Israel’s faith was no polytheism. Henotheism, however, is not a sufficient description of the faith of early Israel because it would be difficult to explain why a religion by comparison so primitive should have been the one to achieve unexampled heights (Bright, p 145). Nor will henotheism do because though the existence of other gods was not expressly denied; neither were their status of gods tolerated. Because of these difficulties many scholars seek some compromise of the word monotheism, such as incipient, implicit and practical (Bright, p 159). I will keep it simple and call it monotheism because to Israel only one God was God (Bright, p 160).