Book Review: "Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament" by John D. Currid
John D. Currid
Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, IL 60187
www.crossway.org
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4335-3183-5; $17.99
Reviewed for Deus Misereatur by: Rev. Dr. Michael Philliber
Reading Polemically – 4 stars
out of 5
There are several parallels between the Old Testament stories
and the mythical tales from the cultures and societies that surrounded ancient Israel.
Many biblical scholars, skeptics and supporters alike, have accepted the view
that the Hebrew writers were simply bootlegging those tales, cleaning them up,
and inserting them into Israel’s history. Dr. John D. Currid’s new 192 page
paperback, “Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament”, addresses
this trend, and seeks to offer a different set of plausibilities for seeing
these parallels. This book is mildly technical, but not burdensomely so. Dr. Currid
was a seminary professor of mine in the 1990s, and I was delighted to pick up
this book and read much of what he had tried to get into our mushy heads during
classes nearly 15 years ago. The simple premise of the book is in the subtitle:
The polemical theology of the Old Testament.
Currid begins by reviewing, briefly, the relatively
short history of Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) studies. The rest of the book is
chock full of examples of parallels between ANE literature and the Bible. He
examines the connections, moving through the Bible's rehearsal of Creation,
Noah, Joseph, Moses, the Psalms, etc., comparing them to the related ANE tales
of Gilgamesh, Horus, Sargon I, Amon-Ra, and others. He then exposes the consistent
discontinuity between the Bible's stories and ANE literature, both in worldview
and in particulars. And lastly, he challenges the reigning view that the Bible
is simply plagiarizing and cleaning up ANE texts. This is the basic structure
of each chapter.
Currid’s main premise is that though the stories are
similar, the biblical writers were artfully crafting the rehearsal of their
historical accounts with polemical taunts and challenges to the surrounding
cultures. That it was not plagiarizing that was going on, but ridiculing the
gods of the surrounding societies, and proclamation that Yahweh alone was the
true God of which their deities were only parodies. And that Yahweh was
orchestrating actual events in such a way that the hope and longing of the pagan’s
myths come to fulfillment in the real facts of the true story of the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the polemical theology running in the
background of many of the historical events being recorded in Scripture.
"Against the Gods" is a great introduction
into the world of ANE/Biblical studies. It is also a good apologetic work. It's
perfect for seminarians and pastors, but useful for the studious layman who is
looking for help. I recommend the book.
Mike
(If you found this review helpful and would like to publish or post it, you have my permission. Just simply let me know where and when, and give credit where credit is due)
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