The Evil Creator: Origins of an Early Christian Idea. By M. David Litwa
Many readers of the Scriptures, and particularly perhaps readers of the ‘Old Testament’ from a Christian tradition, sometimes find themselves struggling with the actions and words of God as portrayed therein, not least when compared with their notions of a good God of love. However, to actively desi...
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| Format: | Electronic Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2023
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 74, Issue: 1, Pages: 381-384 |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Many readers of the Scriptures, and particularly perhaps readers of the ‘Old Testament’ from a Christian tradition, sometimes find themselves struggling with the actions and words of God as portrayed therein, not least when compared with their notions of a good God of love. However, to actively designate that God as ‘evil’ might seem a step too far, although, as Litwa demonstrates in the conclusion to this book, there continue to be some who take that step. His goal is to argue that within a historically focused exploration of early Christian thought such a position cannot be relegated to a concessionary footnote, dismissed by the epithet ‘gnostic’ or ‘heretical’, terms whose value-laden denigration he rejects; instead, he argues that it was adopted by a variety of early Christian groups although usually attached to the identification of the God (if so labelled, something he questions in the case of Marcion) as creator. Litwa makes the case that this move was not the consequence of any disillusionment with the failure of Israel’s God to preserve her through the revolts of the first and second centuries, but that it had its roots above all in the interaction between contextual ideas and the hermeneutics of Scripture, not just the Jewish Scriptures but also those of the New Testament. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flac162 |