Tag: political philosophy
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What Is Mosaic Law?
In the most pivotal moment of the Torah, Moses is called “up” the mountain of Sinai to retrieve the law for the Israelites (Exodus 19-20). The Mosaic law is too important for the Lord to come “down” the mountain, and communicate it to the people. Instead, the Lord ensures a shroud of secrecy behind the creation […]
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The Trial of the Heart: Initial Thoughts on the Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Papyrus of Ani, famously called the “Egyptian Book of the Dead”, is a funerary hieroglyphic scroll totaling approximately 78 feet in length. Estimates of its origin come from the New Kingdom of Egypt circa 1250 BC. It is currently held at the British Museum. The Book of the Dead is a book of the […]
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Genesis XI: The Lord versus the City of Man
Try as we might, we cannot ignore the tumultuous relationship between the Lord and the humans throughout the book of Genesis. Routinely, the humans make propositions in order to prevent punishments, and God responds by forcing punishments upon the humans. Consider the story of the “Tower of Babel” found in Genesis XI. All the earth […]
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Genesis III: In Defense of the Serpent
In the garden of Eden, we encounter two trees: the tree of knowledge (good and evil) and the tree of life. Both trees presumably represent differing pathways for humanity. In Genesis Chapter III, we start to discover humans in the garden (assuming we accept either the seven day creation narrative of Genesis I, or the […]
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The Words of Moses
Deuteronomy comes to us from the Greek meaning “second law,” and the Hebrew Devarim meaning “spoken words” or also “these are the words.” It is presented as the valedictory speech of Moses which he delivers across the Jordan shortly before his death. It is the most rhetorical book of the Torah, and since rhetoric can be […]
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The Walls of Gilgamesh
In reading this great Mesopotamian Epic, we first encounter our hero, king Gilgamesh, plagued by dreams and haunted by the prospect of dying a forgotten man. Gilgamesh, the Apollonian counterpart to his Dionysian friend and comrade, Enkidu, is given immense power over the city of Uruk. As the “shepherd of the city,” his agency is […]
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