Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Heard, Christopher" <Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu>]

On Mar 4, 2005, at 9:12 AM, Peter Kirk wrote:
> > ...  It was a quite
> > syncretistic religion. ...
>
> What religion? Possibly the religion of some Edomites or whoever lived 
> in Sinai at the time. Perhaps even of some apostate Israelites. But 
> not the religion of the Israelites which is taught in the Hebrew 
> Bible.

For what it's worth, it's becoming increasingly clear (and should have 
been pretty obvious all along, from the prophets) that the religion 
"taught" in the Bible--that is, endorsed by the biblical writers and 
their heroes (e.g., the prophets, Josiah, etc.)--was a minority 
position throughout much of Israelite history.

--
R. Christopher Heard
Assistant Professor of Religion
Armstrong Fellow in Religion
Pepperdine University
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90263-4352

http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/cheard
http://www.iTankah.org