Original Research

Possible objections to a philosophical approach to ancient Israelite religion: A critical refutation

Jacobus W. Gericke
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 67, No 3 | a859 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v67i3.859 | © 2011 Jacobus W. Gericke | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 19 May 2010 | Published: 24 June 2011

About the author(s)

Jacobus W. Gericke, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, South Africa

Abstract

There exists a certain consensus amongst biblical scholars that involving philosophy in the attempt to understand ancient Israelite religion is hermeneutically fallacious. A philosophical approach to ancient Yahwism is considered out of place, given the non-philosophical nature of the Hebrew Bible, the normative concerns of philosophy and the historical agenda of biblical scholarship. In this article, however, the author attempted to show why none of the traditional objections should be considered as devastating as they were once thought to be.

Keywords

Biblical theology; philosophy of religion; anti-philosophical sentiment; hermeneutics; Israelite religion

Metrics

Total abstract views: 3552
Total article views: 7130


Crossref Citations

No related citations found.