These two volumes collect some of the most influential and important scholarly essays by the late Morton Smith (1915-1991), for many years Professor of Ancient History at Columbia University in New York City. Smith was admired and feared for his extraordinary ability to look at familiar texts in unfamiliar ways, to re-open old questions, to pose new questions, and to demolish received truths. He practiced the "hermeneutics of suspicion" to devastating effect. His answers are not always convincing but his questions cannot be ignored. The essays of Volume I center on the Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament"), Ancient Israel and Ancient Judaism, of Volume II on the Christian Bible ("New Testament"), Early Christianity and Ancient Magic. Volume II also contains an assessment of Smith's scholarly achievement and a complete list of his publications.

These two volumes collect some of the most influential and important scholarly essays by the late Morton Smith (1915-1991), for many years Professor of Ancient History at Columbia University in New York City. Smith was admired and feared for his extraordinary ability to look at familiar texts in unfamiliar ways, to re-open old questions, to pose new questions, and to demolish received truths. He practiced the "hermeneutics of suspicion" to devastating effect. His answers are not always convincing but his questions cannot be ignored. The essays of Volume I center on the Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament"), Ancient Israel and Ancient Judaism, of Volume II on the Christian Bible ("New Testament"), Early Christianity and Ancient Magic. Volume II also contains an assessment of Smith's scholarly achievement and a complete list of his publications.

"Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity" The opening line of the film Troy captures the tragic essence of personal mortality: ones' passing into oblivion and fading from all memory. Since the prehistoric dawn of humanity death has shadowed everyone’s footsteps. Even into the current scientific era religion has long been the only defense. The sole comfort against oblivion offering a promise of new life or even immortality. The Geologic Model of Religion is a sympathetic study of this defense from its ancient beginnings, drawing upon archaeology, anthropology and comparative religion to clearly explain one of the most complex subjects known. From the study a new model emerges which: * Decomposes religion into its distinct worldview and afterlife paradigms * Categorizes evidence of belief systems held by prehistoric hunter-gatherers, culminating in the Temples of Rebirth such as Gobekli Tepe * Concludes that spirituality began in the Fertile Crescent 11,000 years ago, spreading with the Neolithic revolution throughout the world * Shows why judgment in afterlife was the keystone in the emerging edifice of civilization, and how it enabled hierarchies overcoming Dunbar's number which limited village sizes * Overviews the interaction between science and religion and projects the ultimate fate of religion itself There might be 100,000 books written about religion but the Geologic Model of Religion is unlike any other. Drawing upon evidence from anthropology, archaeology and scripture religion is divided into worldviews and afterlife paradigms. This new model evidences several long lost prehistoric religious belief systems and explains the origin of spirituality in settled societies.

In this book the varied and important reception is traced which the story of the revelation of YHWH’s name to Moses received in Judaism, early Christianity, and the pagan Graeco-Roman world.

The formula 'for the life of' is often found in votive inscriptions, cast in Aramaic and other languages, which originate from the Syrian-Mesopotamian desert and adjacent areas and which roughly date from the first three centuries A.D. They belong to objects like statues and altars that usually were erected in temples and other structures with a ritual or sacred function. The inscriptions establish a relationship between the dedicator and one or more beneficiaries, those persons for whose life the dedication was made. Since the social context evidently bears on both the meaning of the inscriptions as well as the status of the dedications, this volume deals with the nature of the relationships and the socio-religious function the dedications perform.

This book contains the full texts of the three separate Waters of Creation volumes by three Reformed divines: John Owen, Peter Allix, and Gerard De Gols (minus the appendices of quotations from various sources) on Christ in the Old Testament. It has been titled The Angel of Yahweh: in Jewish & Christian History. John Owen: "Oh yes. Owen the unassailable. Unfortunately for modern readers, he rather has the reputation of being Owen the unattainable. But not to fear! Thanks to the skillful editing of my friend Doug Van Dorn, Owen is a clear and present danger to modern unbelief and dullness of heart regarding the OT appearances of Christ. This is Owen at his best, glorying in the mysterious revelations of God the Son to men of old." Luke WalkerPastor, Redeeming Cross Community Church, MinneapolisAuthor, John Owen: The Prince of Puritans, Host of Wrath and Grace RadioPeter Allix: "Genesis 48:15-16 is one of those crucial Old Testament passages that few Bible students know about but, once they do, wonder how pastors and theologians they read missed it. The passage is at the core of the Old Testament's presentation of a Godhead-specifically, Christology-for the passage identifies one particular angel as God himself in human form who redeemed the people of God. The truth is, early church thinkers, Reformation writers, and even rabbinical authorities understood its implications. This reprinting of Peter Allix's centuries-old dissertation demonstrates that awareness and thus provides an important service to the Church. Van Dorn's edition presents the insights of generations past for the benefit of contemporary students of the Bible."Dr. Michael S. HeiserPh.D., Hebrew Bible and Semitic Studies. University of Wisconsin-MadisonGerard De Gols: "Some ancient rabbis viewed the Angel of Yahweh as a hypostatization of God. Many church fathers took that a step further and identified the Angel as the pre-incarnate Christ. Scholars of the Protestant Reformation affirmed Christ's pre-incarnate presence in the Old Testament, including Gerard De Gols. Not every text De Gols adduces, or argument he marshals, is equally convincing. But the cumulative force of his exegesis is persuasive and his thesis irresistible: the Son of God is recognized and worshiped as God not only in the New Testament but also in the Old. What's more, as John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ, this little volume will prepare the reader for Matt Foreman and Doug Van Dorn's much anticipated and forthcoming work on the Angel of the LORD."Dr. Robert Gonzales Jr.Dean, Reformed Baptist SeminaryAuthor: Where Sin Abounds

In this groundbreaking book, Barker claims that pre-Christian Judaism was not monotheistic and that the roots of Christian Trinitarian theology lie in a pre-Christian Palestinian belief about angels derived from the ancient religion of Israel. Barker's beliefs are based on canonical and deutero-canonical works and literature from Qumran and rabbinic sources.

Segal reconstructs the development of the "two powers in heaven" heresy through prudent dating of the stages of the rabbinic traditions. Segal stresses the importance of perceiving the relevance of rabbinic material for solving traditional problems of New Testament and gnostic scholarship, and at the same time maintains the necessity of reading those literatures for dating rabbinic material.

Magic in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean: Cognitive, Historical, and Material Perspectives brings together articles with the shared conviction that the category of magic remains useful in religious studies and provides new insights to biblical and related texts and artifacts. Historically, magic has been considered in both scholarly and popular discourse to be questionable, obscure, and potentially subversive. 19th century scholars of religion viewed magical beliefs and practices as primitive and inferior compared to Judeo-Christian forms of worship, which were considered true "religion". More recently, the category has been defended especially by scholars of the cognitive science of religion, who find it useful for delineating a set of beliefs and practices fundamental to all forms of religion. The volume joins current scholarship in refraining from using the concept as an othering device and in arguing that it can still serve as a helpful analytical tool. In addition to analyzing the discourse on magic in both ancient literature and modern scholarship, the articles provide individual examples of how literary and material culture attest to the existence of magical beliefs and practices in sources from the Ancient Near East to the Byzantine Period. The book is divided into three parts. The contributions in the first part approach magic from the theoretical perspective of cognitive studies, ritual studies, and cultural evolution, while the rest of the book focuses on how magic and magicians are understood in ancient sources. The second part discusses a specific set of textual material dealing with blessings and curses. The third part of the volume discusses the world of various destructive celestial beings, from which one and one's loved ones had to be defended, as well as the multitude of protective beings such as angels.