Desiring divinity : self-deification in early Jewish and Christian mythmaking PDF
Preview Desiring divinity : self-deification in early Jewish and Christian mythmaking
Desiring Divinity Desiring Divinity Self- deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking z M. DAVID LITWA 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Litwa, M. David, author. Title: Desiring divinity : self-deification in early Jewish and Christian mythmaking / M. David Litwa. Description: New York : Oxford University Press USA, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015051032 (print) | LCCN 2016031681 (ebook) | ISBN 9780190467166 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780190467173 () Subjects: LCSH: Apotheosis. | Judaism—Doctrines. | Deification (Christianity) | God. Classification: LCC BL465 .L583 2016 (print) | LCC BL465 (ebook) | DDC 202/.11—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2015051032 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America To my father who believed Contents Preface ix Abbreviations xi Introduction: Types of Self- deification Mythology 1 PART I: The Self- deifying Rebel 1. “I Am a God.” The Primal Human as Primeval Self- deifier 13 2. “I Will Be Like the Most High!” The Self- deification of Helel 29 3. “I Am God and There is No Other!” The Boast of Yaldabaoth 47 PART II: The Self- deifying Hero 4. “I and the Father Are One.” The Self- deification of Jesus in John 67 5. “I and You Are One.” Simon of Samaria as Hero and Heretic 91 6. “I Became Divine.” Allogenes and Gnostic Self- deification 119 Conclusion: The Many Myths of Self- deification 137 Notes 149 Bibliography 205 Index 237 Preface Why self- deification? Who today, after all, would claim godhood besides, perhaps, a few dictators, athletes, and paranoid schizophrenics? The question itself is telling. The very fact that we perceive self- deifiers as insane, arrogant, and evil indicates that the ancient Jewish and Christian mythology of self- deification is still very much our own. To make learning possible, this my- thology must, first of all, be recognized as mythology. Such a recognition allows for a kind of emotional bracketing: we push the subject beyond applause and excoriation in order to understand it in a fresh and enlightening way. What is the theoretical value of studying self- deification? What problem in religious studies does this book try to solve? Simply put: this book offers one more case study in the attempt to understand the relation between religious myth, ideology, and practice. In this case, we focus on ancient myth and ideology, although our conclusion briefly turns to the modern world. Yet perhaps the distinction between past and present is overblown, since (as noted) the biblical mythology of self- deification has become our own. We have forgotten the names of ancient self- deifiers, but we still know the pattern of their fate: they rise, then fall; they are arrogant, then humbled; they are mad, and fi- nally destroyed. Yet this book tells the story of some self- deifiers who succeed. Though these figures are not normally classified as self- deifiers, they make the same or simi- lar claims as their rebellious counterparts. What is different is their relation to authority. Instead of trying to topple and replace the ultimate power structure, heroic self- deifiers integrate themselves into the structure of divine power so as to assume its mantle. Why did the ancients tell myths of self- deification? As is to be expected, there was an attempt to influence and control behavior. Myths of self- deification both frighten and inspire, legitimize and expose, justify the present order and give rise to a new one. There is no single meaning of the myths. Rather, the multiple mean- ings continue to assist our projects of self- making and society- building, for they provide the means of both social revolution and personal transformation.
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