112 HETWEENTEXTANDAlfllFACT<Ircinformedofothersimilarepigraphicfinds,thentheywillbeundoubt-
edlyleftwiththestrongimpressionthatYahwehtogetherwithAsherah
werewidelyandpopularlyworshipedintheeighthandseventhcenturies
B.C.E.(l-Ialpern),25a manerrelegatedtovirtualsilenceinthebiblicaltext.
AccordingtotheChalcedonianhermeneutic,thecognitivedissonance
experiencedbetweenthearchaeologicalrecordofhowthingswereand
the theological normativeview ofhow thingsshould have been(and
shouldbe),isresolved,andthusintegrated,bytheprincipleofindestructi-
bleorcler.AlthoughthereisempiricalproofIhatYahwehandhisAsherah
wereveneratedatKuntillet<AjrGd,theauthoritativeandnormativetheo-
logical text, which holds initial position in the two discipline's
indestructibleorder,continuestoprovidetheperspectiveonhowthings
should have been. In otherwords,despite its historical manifestation,
Asherahworshipistheologicallydisallowed.
Finally,pertainingtooutcome 4 (;uch~leologicalfindingsconflictwith
assumeddogmaticperspectives), thefindingsat Kuntillet<Ajrud require
studentstoreassesstheirunderst;mdingofmonotheisticfaithanditsdevel-
opment in anciem Israel. Many students enter the biblical studies
classroomassumingthatIsraelwasessentiallymonotheisticfromitswilder-
nesswanderings. In lightoftheKuntillet<AjrOd materials,students will
struggleto reassesstheirdogmaticassumptions. Forsome,thatfact that
Israeldeveloped(on acommon level)from polytheismtomonolatryto
monotheismwilllaysomedoubtontheirownmonotheisticbeliefs.Here,
again, theChalcedonianhermeneutical principleofindestructibleorder
provesuseful. AlthoughIsraelitescommonlyworshipedYahwehincon-
junctionwith otherdeities, includingeven ~lndespeci~lllyhisAsherah,
theologicJllyspeakingthere is nocleep realitybehindsucha historical
occurrence,Nevertheless,monotheismisneitherobviousnoreasy,asthe
historical archaeological record indicates. Hopefully studentswill gain
morcnuance,empathy,andinsightintothehumandynamicsthatleadto
worshipprojectionssuchasAsherahaswellasdiscardanyna"iveteregard-
ingtheunfoldingofbiblicalfaith.
FINAl.RHucnoNSTheChalcedonian hermeneutic is helpful in as much as it holds
together(anddistinguishes)epistemologiesofdivinerevelationandnatu-
ralrevelmionandassuchis,infact,an"incarnational"hermeneutic.After
2SBaruchll:llpcrn,"ThcH~l~ll(andthcAsher-lh?)inSevcnth-CcnturyJudah:Yhwh's
RcwincrsIktill..·d,"inK01/S{'(fIICllfcTmdiliOllsgescbicbf{'-"Fc.~fscbrift/firKlausli(lltzcrZUlli65.
Gebllrwu8(cd.ItHartclmus;Gi'lltingcn:V:mdcnhOt:ck&l{upr{.'Chl,1993),lIS-54.