RELIGIA ȘI ASPIRAȚIA DUPĂ LIBERTATE: O ABORDARE COMPARATIVĂ DESPRE PROMISIUNEA LIBERTĂȚII ÎN SCRIPTURĂ ȘI ÎN CULTURILE POLITEISTE VECHI

  • Lect. univ. dr. Aurelian Botică Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania
Keywords: Idolatry, God, Old Testament, Religion, Freedom, Bondage

Abstract

Religion and the Quest for Freedom: A Comparative Approach Between the Bible and the Polytheistic Cultures’ Promise of Freedom.

In the following study we will examine the phenomenon of idolatry as it appears in the Ancient Near East and in the texts of the Old and, to a lesser extent, the New Testament. We will show that the practice of idolatry was typical of polytheistic societies and that in many cases it exerted a significant influence on monotheistic societies as well, as was  the case in Ancient Judaism. The purpose of our work is to explore the reasons why idolatry was possible and why for the majority of people it became the logical and the most attractive way to relate to the divine world. Likewise, we will show that numerous sources within the Old Testament condemned idolatry and viewed it as a form of  bondage to false gods and rejection of the true God. We will ask whether idolatry – as a form of religion – led to the freedom and security it promised or not. In order to achieve this purpose, we will examine the terminology for idolatry and the names of the majority of the gods that are listed in the texts of the Old and the New Testament. We will  then show that, given its pragmatic vision of the religious life – where one worshiped the gods in order to receive something – idolatry became a mechanism for ancient men and women to pacify the violent forces of nature and to maintain economic and personal security in an otherwise challenging environment. With this aim, we will ask whether  idolatry was inspired by fear and pragmatism – which would create the premises to bondage – or by reverence and love for the divinity, which would lead one to experience true freedom. Our hope is to help the reader understand better the phenomena of idolatry and biblical faith with the purpose of finding a more meaningful response to the  question „who or what is the divine world?” and „does my relationship to it leads to freedom or bondage?”

References

• Biblia sau Sfânta Scriptură cu Trimiteri, trad.Dumitru Cornilescu, 1924.

• ABUSCH, Tzvi, “Ishtar’s Proposal and Gilgamesh’s Refusal: An Interpretation of ‘The Gilgamesh Epic’, Tablet 6, Lines 1-79.” History of Religions, Vol. 26, No. 2. Nov., 1986, p. 143-187.

• ARIETI, James, Philosophy in the Ancient World, Lanham, MD, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

• ASSMAN, Jan, The Search for God in Ancient Egypt, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 2001.

• AYAD, Mariam, God’s Wife, God’s Servant: the God’s Wife of Amun, London, Routledge, 2009.

• BEALE, Christopher, We Become What We Worship, Grand Rapids, MI, IVP, 2008.

• BOTICĂ, Aurelian, Gods, Goddesses and the True God. The Cultural and Religious Background of Idolatry in the Old Testament, Oradea, Editura Universității Emanuel din Oradea; Cluj, Editura Risoprint, 2015.

• BOTICĂ, Aurelian, Curs de Doctrine Biblice în Vechiul Testament, Oradea, Universitatea Emanuel, 2022.

• BEARD, Mary, Pompei: viața unui oraș roman, Traducere din Pompei: the Life of a Roman Town, București, Editura Trei, 2019.

• BURKERT, Walter, Greek Religion, Harvard, MA, Harvard University Press, 1985.

• COOPER, Jerold, “Gendered Sexuality in Sumerian Love Poetry,” în Sumerian Gods and Their Representations, Finkel I. L. editori, Groningen, Styx Publications, 1997.

• DAY, John, “Baal,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 volumes, New York, Doubleday, 1992.

• DE MOOR, Johannes, “Baal, ” Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 16 volumes, Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 1975.

• DICK, Michael, Born in Heaven, Made on Earth, M.B. Dick editors, Winona Lak, IN, Eisenbrauns, 1999.

• ERIKSON, Millard, Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, MI, Baker House, 1996.

• FERRARI, Anna, „Zeus,” Dictionar de Mitologie Greacă şi Romană, Bucureşti, Polirom, 2003.

• FRYMER-KENSKY, Tikva, In the Wake of the Goddess, New York, Fawcett Columbine, 1992.

• HORNBLOWER, Simon, „Fate,” The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.

• GRUDEN, Wayne, Teologie Sistematică, Oradea, Editura Făclia, 2004.

• KAUFMAN, Yeheskiel, The Religion of Israel, New York, Shocken Books, 1960.

• KEEL, Othmar, Uehlinger, Christoph, Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis, MN, Fortress Press, 1998.

• KEYES, Richard, „The Idol Factory,” No God But God: Breaking with the Idols of Our Age, Chicago, IL, Moody Press, 1992.

• LIDDELL, Henry George, Scott, Robert, A Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1940, 1968.

• MEADORS, Edward, Idolatry and the Hardening of the Heart: A Study in Biblical Theology. London and New York, T&T Clark, 2006.

• O’CONNOR, John, “Corinth,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, New York, Doubleday, 1992.

• OSWALT, John, The Book of Isaia, Chapters 1-39, Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 1986.

• OSWALT, John, Chemaţi Să Fiţi Sfinţi, Oradea, Cartea Creştină, 2006.

• PINNOCK, Frances, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 2 volumes, J. M. Sasson, editor, New York, Scribner, 1995.

• POWLINSON, David. „Idols of the Heart and the Vanity Fair.” The Journal of Biblical Counselling, vol. 13, Number 2/Winter 1995.

• PRITCHARD, James, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. Princeton, NJ, Princeton, 1969.

• ROTARU, Ioan-Gheorghe, “Libertatea religioasă – temelie a demnităţii umane”, în Daniela Ioana Bordeianu, Erika Androne, Nelu Burcea, Manual pentru liderul Departamentului de Libertate religioasă, Casa de editură “Viaţă şi Sănătate”, Bucureşti, 2013, 210-215.

• ROTARU, Ioan-Gheorghe, “Key aspects of the Freedom of Conscience”, în Jurnalul Libertății de Conștiință - Supliment ( Journal for Freedom of Conscience), Editions IARSIC, Les Arsc, France, 2016, 30-37.

• SEFATI, Yitzhak, Love Songs in Summerian Literature, Winona Lake, IN, Eisenbraus, 1998.

• STUART, Douglas, Exodus, Nashville, TN, Holman Publishers, 2006.

• WINKLER, Martin, ” Greek Myth on the Screen”, în Cambridge Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology, R.D. Woodard, ed., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009, 453-479.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Media/conversation-stephen-hawking-science-god-family/story?id=10855668

Published
2023-01-11
How to Cite
Botică, L. univ. dr. A. (2023). RELIGIA ȘI ASPIRAȚIA DUPĂ LIBERTATE: O ABORDARE COMPARATIVĂ DESPRE PROMISIUNEA LIBERTĂȚII ÎN SCRIPTURĂ ȘI ÎN CULTURILE POLITEISTE VECHI. Journal for Freedom of Conscience (Jurnalul Libertății De Conștiință), 10(3), 492-514. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7394483