Israel's Beneficent Dead: Ancestor Cult and Necromancy in Ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition

1999 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Theodore J. Lewis ◽  
Brian B. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Israelite Religion ◽  
Ancestor Cult

Syria-Palestine

2020 ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Adrian Curtis
Keyword(s):  
Special Interest ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
The Other ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Israelite Religion ◽  
Religious Significance ◽  
Ras Shamra

Knowledge of the religion of ancient Syria has increased significantly in recent years thanks to key archaeological discoveries. Particularly important have been those from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), which may offer the best window available for an understanding of Canaanite religious beliefs and practices. Excavations have revealed structures of religious significance, such as temples, sanctuaries, and tombs, as well as numerous texts. Of special interest are those mythological texts which tell the exploits of Baal, El, and the other great gods. There are also legends, sacrifice lists, pantheon lists, and prescriptions for various rituals. Some of these, notably the legends of Keret, and of Danel and his son Aqhat, provide evidence for beliefs about the religious status and significance of the king. This material enables a more considered understanding of ideas and practices that may have impacted upon Israelite religion.

Ritual Objects and Artifacts

2020 ◽  
pp. 206-222
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Bonfiglio
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Material Objects ◽  
Israelite Religion ◽  
Material Form

This chapter surveys material objects in the Old Testament associated with worship and ritual activities, including the ark, altars, wash basins, tables, lampstands, and items deemed to be illicit (idols, sacred poles, pillars, and the bronze serpent). Special emphasis is given to the material form of these objects as well as how they function in ritual processes, activate sensory experience, and/or make available the presence and power of the deity. Attention is also given to the theological systems that undergird the material dimensions of Israelite religion, including aniconism, Deuteronomistic cult reforms, and the construction and operation of the tabernacle and temple.

scholarly journals Beyond Divine Command Theory: Moral realism in the Hebrew Bible

2009 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco W. Gericke
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Moral Realism ◽  
Moral Epistemology ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Divine Command ◽  
Divine Command Theory ◽  
Israelite Religion ◽  
False Dichotomy ◽  
Euthyphro Dilemma

Philosophical approaches to ancient Israelite religion are rare, as is metaethical reflection on the Hebrew Bible. Nevertheless, many biblical scholars and philosophers of religion tend to take it for granted that the biblical metaethical assumptions about the relation between divinity and morality involve a pre-philosophical version of Divine Command Theory by default. In this paper the author challenges the popular consensus with several arguments demonstrating the presence of moral realism in the text. It is furthermore suggested that the popular consensus came about as a result of prima facie assessments informed by anachronistic metatheistic assumptions about what the Hebrew Bible assumed to be essential in the deity–morality relation. The study concludes with the observation that in the texts where Divine Command Theory is absent from the underlying moral epistemology the Euthyphro Dilemma disappears as a false dichotomy.

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