Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence

by Jon D. Levenson

Overview

This paperback edition brings to a wide audience one of the most innovative and meaningful models of God for this post-Auschwitz era. In a thought-provoking return to the original Hebrew conception of God, which questions accepted conceptions of divine omnipotence, Jon Levenson defines God's authorship of the world as a consequence of his victory in his struggle with evil. He traces a flexible conception of God to the earliest Hebrew sources, arguing, for example, that Genesis 1 does not describe the banishment of evil but the attempt to contain the menace of evil in the world, a struggle that continues today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691029504
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	12/19/1994
Series:	Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology , #566
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jon D. Levenson is Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Note on the Text (1994) xiii

Preface (1994) xv

Preface xxix

Part I THE MASTERY OF GOD AND THE VULNERABILITY OF ORDER

1. The Basic Idea of Israelite Religion? 3

2. The Survival of Chaos After the Victory of God 14

3. The Futurity and Presence of the Cosmogonic Victory 26

4. Conclusion: The Vitality of Evil and the Fragility of Creation 47

Part II THE ALTERNATION OF CHAOS AND ORDERGENESIS 1:1-2:3

5. Creation Without Opposition: Psalm 104 53

6. Creation in Seven Days 66

7. Cosmos and Microcosm 78

8. Rest and Re-Creation 100

9. Conclusion: Chaos Neutralized in Cult 121

Part III CREATION AND COVENANT: THE DYNAMICS OF LORDSHIP AND SUBMISSION

10. The Two Idioms of Biblical Monotheism 131

11. The Dialectic of Covenantal Theonomy 140

12. Argument and Obedience 149

Notes 157

Scripture Index 177

Author Index 181

Editorial Reviews

"A doctrine of creatio ex nihilo and a perception of creation as essentially a fait accompli ‘in the beginning' have stripped much of the drama from the views of creation found in the Hebrew Bible. Levenson seeks—with impressive success—to restore that drama. He provides, thereby, a reflective biblical foundation, based in solid philological and comparative study."—-Lee Humphreys, Hebrew Studies

"This masterful biblical and rabbinic study of creation and evil may challenge Christian proponents of creation theology and spirituality and adherents of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo."—-John C. Endres, S.J., Theological Studies

From the Publisher

This masterful biblical and rabbinic study of creation and evil may challenge Christian proponents of creation theology and spirituality and adherents of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.

Theological Studies - John C. Endres

A doctrine of creatio ex nihilo and a perception of creation as essentially a fait accompli 'in the beginning' have stripped much of the drama from the views of creation found in the Hebrew Bible. Levenson seeks—with impressive success—to restore that drama. He provides, thereby, a reflective biblical foundation, based in solid philological and comparative study.

Hebrew Studies - Lee Humphreys

This masterful biblical and rabbinic study of creation and evil may challenge Christian proponents of creation theology and spirituality and adherents of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.
— John C. Endres, S.J.

Theological Studies

A doctrine of creatio ex nihilo and a perception of creation as essentially a fait accompli 'in the beginning' have stripped much of the drama from the views of creation found in the Hebrew Bible. Levenson seeks—with impressive success—to restore that drama. He provides, thereby, a reflective biblical foundation, based in solid philological and comparative study.
— Lee Humphreys

Hebrew Studies