Wednesday, March 28, 2007
SECTS AND THE CITY
Another idea for the master's thesis in theology that I'll never end up writing is the idea of YHWH's transformation from a god of the desert to a god of the city. It seems like the first records of the Lord reveal Him to be a desert deity worshiped by nomadic tribes. But before long, God rides His cosmic Greyhound bus straight to the city, and (perhaps with the founding of Jerusalem), the kingdom of God comes to be imagined as an urban center. By the time St. Augustine comes along, the idea that you'd find Jehovah in the wilderness is positively blasphemous--the only deities you'll encounter in the sticks are Pan and his horn-dog kin.
So what else gets affected by this divine relocation to the metropolis? Do the morals of the nomads transform into the justifications of the urbanized? Or do they not change, and are city-dwellers left with an ethical code that has nothing to do with their situation? Do metaphysical concepts and ideas of the afterlife make the leap? Food for thought, my friends, and fodder for seminary discussions.
Another idea for the master's thesis in theology that I'll never end up writing is the idea of YHWH's transformation from a god of the desert to a god of the city. It seems like the first records of the Lord reveal Him to be a desert deity worshiped by nomadic tribes. But before long, God rides His cosmic Greyhound bus straight to the city, and (perhaps with the founding of Jerusalem), the kingdom of God comes to be imagined as an urban center. By the time St. Augustine comes along, the idea that you'd find Jehovah in the wilderness is positively blasphemous--the only deities you'll encounter in the sticks are Pan and his horn-dog kin.
So what else gets affected by this divine relocation to the metropolis? Do the morals of the nomads transform into the justifications of the urbanized? Or do they not change, and are city-dwellers left with an ethical code that has nothing to do with their situation? Do metaphysical concepts and ideas of the afterlife make the leap? Food for thought, my friends, and fodder for seminary discussions.
# posted by toner_low @ 10:25 PM 
