The Monotheism of the Deuteronomistic History

The Hebrew Bible is often characterized as a monotheistic book, but a closer inspection reveals that monotheistic passages represent only a thin and late layer: There are only six passages in the Deuteronomistic history that contain monotheistic vocabulary. They are late additions that belong to the latest editorial phases of the composition. They were probably added to the composition in the 5th century BCE or later. This means that the final shift to monotheistic conceptions, as far as the Deuteronomistic History is concerned, occurred in the Persian period. The monotheism of the Deuteronomistic History is “nationalistic.” Although other gods are assumed to be non-existent, the other nations are not invited to join the Israelites in their worship of Yahweh. This also reveals the preliminary stage of the monotheism. It is improbable that there is a planned religious system behind the monotheistic passages of the Deuteronomistic History. The authors are convinced that there is no other deity but Yahweh, but all the consequences of this view have not yet been drawn. The authors assume that Yahweh has already created humankind as well as the whole world. This idea is not found in the older texts. It is probable that the monotheistic authors are dependent on a later form of the Pentateuch, which already includes a creation story. The idea that Yahweh lived in heaven, whence he spoke to the Israelites, is also late. It is the end of the development caused by the destruction of Yahweh's physical representation in the temple where he lived: Yahweh moved to heaven. Differences between the monotheism of the Deuteronomistic History and Deutero-Isaiah are evident. Deutero-Isaiah is more open to the possibility that other nations worship Yahweh. Deutero-Isaiah also makes a connection between idol criticism and monotheism, whereas in the Deuteronomistic History these themes are found in different texts. Idol criticism seems to be older than monotheism. The differences between the monotheism of the Deuteronomistic History and Deutero-Isaiah suggest that none of them is dependent on the other. Although some mutual interaction and influence should not be excluded, they seem to be two distinct developments that took place in different contexts. While external influence is also possible, it seems that many roots of the monotheism of the Deuteronomistic History can be found in the older conceptions of Israel's religion and especially in the Deuteronomistic theology, which is a product of the events in 587 BCE. It is probable that without the destruction of the temple Israel's religion would not have developed monotheistic conceptions. In view of the literary development in the Deuteronomistic History, any pre-587 BCE dating of monotheistic conceptions or phraseology is improbable.     

The apostles in the new world: Monotheism and idolatry between revelation and fetishism

After the discovery of America the image of the native as being naturally monotheistic became widespread in the humanistic milieu, but this image was soon to disappear: the Council of Trent decreed that since Americans had no knowledge of the Gospel, they were dominated by the devil. The paradoxical character of such attitude, that attributed the sin of infidelity to peoples who were involuntarily ignorant, gave rise to the hypothesis that the Gospel had been preached in America by one of the Apostles (either Thomas, Bartholomew or Matthew). As proof of this on the one hand was produced the belief in one God and, on the other, the similarities with the Christian faith — including the worship of the cross — which existed among many American peoples. Even if later disbelieved, the apostolic myth was instrumental in keeping alive the image of Indians as being fundamentally monotheistic and in posing the problem regarding the origin of their religious similarities with Christianity. In the 17th century the latter found a diffusionistic type explanation but also stimulated the resort to the theory of original Revelation (perfected in the 18th century by Lafitau) as well as, in a different way, to the interpretation of the worship of the cross as being an aspect of the fetichism typical of uncouth minds (according to the theory of original polytheism that was perfected by De Brosses). At the same time as Christian symbols were being reduced to the status of superstitions, the idea of a fundamentally monotheistic nature of the American peoples — having been shed in the meantime of the elements of the apostolic myth by the Inca Garcilaso — became part, thanks to Herbert of Cherbury, of the deistic doctrine which considered original monotheism no longer as the result of Revelation but (like that of the Humanists) as having exclusively natural origins.     

Waging War on the Dead: The Necropolitics of Sufi Shrine Destruction in Mali

The destruction of Sufi heritage in Timbuktu used and abused heritage to assert sovereignty, terrorize the living, and repudiate materiality. Archeologists have not analyzed how necropolitics relates to the desecration of the dead and the torture of the living in Mali, where “bodies” are becoming prime stages for radical performances of sovereignty, ideology, and materiality. To understand how Sufi shrines are becoming prime ideological battlegrounds, we must consider the affective presence and emotive materiality of the dead “bodies” and “spirits” of the saints being “slayed,” and acknowledge the relationship between the disturbance of the dead and postcolonial violence on the living.     

Knowledge Management Approach to Performance: a United Arab Emirates Experience

Knowledge management is gaining prominence in academia and practice. The need for organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to empower themselves through knowledge management cannot be ignored. Yet, not much empirical evidence on the subject can be found in the literature. This study investigates the effect of the following factors: organizational culture, organizational infrastructure, technical infrastructure, management support, reward and vision clarity on organizational performance in terms of efficiency, customer satisfaction, decision‐making, quality of work, and financial benefits. A questionnaire was used to collect data from general managers, functional managers, IT managers and chief knowledge officers from a variety of business companies from private and public sector drawn from Dubai Financial Market website. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results show that all investigated knowledge management dimensions are implemented in UAE organizations subject of this study. They are also significantly correlated with performance improvement except reward.     

More than Paradoxes to Offer: Feminist History as Critical Practice

Book reviewed in this article:
Only Paradoxes to Offer: French Feminists and the Rights of Man By Joan Wallach Scott     

Curious Paradoxes: James Anthony Froude's View of the Bible

James Anthony Froude disapproved of the apologetic methods used by English Protestants in defending Christianity because he felt they did not answer the real questions. Nevertheless, he was disquieted by the rise of religious infidelity during the nineteenth century. Froude believed that heterodox clergymen deserved a hearing, but he also believed they had to be answered. He feared that simply using legal means to silence the doubters would strengthen infidel opinion, and drive young inquirers toward Rome or atheism. At a minimum, Froude himself wanted to believe the gospel history. While he could not believe much that was said in its defence, he was unhappy with much that was said against it. Froude suggested that the synoptic gospels might have been based on an early, authentic biography of Christ. He preferred this solution to assuming that the early church had been motivated by “passion or fraud or cowardice” in creating a fiction.     

Maritime Cultural Landscape: A New Approach to the Cascais Coastline

Portuguese Archaeology only recently began to address the concept of maritime cultural landscape. In this article we intend to analyze the impact that this kind of approach has upon the study of a littoral characterized by a cliffed coast and a seafloor that is morphologically complicated by the estuary influences of the Atlantic Ocean and the Tagus River. The coast of Cascais, located near Lisbon, is the space that we wish to address with this epistemological paradigm. A large spectrum of sites composed of fortresses, lighthouses, harbors, anchorages, and shipwrecks permits a longue durée examination. The relationships and networks between humans and archaeological remains, directly and indirectly linked to the nautical past, are observed diachronically with a focus on the early Modern Period.