The Doctrine of God in the Jewish Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Literature (1915 Wicks), book

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The Doctrine of God in the Jewish Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Literature (1915) is a book by Henry J. Wicks.

Abstract

In a revised rendition of his doctoral thesis at the University of London, Wicks investigates the language and doctrine of God presented in Jewish apocryphal and pseudepigraphic literature of the Second Temple Period. He bases his investigation around three primary poles: the transcendence of God, the justice of God, and the Grace of God. In relation to God's transcendence, Wicks diverges from the position of some previous scholars, such as William Bousett's work on the development of Christology, who assumed that the God of apocalpytic literature was remote and thus Hellenistic Jews sought to compensate for this distance by offering 'cultic' worship to intermediary beings. Instead, Wicks argues that the vast majority of these authors, irregardless of their angelology, believed in a "God who is in unmediated contact with His creation" (124). The direct line of prayer between humans and God serves as one of Wick's primary examples to support this argument. The only exception to this rule, for Wicks, arises from the corpus of Enochic literature. In Enoch 1-36, 72-82, and two possible interpolations in Ethiopic and Slavonic Enoch, Wicks argues that the texts present a distant God, or a theology of such strong predestination that God is no longer needed to interact or effect change among humanity. These texts aside, through the accumulation of his evidence Wicks implicitly suggests a strong and vibrant Jewish monotheistic belief throughout this period and a tension between a belief in God's omnipotence and God's accessibility. ~Deborah Forger

Editions

Published in London [England]: Hunter & Longhurst, 1915.

Table of contents

Introduction

I. The Transcendence of God

  • 1 The Second Century BC
  • 2 The First Century BC
  • 3 The First Century AD

2 - The Justice of God

  • 1 The Second Century BC
  • 2 The First Century BC
  • 3 The First Century AD

3 - The Grace of God

  • 1 The Second Century BC
  • 2 The First Century BC
  • 3 The First Century AD

Appendix: Dr. Charles's New Edition of "Ethiopic Enoch"

External links

  • [ Google Books]
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