Thom reviewed The Invention of God by Thomas Römer
Review of 'The Invention of God' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Very good coverage of the transition from polytheism to monotheism in Judah and Israel over the years from 1300 to 300. Evidence cited includes edits of various biblical books, histories of neighboring regions and modern archaeological finds. Particularly fascinating to me were the origins of YHWH (a southern mountain god of storms and war) and the phasing out of Asherah. The introduction also provides an excellent political history of this era, and the conclusion continues that history a bit further.
Other reviewers have said the text goes into too much depth and is correspondingly dry; I did not find that to be the case - though I didn't linger over the italicized (and foreign to me) words. The sparse illustrations add to the text, but the occasional maps do little to help the authors narrative. While reading, I wished I had a relief map showing the movements of tribes and …
Very good coverage of the transition from polytheism to monotheism in Judah and Israel over the years from 1300 to 300. Evidence cited includes edits of various biblical books, histories of neighboring regions and modern archaeological finds. Particularly fascinating to me were the origins of YHWH (a southern mountain god of storms and war) and the phasing out of Asherah. The introduction also provides an excellent political history of this era, and the conclusion continues that history a bit further.
Other reviewers have said the text goes into too much depth and is correspondingly dry; I did not find that to be the case - though I didn't linger over the italicized (and foreign to me) words. The sparse illustrations add to the text, but the occasional maps do little to help the authors narrative. While reading, I wished I had a relief map showing the movements of tribes and political changes.
A good read which would become great with better supplementary materials.