Customer Reviews

The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you have read Smith's "Early History of God" and been intrigued by his conception of the development of our notion of God during the Biblical period, "The Origins Of Monotheism" delivers a significantly more detailed analysis of the ancient Bronze Age texts from Ugarit and their influence on the culture of ancient Palestine in general, and Biblical texts in particular. Mr. Smith examines conceptions of the divine family and council of the gods, more general notions of ancient aspects of divinity, and the roles of various divinity. Especially insightful is his critique of James Frazier's category of "dying and rising" gods in the Near East. In his analysis of Isaiah, he gives considerable background into Mesopotamian views on the divinity of statues of gods, whithout prejudice. There is a lot more than I can list here in this book, but if you're interested in how the idea of one, all-powerful god came about, this is really essential reading.

Mark Smith has arranged his materials such that his critiques are easy to follow with the aid of a tanach [I don't have an Ugaritic text]. Thought provoking and thorough. Smith tells you the relative probabilities of different critical hypothesis' & it is apparent when he is positing his own opinions.

I especially like the way Smith's approach opens up tanach as a text with a context familiar to contemporaneous West Asians.

This is not a quick read. The citations in the manuscript as well as the footnotes are worth following up if possible.

It is especially helpful if one knows hebrew language. The hebrew letters are transliterated into a roman alphabet which means you've got to retranslate from the roman letters into the hebrew letters in order to realize the shoreshim [roots of the word meanings]...a minor irritant.

I highly recommend this book for those with an interest in tanach in particular or West Asian religions in general.

This is an excellently documented book, written by a true scholar. All assertions are documented, and when the author makes an assertion, any contrary evidence is disclosed as well.

This book examines the the Ugaritic pantheon and how it relates to pre-exilic Hebrew religion.

Smith documents an emerging trend in Biblical Studies in a clear, concise and readable fashion. His notes and bibliography are also invaluable to anyone seriously interested in either Assyriology or the emergence of Biblical monotheism.

Ignore the intellectual dishonesty of the apologist reviewers, this is a solid work of scholarship.

This is an impressive piece of scholarship to contribute to the study of the emergence of monotheism. What sets Smith apart is a sociological study on how Israel developed from a henotheistic society to monotheism during the period just prior to the exile. What I appreciate about Smith is that he defines his terms very carefully. He shows how scholars in the past have had different definitions of monotheism, and he strives for precision. What is a little confusing about his work is that some of it is very speculative. The vestiges of (orthodox) henotheistic belief in ancient Israel are very sparse (Ps 82, Deut 32:8, 9 LXX and DSS). And Israelite religion did not be come monotheistic for all Israelites everywhere at the same time. As he says, the prophets record the existence of polytheistic and ditheistic Israelite worship by their critique of it. Another thing I appreciate about it is the annotation. THis book is 200 pages of text and 100 pages of footnotes. If you are looking to dive into a topic (such as, YHWH and his asherah), this is a great place to start because he talks about it briefly, then cites about 20-30 source on the topic. The footnote are a goldmine. What is annoying about this book is the lack of editing and the print. First the print is not necessarily Smith's fault, but it is very poor. I would think Oxford University Press could do better, but maybe this is their way of punishing people for not buying their expensive hardbacks. The other problem is the editing. SMith's theory about Ps 82 and Deut 32 come up about 4 times in the book. There are grammatical mistakes and paragraphs that just go on....and on....and on. This book needs some serious editing. All in all it's a good work. I don't necessarily agree with all his theories, but I learn a lot from his work, and what fun is it if you agree with everything you read?

A fascinating look into the origins of monotheism from it's polytheistic roots. There is no better book that I know of that explains the Ugaritic texts and what they mean for biblical scholarship. Emergent Israelite religion represents a movement from the Canaanite traditions from with it came, and so one will not find it odd when similar stories gods and poetry can be seen. Highly recommended.

My daughter ordered this and was quite pleased with her purchase. The item is as described and pictured. The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic background and Ugaritic Texts gave her the information that she wanted.

It's a disturbing trend that qualified scholars who are clearly not UNintelligent are playing leapfrog with sources, to produce an impression that is unsupported by genuine source material.

Unfortunately, this book is typical of many similar to its type - i.e., source material is not dated, assumptions proliferate, conclusions are drawn between one point and another as though the points' existence proved their relationship, and so on.

I hesitate to recommend this work even to those writing theses on the subject of early polytheism, as it's difficult to sort out what text actually says what and in what context, let alone supplying information on chronological reliability of sources, their dates, and so on.

One's conclusions are in large part determined by one's pre-commitments. Most academic research these days involves working within a restricted paradigm that excludes much of what can be called human experience - origin of consciousness, teleological questions, and so forth. This is usually labelled "scientific methodology" - a term designed to give it an air of legitimacy. Of course, when one operates within a purely physical framework, guided by natural processes, one cannot seek an explanation of the Yahweh cult but through some socio-cultural development model.

My main field of interest is mathematics and theoretical physics - I am presently working on a theory of quantum gravity in which I hope to overcome the problems of non-linearity that plague other such theories (Yahweh willing, of course). However, I remember years ago when I was involved in biblical studies and reading the great leaps of logic and absurd conjectures that biblical scholars would make and pass off as virtual fact. I can't help but shake my head in amusement and disbelief as I ponder their incapacity to differentiate fact and hard proof from speculation. Perhaps every biblical scholar would do well to spend part of their undergrad training in physics and chemistry.

As an academic myself, I am well aware of the strategical advantage it is to one's career to support an atheistic worldview. I suspect many biblical scholars and scientists have more personal faith than they are willing to reveal in their publications but are inhibited out of fear of recrimination and mocking from their colleagues. Such is the nature of the human soul, I suppose. Nevertheless, I am reminded of the words in Rev. 21:8.

- blessings