Date of Award

5-1976

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Theology

Abstract

The rise of classical prophecy in ancient Israel was in part due to the radical threat posed to the existence of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah by the imperial powers of the ancient Near East. Palestine was caught in the middle of a power squeeze between the Assyrians, Nee - Babylonians and Egyptians. The northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. The southern kingdom of Judah in turn fell to the Nee-Babylonians in a series of disasters beginning in 597 B. C. These traumatic events called the notion of Yahweh's lordship over history into question, and, at least in Judah, seemed to discredit the national theology. This national theology identified the promises Yahweh made to his chosen people Israel with the survival of the Davidic monarchy and the inviolability of Yahweh's house, the Zion temple (cf. 2 Sam 7) . When Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the Neo Babylonians , it seemed that either Yahweh did not have the power to protect is people , or that the divine mystery had forsaken the covenant guaranties. The situation was truly perplexing , for it was difficult to see how the divine will was at work in history and what end the victorious empires were serving.

Comments

An Essay submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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