Beyond monotheism?: Some remarks and questions on conceptualising ‘monotheism’ in Biblical Studies
In the first part of this article I outline serious objections against the concept of monotheism. I will ask whether the ambiguity and the problem discredit the concept of monotheism as inappropriate for Biblical Studies, or whether it calls for differentiation. In the argument following thereupon,...
| Published in: | Verbum et ecclesia |
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| Subtitles: | J.H. le Roux Festschrift, sub-edited by Esias Meyer and Alphonso Groenewald |
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2013
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| In: |
Verbum et ecclesia
|
| Further subjects: | B
Polytheism
B Monotheisms B Monolatry |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In the first part of this article I outline serious objections against the concept of monotheism. I will ask whether the ambiguity and the problem discredit the concept of monotheism as inappropriate for Biblical Studies, or whether it calls for differentiation. In the argument following thereupon, the concept is found to be more useful to describe certain stages of the conceptual and linguistic development of Israelite religion. The term and concept of monotheism in Biblical Studies is necessary, but not sufficient, if we want to reconstruct the religious history of Israel, Judah, Yehûd and Early Judaism or Judaisms. In this article I propose categories such as implicit monotheism, intolerant monolatry, implicit exclusion, explicit uniqueness, monotheism as implication et cetera, which are especially useful if we want an accurate description of the statements. This makes the category of monotheism useful as heuristic and relational category. |
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| ISSN: | 2074-7705 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Verbum et ecclesia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4102/ve.v34i2.810 |