the singularity of being and nothingness
Archive for July, 2006
More Correlations Between the Hebrew Scriptures and Ancient Near-Eastern Literature
Jul 20th
Continuing in my research concerning the parallels between Hebrew and other ancient Near Eastern writing, I would like to share some additional interesting correlations in some of the texts. In the following, I have quoted, at length, the various texts under considerations. At the end of each section is a concluding discussion about similarities. I would point the reader in the direction of these if they do not wish to read the cited texts at length.
The Birth of Moses and The Sargon Legend:
The Birth of Moses
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw More >
The Influence of Ancient Egyptian Literature upon the Biblical Story of Joseph
Jul 10th
In my continuing study of the similarities between the Hebrew Scriptures and contemporaneous (and, in this case, pre-dating) ancient Near Eastern literature, I came across these two Egyptian tales. They are significant in length. However, take a few minutes to read them, and keep the biblical account of Joseph in mind… The Tale of Sinuhe I was a henchman who followed his lord, a servant of the Royal harim attending on the hereditary princess, the highly-praised Royal Consort of Sesostris in the pyramid-town of Khnem-esut, the Royal Daughter of Amenemmes in the Pyramid-town of Ka-nofru, even Nofru, the revered. In year 30, third month of Inundation, day 7, the god attained his horizon, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepebre. He flew to heaven and was united with the sun’s disk; the flesh of the god was merged in him, who made him. Then was the Residence hushed; hearts were filled with mourning; the Great Portals were closed; the courtiers crouched head on lap; the people grieved. Now His Majesty had despatched an army to the land of the Temhi, and his eldest son was the captain thereof, the good god Sesostris. Even now he was returning, having carried More >
Reconstructing Justification by Faith
Jul 6th
In my previous post, I engaged the seminal texts which provide the backbone for the Prostestant conception of justification by faith, deconstructing the false notion that the works of the law to which Paul frequently referred are equivalent with action, unconditionally. Furthermore, I outlined how Pauls discussion of the works of the law is utilized as a polemic against the Judaizers of Pauls day who believed that justification was exclusivistically attained through identification with Jewish cultural and religious identification. Against these assertions, Paul argues that justification is not based upon becoming a Jew, but is rather located in identification with Christ through faith. As I have advocated, Paul does not, in his polemic against works of the law, mean to advocate that what one does (action) is immaterial to justification. Quite to the contrary, we will see that Paul understands act and attitude to be inseparably linked to one another and indelibly necessary to justification.
In Romans 3, Paul has completed his tour de force against the Judaizers, definitively eschewing the belief that justification with God is found through the Jewish system. To illustrate the alternative which he proposes (justification by faith), Paul conjures the example of Abraham:
1 What More >
