Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence

Jon D. Levenson

Princeton University Press, Dec 19, 1994 - Religion - 182 pages

This paperback edition brings to a wide audience one of the most innovative and meaningful models of God for this post-Auschwitz era. In a thought-provoking return to the original Hebrew conception of God, which questions accepted conceptions of divine omnipotence, Jon Levenson defines God's authorship of the world as a consequence of his victory in his struggle with evil. He traces a flexible conception of God to the earliest Hebrew sources, arguing, for example, that Genesis 1 does not describe the banishment of evil but the attempt to contain the menace of evil in the world, a struggle that continues today.

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User Review  - pomonomo2003 - LibraryThing

This is an interesting book. Our author, Jon D. Levenson, is both a monotheist and a believer in God's Omnipotence.This is curious because omnipotence is not here conceived as mere fact but, as our ...

Contents

• The Basic Idea of Israelite Religion?: 3
• The Survival of Chaos After the Victory of God: 14
• The Futurity and Presence of the Cosmogonic Victory: 26
• Conclusion The Vitality of Evil and the Fragility of Creation: 47
• Creation Without Opposition Psalm 104: 53
• Creation in Seven Days: 66
• Cosmos and Microcosm: 78
• Rest and ReCreation: 100
• Conclusion Chaos Neutralized in Cult: 121
• The Two Idioms of Biblical Monotheism: 131
• The Dialectic of Covenantal Theonomy: 140
• Argument and Obedience: 149
• Notes: 157
• Scripture Index: 177
• Author Index: 181

About the author

Jon D. Levenson is Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence; Volume 566 of Bollingen Series; Mythos (Princeton University Press); Mythos (Princeton, N.J.); Mythos series; Volume 70 of Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology; Princeton paperbacks
• Author: Jon D. Levenson
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1994
• ISBN: 0691029504, 9780691029504
• Length: 182 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Judaism / Rituals & Practice