IV The effect of the prophetic movement v Norms in the community of the Law. 7.15, etc., the physical imagery of the face still plays some role in the thought of atonement, confrontation, or shame.
THE COSMIC POWERS OF GOD
On the communication of the soul with the laying on of hands by the rabbis, cf. In such circumstances, speaking of God's spirit is more an expression of speculative thought than of true religious experience.
THE COSMIC POWERS OF GOD (continued)
THE WISDOM OF GOD
- WISDOM AS THE PRINCIPLE OF COSMIC ORDER, AND .4S HYPOSTASIS
The teleology of creation in the sense of the Old Testament can therefore be sharply distinguished from philosophical manipulation. The corpse of the monster Tiamat serves as material for the construction of the world.
THE PLACE OF MAN IN THE CREATION
THE PECULIAR VALUE OF MAN AS COMPARED WITH OTHER CREATURES
But the explanations they give of the essential reason for this privileged position differ. Man is separated from other creatures, because only in his case does he speak of the direct transmission of the divine breath. The value of the relationship between the sexes thus set is markedly different from the evaluation of a woman, which she generally receives in.
4 The dogma of the Roman Catholic Church as determined by the Council of Trent. This predominance of individualistic reference in the concept is most pronounced when it is used instead of the t/ze personal or reflexive pronoun. Nevertheless, it is still clear that the Hebrew mind, when it used the term nepeS, was far from conceiving of the soul in terms of the spiritual alter ego of the physical person.
Finally, this also applies to the highest psychic expression attributed to NepeS; the longing for God. The vital force connoted by nepeS has no independent numinous character, but is the gift of the Creator to the creature. Instead, they always represent the person's entire life from a particular point of view.
THE MAINTENANCE OF THE WORLD
It hardly goes too far to describe this Old Testament view of the maintenance of the world as n-e& continua.4. In the latter, the deity's attitude towards the world is always unpredictable and capricious. It is worth noting that the very miracles of the days of Moses, Elijah and Isaiah are followed.
The decisive factor in any assessment of the wonderful elements in the so-called primary history of the General. But it was especially in the stories of the Patriarchs that the Israelite storytellers loved to offer their people illustrations of divine Providence. This concept remains faithful to the fundamental view of the prophets, enriching it from the experience of centuries.
6 On sin and evil in the individual's life and the special formation which these gave the attitude of faith cf. The whole ethical exhortation of the prophets is based on the conviction that the decision is placed in the hands of men. In human life, however, they saw its function more in equipping the individual to live a life that was pleasing to God.
THE CELESTIAL WORLD
In fact, neither Elijah nor any of the later prophets dispute such a popular notion. 4 This reconstruction does not take into account Israel's participation in the ideas of the old world. They reappear only in the epigones of the prophetic movement, and then in later Judaism they very quickly gain importance.
A very similar role was played in Israelite popular belief by the concept of the angels of the nations. They remember the seven princes around the throne of the great king Persiaga-in Dan. 10 In the Apocalypse of the Beast in Enoch, there are seventy shepherds who are under Michael's control.
One of the most important sources of information about the cherubim is the descriptions in Ezek. However, it is not possible to say more on this point from the passage just quoted. On the role of Satan as the Angel of Darkness in the writings of the Qumran community cf.
THE UNDERWORLD
SHEOL
- THE GRAVE AND SURVIVAL IN THE GRAVE
14 the refusal of honorable burial (vv. rgf.) results in the dishonoring of the tyrant in the underworld (v. II). The survival of the dead person thus depends to some extent on the fate of his corpse. This concern to be united with the fathers and the other members of the family clearly stems from the belief that the dead somehow still survive in the grave.
What survives is therefore not apart from the living man, but a shadow image of the whole man. But we have no right whatever to infer the pollution proclaimed in the Law from a special sanctity attached to the worship of the dead in ancient Israel. Obviously there can be no question of ancestor worship here, for it is impossible to imagine how the memorial could replace the worship of the dead.
