Peoples of an Almighty God
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Competing Religions in the Ancient World
Jonathan Goldstein
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Format: ClothPrice: $60.00
Jonathan A. Goldstein turns to the religious literature of these ancient peoples to discover how they reconciled their beliefs with the realities of history. In a magnificent blend of several academic disciples (literary criticism, political theory, biblical and classical history), he compares and contrasts the responses of different eras and nations – from the Israelites, Babylonians, and Egyptians to the Zoroastrians, Iranians, and Persians under Alexander the Great. Goldstein’s close readings of literature written following such devastating events as the fall of the Israelites to the Assyrians and the Babylonians demonstrate that theology, far from being a static and unchanging set of beliefs, evolves with the course of history. Revealing how each defeat helped to shape and define the religious beliefs of the conquered, Peoples of an Almighty God clearly demonstrates that no belief can remain unchanged or untouched by the beliefs of other people.
"An extraordinary work of scholarship, lucid, readable, profoundly insightful."– Chaim Potok
"For scholars of ancient Near Eastern civilizations, this work by Goldstein, author of I Maccabees and II Maccabees in the "Anchor Bible" commentaries series, offers a chronological textbook survey on history, culture, and the power of belief to craft a national identity. The organizing principle is that ancient Israel and Babylon each defined themselves as "peoples of an almighty god," where prophetic announcements (and subsequent failures) colored their historical and literary production. The rest of the book follows Near Eastern history and politics from roughly 733 B.C.E. (the reign of Ahaz) to the Maccabean revolts in 142 B.C.E. Here, Goldstein concludes that the Babylonians gave up hope owing to the god Marduk's long silence; the Jews, by contrast, see in this moment the fulfillment of Isaiah 10.27 and the end of the Age of Punishment. Replete with prophecy and apocalyptic politics, culture, and conquest, this latest entry in the "Anchor Bible Reference Library" series clearly excels at presenting broad, sweeping historical concepts. One must necessarily accept the designation of "peoples of an almighty god" to follow the arguments, but in so doing, one finds a lengthy, detailed discussion that is worth joining."— Sandra Collins, Library Journal
Publication Date: February 19, 2002
