Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

184 llE1WEENTEXrANDANTlfACr

detectedinlessmundanecircles.An increasingnumberofinscriptions

dedicatedtobeis/heosandtheoshypsistos<Illestthistrendatleastin the

RomanperiodandmayalsoremindusofthepotenlialtcndencyofSemitic

religionstowardsrnonolarty(ifnormonotheism).Ingeneral,theneedto

choosel:>e[weenmanygodswouldoftenleadtoa closerelationshipwith

oneparticulardeiry.Therealdifferencebcrweenpaganmono!atrislS,on

onchand,andJewsandChristians.ontheother,isthat paganswould

neverhaverequiredexclusivedevotiontoonepersonalGod(although

manymightnotactivelyhaveworshipedmorcthanone)anclOatlydenied

theexistenceofallothersordenouncedthemas illegitimateobjectsof

devotion.

"PAGANS"INIjIBI.lCALLANGUAGEANDTHINKING

Thewidespreadnegligenceofnon-jewsandnon-Christiansinourper-
ceptionofancientPalestinecertainlyresultsfromthefactthatwealsoare
heirsandpanofthatbiblicaltrJdition.Ourperceptionofnonbiblicalreli-
gions.andthewaytofindanappropriateterminologyiscommonlyshaped
bybiblical languageandthinking,thusfromtextswriuenbyJewishor
ChristianauthorswhodidnotaCtuallyhaveagenuineinterestindepicting
thepagan"other"inneutraltermsorforsimplydocumentarypurposes.
Pagansfealureinthesetexts,ofcourse,butitis interesting 10 seehow
Fromthetimeoftheprophetsonward,pagansinmanywaysembodya
wayoflifethatblatantlycontradictsbiblicalcommandments.Especiallyin
Deuteronomistictheologywarningsagainstidolatryandgoing"ontheway
ofthenations"arecombinedwitha calluponIsraeltorepentandkeep
thelaw. BiblicalIsrJelin partdefineditselfasbeingdifferentfromother
peoples.TheI<lbbismodifiedthisviewincertainwaysbutfollowedthe
basicbibliGtlprinciplethatpaganswerenotinterestinginthemselves.Few
jewswouldenterintocontroversiesaboutreligion withpagans, butall
jewswere,intheeyesoftherabbis,requiredtodefendtheirfaithwhen
challengedby"OlHsiders."Granted, onthe levelofeverydaylife, there
weremanydifferentwaystoadjusttothepracticalneedsoflivingtogether
in:lpaganormixedcity.[nevel)'daypractice,mereindifferenceseemsto
haveprevailedinthe31liwdetowardpagans.However,theseadjustments
probablyneverresultedintherenouncementoftheclaimthatajew,as
longasheorshekept 10 certainduties.wasessentiallydifferentfromhis
orhernon-jewishcontemporaries.Ofcourse,manytextsexpressedthe
hopethepaganswouldfinallycometoworshipGodandbesaved,but
thiswasnot outofpuresympathytoward thepagannationsoroutof
respectfortheirculturalachievementsbutforthehighergloryoftheGod
ofIsrael.Moreover,itwassomethingthatbasicallynooneexpectedforthe
nearfuturebutwasassociatedwiththeultimatelastdaytocome.Many