Many speculations have been made on the subject of the name Azazel, without arriving at any generally accepted result. 1 On the importance of the rziuh-concept for the idea of Yahweh's all-encompassing power cf. Therefore, even this line of development in the understanding of faith in the Old Testament points beyond itself to the era of the New Testament.
GOD AND MAN
In this situation, only a neutral assurance of the closeness of the redemptive covenant to God could lead to freedom and to that religious confidence capable of overcoming the world, which had been characteristic of the prophetic period.
THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COMMUNITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT GOD-MAN
RELATIONSHIP
THE SPECIAL STAMP GIVEN TO SOLIDARITY THINKING IN THE MONARCHICAL PERIOD
In the seventh century, this new definition of the relationship between the individual and the community proved to be the salvation of the mission entrusted to Israel. Decisive in this respect is the fact that everything is seen throughout in terms of the person. 22 and the Talmudic tradition, that the rise of the synagogue in Babylonia belongs to this period.
This bond, however, was surprisingly loosened in the case of one influential part of the community, namely the representatives of the doctrine of wisdom. The veneration of the tombs of the scribes continued until modern times in Tiberias and Safed. Instead, there is an organically articulated unity with a gradual system of rank in which the decisions of the individual are incorporated into the overarching order of the community.1.
Pharisaism indeed protected the spiritual heritage of the community by defending every attack on God's law. But she could not show people a way out of the internal tension that dominated the life of the community. The same is true of the post-exilic community with its somewhat highly fragmented and strong individuality.
THE FUNDAMENTAL FORMS OF MAN’S PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
It is true that this close association of the fear of God with the Law has its dangers. This is why one can do no more than give a very sketchy description of the concept of the fear of God. To this extent it clearly points the way to the justifying faith of the New Testament.
The reason why Jeremiah in his own use of the word leans more towards. In his explanation of the concept he also rejects any connection with the marital relationship. 4But in the people of the age of redemption, a new spirit of devotion will infuse every individual, without exception.
In this connection, it is very significant that the summary of the Decalogue in Rep. However, this view of Israel's relationship with God was completely invalidated by the execution of judgment in the dissolution of the nation and the state. Similarly in the case of Gentile proselytes, whose acceptance into the community was commanded by the prophetic Torah of Jesus.
THE EFFECT OF PIETY ON CONDUCT (Old Testament morality)
The picture drawn so far presupposes a struggle for a deeper understanding of the ethical norms. Hence also the fraternal and peaceful attitude of the nations united in the future kingdom of God. The king must find his calling in the unselfish mastery of God's law.
I have succeeded in formulating the universality of the kingdom of God in the very cultic terminology of the priesthood in a way that cannot be surpassed. Uncertainty about the multitude of demands obviously results in a search for one area in which all the strength of the personality can be devoted. 4. 4 This is particularly clear in the early form of the hope for peace: cf.
5 The translation of this idea from the life of the nation to the life of the individual was not yet completed. This provides the link to the universality of moral norms in which the unity of moral obligation is so clearly expressed in the prophetic writings. It is this attitude of the devout that the Old Testament describes as the 'fear of God'.1.
SIN AND FORGIVENESS
Thus, even in the early period of Israel's history, we see a surprisingly sure grasp of the development of sin in man, indicating a high level. The importance of this increased prominence of the divine 'I' and of his personal relationship with people. Instead, individual actions, as violations of the divine will, point to a perverted direction of the human will.
Hence the sharp contrasts that contrast the denial of Yahweh in the falsity of the cult with the moral confession of serving this God. Thus Judaism never recognized a servum arbitrium and on this point refused to be a disciple of the prophets. Closely related is y&P, which emphasizes the honesty of the heart moving straight toward its goal.
Therefore, already in the earlier psalms it is possible for people to expect retribution that is proportional to the righteousness and purity of hands of the worshipper. Here, too, it is no longer possible to draw a line between the community of the relatively righteous, which separates itself from the rest of the world by the covenant law, and the sinners. On this point %is lead would later be followed by the redactor of the entire Pentateuch.
