Created equal: how the bible broke with ancient political thought

In Created Equal, Joshua Berman engages the text of the Hebrew Bible from a novel perspective--as a document of social and political thought. He proposes that the Pentateuch can be read as the earliest prescription on record for theestablishment of an egalitarian polity. In Created Equal, Joshua Berman engages the text of the Hebrew Bible from a novel perspective, considering it as a document of social and political thought. He proposes that the Pentateuch can be read as the earliest prescription on record for the establishment of an egalitarian polity. What emerges is the blueprint for a society that would stand in stark contrast to the surrounding cultures of the ancient Near East -- Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, and the Hittite Empire - inwhich the hierarchical structure of the polity was centered on the figure of the king and his retinue. Berman shows that an egalitarian ideal is articulated in comprehensive fashion in the Pentateuch and is expressed in its theology,politics, economics, use of technologies of communication, and in itsnarrative literature. Throughout, he invokes parallels from the modern periodas heuristic devices to illuminate ancient developments. Thus, for example, the constitutional principles in the Book of Deuteronomy are examined in the light of those espoused by Montesquieu, and the rise of the novel in 18th-century England serves to illuminate the advent of new modes of storytelling in biblical narrative. List of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter One: Egalitarian Theology: The Commoner's Upgrade from King's Servantto Servant KingChapter Two: Egalitarian Politics: Constitution, Class, and the Book of DeuteronomyChapter Three: Egalitarianism and Assets: God the EconomistChapter Four: Egalitarian Technology: Alphabet, Text, and ClassChapter Five: Egalitarianism and the Evolution of Narrative: The Rescue of Moses (Exodus 2:1-10) and the Sargon Legend ComparedConclusion: Egalitarianisms Ancient and ModernNotesSelect BibliographyIndex of Scriptural ReferencesSubject Index For the gutsiness of his intellectual convictions and for playing a major role in bringing the harvest of biblical scholarship to a much broader audience, we are in Joshua Berman's debt.

• ISBN: 978-0-19-983240-8
• Editorial: Oxford University
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 264
• Fecha Publicación: 24/10/2011
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés