The Invention of God

by Thomas Römer, Raymond Geuss (Translator)

Overview

Who invented God? When, why, and where? Thomas Römer seeks to answer these questions about the deity of the great monotheisms—Yhwh, God, or Allah—by tracing Israelite beliefs and their context from the Bronze Age to the end of the Old Testament period in the third century BCE.

That we can address such enigmatic questions at all may come as a surprise. But as Römer makes clear, a wealth of evidence allows us to piece together a reliable account of the origins and evolution of the god of Israel. Römer draws on a long tradition of historical, philological, and exegetical work and on recent discoveries in archaeology and epigraphy to locate the origins of Yhwh in the early Iron Age, when he emerged somewhere in Edom or in the northwest of the Arabian peninsula as a god of the wilderness and of storms and war. He became the sole god of Israel and Jerusalem in fits and starts as other gods, including the mother goddess Asherah, were gradually sidelined. But it was not until a major catastrophe—the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah—that Israelites came to worship Yhwh as the one god of all, creator of heaven and earth, who nevertheless proclaimed a special relationship with Judaism.

A masterpiece of detective work and exposition by one of the world’s leading experts on the Hebrew Bible, The Invention of God casts a clear light on profoundly important questions that are too rarely asked, let alone answered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674915756
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	12/14/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	315
Sales rank:	824,131
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Thomas Römer is Professor of the Hebrew Bible at the Collège de France and Professor at the University of Lausanne.

Raymond Geuss is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. His books include Changing the Subject, Reality and Its Dreams, and Who Needs a World View?

Table of Contents

Cover Title Copyright Contents Translator’s Note System of Hebrew Transcription Introduction The Hebrew Bible: A Brief Introduction Terminology From the Origins of Israel to the Hellenistic Era From the Origins of Israel to the Hellenistic Era The Enigma of the Name of God Yhwh, Yhw, Yh Yahweh or Yahô/Yahu: How was the Name of the God of Israel Pronounced? What does the name Yahô/Yahû Mean? Chapter 2. The Geographic Origin of Yhwh Ugarit Between Egypt and Seir Biblical Evidence that Yhwh Came from the South The Theophany in Judges 5:4–5 in the Context of the Song of Deborah The Origins of Yhwh According to Judges 5 and Psalm 68 The Character of Yhwh According to these Texts Yhwh and Seth Chapter 3. Moses and the Midianites A Story about Moses Who were the Midianites? The Negative Texts Moses’ Arrival in Midian The Priest of Midian Who has Many Names The Cult of Yhwh Founded by a Midianite Priest The Midianite-Kenite Hypothesis Yhwh, Israel, and Edom The Meeting of Yhwh and Israel: Memory Traces The Name Israel The Stele of Merneptah The Identity of this Israel El Elyon (Genesis 14:18–22) El Shadday How was Yhwh Introduced into “Israel”? Yhwh in Shiloh Yhwh, the God of Saul and the God of David Yhwh and the Ark What was in the Ark of Yhwh? David and Jerusalem Yhwh at Jerusalem–Without a Temple? The Construction of the Temple by Solomon A Temple for Yhwh? Chapter 6. The Cult of Yhwh in Israel Yhwh, God of the Exodus Yhwh and Israel According to the Stele of Mesha Yhwh and Baal in Israel Representations of Yhwh in Israel Chapter 7. The Cult of Yhwh in Judah On the Diversity of Yahwist Sanctuaries in Judah Yhwh’s Rise in Jerusalem El and Yhwh in Jerusalem Solar Traits of Yhwh at Jerusalem The “Theology of Zion” Yhwh Enthroned Upon the Cherubim Yhwh Ṣěḇāʾôt Yhwh as King The Davidic King as Mediator of King Yhwh Yhwh Melek and Molek Yhwh and Death Chapter 8. The Statue of Yhwh in Judah Standing Stones: Vestiges of a Cult Without Images? The Representations of Yhwh Polemic against Idols The Throne of Yhwh The Face of Yhwh The Destruction of the Temple and the Departure of Yhwh Did the Statue of Yhwh Return to Jerusalem or Did it Disappear in the Persian Period? Chapter 9. Yhwh and His Asherah Asherah in the Hebrew Bible The Inscriptions of Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet El-Qom Representations of the Couple Yhwh and Asherah? Judean Female Figurines The Worship of Asherah According to the Biblical Texts The “Queen of Heaven” The End of the Kingdom of Israel The Situation in Judah After 722 and the Reign of King Hezekiah The Foreign Policy of Hezekiah The Reforms of Hezekiah The Worship of Yhwh in the Reign of Manasseh The Reign of Josiah The King Who Restored the Sanctuary and the Recovered Book Archaeological Evidence? Glyptic and Epigraphic Evidence Evidence from the Narrative of 2 Kings 23 The Question of Sacred Prostitution Reforming Kings A Historical Argument for the Existence of Josiah’s “Reform” Deuteronomy and the Reforms of Josiah “Yhwh is One” and Assyrian Treaties of Vassalship The Ideology of Centralization The Narrative of the Conquest and the Life of Moses The End of Josiah and of His Reforms From the Death of Josiah to the Destruction of Jerusalem Ideological Crisis and the Literature of Crisis The “Deuteronomistic History”: The Path Toward Monotheism The Monotheism of Deutero-Isaiah Is the Feminine to be Integrated into Monotheistic Discourse or Excluded? Monotheism and the Question of Evil The Monotheism of the Priestly Milieu Persian Influences on Biblical Monotheism Resistance to Monotheism A Monotheism before the Bible? The Genesis of the Torah and the Establishment of Judaism as a “Religion of the Book” Yhwh as Exclusive and Unitary, Invisible, Transcendent, and Universal God Conclusion Notes Index

