Is Judaism based on earlier religions?

[cyberjosh]

Apples and oranges.

...are tasty?

:p

In many respects, yes, I agree with you 100%. The best book I've read on this is Th. C. Vriezen, The Religion of Israel. What you said is precisely his thesis.

You should check it out one day. I think you'd like it. Josh too.

Cool. I'll check it out.


~Josh

 

[wavy]

You really should, Josh. I haven't written a full review for it, (most of the 'reviews' for books I've read are enshrined in my journal waiting to be profaned online after I touch them up) but I will soon and will post it up when I post my reviews for Alt, Noth, Matthews-Benjamin, Redford, and some others from a while back. The one reviewer already on amazon is right on, but doesn't go into much detail. A 5-star book and erudite, but little known.

But this quote from Vriezen essentially encapsulates the thread running through the book:

'Despite the many kinds of affinity with the religions all around, it is amply clear that Israel's religion is something altogether different from them.' (p. 71)


Finis,
Eric

 

[stovebolts]

Hey Eric,

I don't think it's disputable that the ANE had an influence on Israel and I don't think it's disputable that Egypt had an influence on Israel. Actually, we don't have to look any further than the texts within our canon to see this fact. However, I think that the story is different than the stories in the ANE or in Egypt in many ways.

Take for example Abram who was called out from the heart of ANE culture and YHVH tells him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abram doesn't bat an eye partially I believe because in the ANE, human sacrifice was not uncommon and I'm sure you already know this, so, from Abram's perspective why would YHVH expect any less than the gods of his former land?

The difference I believe, is that YHVH does not allow the sacrifice which was revolutionary in Abraham's day and the culture that surrounded him... and there are many other distinctions like this that buck the norm of the ANE.

So I think anyway, that yes, there are a lot of common threads between the stories of the Bible and the ANE, but the way they are handled (e.g. creation {1 - 2 Genesis}) were revolutionary in their day.

In many respects, yes, I agree with you 100%. The best book I've read on this is Th. C. Vriezen, The Religion of Israel. What you said is precisely his thesis.

You should check it out one day. I think you'd like it. Josh too.


Finis,
Eric

Thank you Eric, I'll see what I can do to retain a copy of it.