Deuteronomy 6:4 and the Trinity: How Can Jews and Christians Both Embrace the "Echad" of the Shema? (original) (raw)
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Mapping Monotheism: Modes of Monotheistic Rhetoric in the Hebrew Bible
Several biblical traditions give expression to Yhwh's sole divinity in ways utterly unlike the "classic" expressions of monotheism in Deuteronomy, Deutero-Isaiah, or Jeremiah. Priestly literature, for example, does not deny explicitly the existence of other gods, or assert Yhwh's sole existence. Instead, priestly writers portray a world in which none but Yhwh could meaningfully exist or act. While some biblical scholars have recognized this "implicit" mode of monotheistic rhetoric, the implications of this and other modes of monotheistic rhetoric for a broader understanding of biblical monotheism have gone unappreciated. In this article, I create a taxonomy of various "explicit" and "implicit" modes of monotheizing in the Hebrew Bible. Then, I consider several implications of these diverse modes for understanding the variegated shape of biblical monotheism, and for using the Hebrew Bible to reconstruct monotheism's history.
HEBREW SYNCHRETISM DURING THE PATRIARCHAL ERA: A STUDY CHALLENGING THE ABRAHAM AUTHORSHIP OF MONOTHEISM, 2019
It is an article of faith among the world's three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islamism, that the idea of monotheism originated from Abraham, the ancient Hebrew patriarch; that is why all of them are collectively designated as the Abrahamic religions. By comparing the name of Yahweh, announced to Moses, with some epithets applied to the deity in the patriarchal era, the author questions the assumption that monotheism was known by the patriarchs. His final conclusion is that the patriarchal concept of deity was more similar to that of the Canaanite religion than to the elevated monotheistic idea of Moses.
Is the Shema's 'one' (Hebrew 'echad'), one or more?
One God, the Father, 2013
My biblical linguistic examination of Deut 6:4’s Hebrew word 'echad', aims to confirm that no other semantic value is possible than as a cardinal number counting ‘one’. Not a "compound unity" nor meaning "alone". This will support Jewish monotheism's sense of the singleness of God, as ‘one Yahweh’ (OT) or ‘one Lord’ (NT), that Jesus said is to be heard as (part of) “the first and greatest commandment” (Matt 22:37-38; Mark 12:28-30). Connects in continuity with a Christological monotheism where Jesus' God is his Father. (Cf. One of my two chapters on the Shema, in 'One God, the Father' - Lulu 2013) Although I use the opportunity to draw on the complementary contribution of ‘alone’ applied to Yahweh, I rebut the assertion of ‘alone’ as a rendering or theorised replacement for >echad instead of 'one'. I apply the same method to counter the Trinitarian claim that the Shema’s >echad is about ‘compound unity’: ‘more-than-one-as-one’. In fact, I maintain that ‘compound unity’ is simply special pleading rather like attempts to find “Vestigia Trinitatis” in the OT. A name is a determinate thing, so to qualify God’s name ‘Yahweh’, itself unique, by ‘one’, must emphasise for hearing (Shema) its focal universality in His purpose (cf. Psa 83:18 [19]; Jer 31:34; Ezek 39:7).
Traces of the Trinity in the Old Testament: From Individual Texts to the Nature of Revelation
International Journal of Systematic Theology, 2017
This article uncovers traces of the Trinity in the Old Testament. Different from traditional exegesis, it is argued that alleged allusions to God's plurality in specific texts, and examples of personified agents such as the Angel of the Lord, are less important and often inconclusive. The nature of Old Testament 'monotheism', however, supports trinitarian logic, and important traces of the Trinity are demonstrated in in-depth structures of Old Testament theology: the anthropomorphic character of revelation, the second commandment, God's name as narrative self-identification and the tendency of God's coming to his people.
This paper aims to determine whether strict monotheism began in Ancient Israel or in neighboring cultures in the period described within the books of the Tanakh. I conclude that strict monotheism began after the period of the Babylonian exile; however, there are possible precursors to this development sparsed throughout Israelite history that have ties with the Israelites' neighbors. By examining various passages from the Hebrew Bible, books on the history of the Tanakh and the Near East, as well as historical and archeological studies published on the subject and investigations conducted in the area, I aim to establish the definition of strict monotheism in the eyes of the people who lived in the Near East at the time and determine whether it differs from the definition of monotheism that we have today. I will question the time at which monotheism became the staple of Israelite religion and observe the possible external influences that could have facilitated the process of the establishment of the One God. In order to do this, I will look at two of the biggest events in Israelite history: The Exodus and the Babylonian exile and the possible connections they may have with the monotheistic religion of Israel. From my analysis, I will conclude that though the development of monotheism as a centerpiece of Israelite religion does have similarities with the phenomenon in other regions in the Near East, it is most likely to have been formed in the shape it is today after the exile in Babylon due to the consolidation and reclamation of faith in Yahweh.