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/11/2016
Römer (Writing the Bible) deftly weaves together evidence from the Bible with extra-biblical archeological finds that mention Israel and Yhwh to outline the development of monotheism. Focusing on Yhwh, Römer traces Israel's god from the war gods of the Midianites, Edomites, and other nearby groups. Covering roughly a thousand years of history, starting circa 1,300 BCE, Möller documents that the Hebrews began by worshipping multiple gods, including the female deity Asherah, described in at least one extra-biblical inscription as the Yhwh's consort. In the ninth and eighth centuries, "Ywhw definitively became the head of the pantheon." Not until Jerusalem's destruction in 587 BCE did Yhwh become the universal, monotheistic god untied to place or particular monarch, the god who was later adopted by Christians and Muslims. Römer writes with clarity and accuracy and tells a compelling story. This book is a masterful work, tying together an enormous amount of information in a concise format. The level of detail may be daunting for the layperson, but scholars and interested readers will not be disappointed with this fine synopsis. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Römer is interested in the emergence of a deity whose nature is now so familiar that its startling originality no longer startles.

Maclean’s - Brian Bethune

[An] excellent book…A masterly work of historical detection that looks at the evolution of Jewish faith from the Bronze Age to the Hellenic period. This is a superb work of scholarship.

The Church of England Newspaper - Paul Richardson

Römer is a sure-footed guide to what is often a difficult discussion. A learned and elegant book.

Nathan MacDonald

There is nothing quite like this book in English. The Invention of God traces the history of the God of Israel from the late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period, charting the rise of Yhwh as the sole God. The period covered is vast, the thesis is provocative and stimulating, and the scholarship is cutting-edge.

Timothy Lim

Römer, a distinguished scholar rather than an ideologue, seeks to determine exactly what is historical and exactly what is not in the depiction of God. This is a brilliant book.

Times Higher Education - Robert A. Segal

Römer presents a scholarly and provocative account of how a minor tribal deity likely grew to become—or revealed himself to be—Lord of Creation.

Philadelphia Inquirer - David O’Reilly

It reads very well, is well translated and has a bit of the excitement of discovery for engaged readers.

John C. Endres and Jean-François Racine

Römer is the first to have brought all the relevant material together in such an accessible form, setting out both literary and archaeological evidence clearly and readably.

Church Times - John Barton

Römer presents a scholarly and provocative account of how a minor tribal deity likely grew to become—or revealed himself to be—Lord of Creation.

Philadelphia Inquirer - David O’Reilly

It reads very well, is well translated and has a bit of the excitement of discovery for engaged readers.

America - John C. Endres and Jean-François Racine