The Curse of Monotheism

In the latest fascicle of the Heythrop Journal Nathan MacDonald has published a response to Patrick Madigan's attempts to deal with monotheism's supposed disreputable psychological origins. MacDonald argues that Madigan's characterization of the origins of Israelite monotheism are flawed and reflect a sense of monotheism's problems which are not justified by the historical evidence.

Publication details: ‘Response to Patrick Madigan, “The Curse of Monotheism”’, Heythrop Journal 51 (2010), pp. 1075-1077.

The Date of Deuteronomy

In the latest fascicle of ZAW Nathan MacDonald has published a response to Juha Pakkala's argument that the earliest version of the book of Deuteronomy, the Urdeuteronomium, is to be dated to the post-exilic period. MacDonald's article examines the ten reasons that Pakkala puts forward and finds each of them wanting. He concludes that the case for a post-exilic date must be judged not proven.

Publication details: ‘Issues in the Dating of Deuteronomy: A Response to Juha Pakkala’, Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 122 (2010), pp. 431–435.

DAAD Successes

We are very pleased to announce that in the academic year 2011-2012, the research team in Göttingen will be joined by two holders of fellowships from the DAAD.

Matthew Lynch is a doctoral student at Emory University where he is the final stages of writing a dissertation on monotheism in the book of Chronicles. He has already published essays in Biblica, JSOT and CBQ. He will come to Göttingen with a DAAD doctoral fellowship.

Jennifer Barbour completed her doctorate in Oxford University on Qoheleth, shortly to be published by OUP. She has most recently been Kennicott Fellow in Hebrew at Oxford and College Fellow at Harvard University. She will come to Göttingen with a DAAD post-doctoral fellowship.

Congratulations to both on this splendid achievement.

Divine Presence and Absence in the Persian Period

The first colloquium of the research group will take place on 12-15 May 2011. The subject of the colloquium is notions of divine presence and absence in the Persian period.

The papers are as follows:

Tempel, Kultbild, Priester – Überlegungen zu den Voraussetzungen für göttliche Präsenz im Alten Orient und zu den Gefahren ihrer Beeinträchtigung (Claus Ambos, Heidelberg University)

Silent Witness: The Symbolic Presence of God in the Temple Vessels in Ezra-Nehemiah (Bob Becking, Utrecht University)

Zur Präsenztheologie des Alltags: Göttliche Gegenwart für jeden und für jede (Angelika Berlejung, Leipzig University)

The Anticipated Rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple as Reflected in the Elohistic Psalter and its Background in Mesopotamian Hymn Tradition (Joel Burnett, Baylor University)

God’s Real Absence and Real Presence in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomism (Stephen Cook, Virginia Theological Seminary)

The Torah of God as God: The Exaltation of the Written Law Code in Ezra-Nehemiah (Lisbeth S. Fried, University of Michigan)

Complicating Presence: Inter-disciplinary Perspectives on a Theological Question (Trevor Hart, St Andrews University)

The Spirit of YHWH: An Overlooked Conceptualization of Divine Presence in the Persian Period (Nathan MacDonald, Göttingen University/ St Andrews University)

Multiple Imaging as Literary Aniconism in the Prophets (Jill Middlemas, Zurich University)

Multiplicity and Monotheism (Ben Sommer, Jewish Theological Seminary)

Waiting for God: Conditions for the Restoration of the Divine Presence in Ezekiel (Bill Tooman, University of St Andrews)

Nathan MacDonald receives David Noel Freedman Award

Nathan MacDonald was named as the first recipient of the Society of Biblical Literature’s David Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and Creativity in Hebrew Bible Scholarship. The award for 2011 was made for Dr MacDonald’s essay, “Ritual Innovation: The Feast of Weeks from the Covenant Code to the Temple Scroll”.

As well as leading the Sofja-Kovalevskaja Research Team at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Dr MacDonald is also Reader in Old Testament at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He has published numerous books and articles on the interpretation of the Old Testament. His research has previously been recognized by a number of other international awards including an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and the Sofja-Kovalevskaja-Preis.