Det er Herren, der styrer en mands gang
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/dtt.v87i2.145339Keywords:
Johannes Old Testament theology, determinism, free will, divine and human agency, the living God, DeuteronomyAbstract
This article discusses the question of agency in the Old Testament (OT) and challenges the view held by some scholars that the OT as a whole depicts human beings as having free will in the sense of being able to choose and having control over the choices they make. Many passages do seem to presuppose human choice and control, but the article presents numerous other passages that highlight God’s control of everything – including, in some cases, what human beings want and choose. Furthermore, several books of the OT describe the human ability to follow God’s commandments as deeply flawed and envisage a future divine intervention that will fundamentally change the way humans behave. Human free will must be understood in the light of this underlying notion of divine control that permeates the OT. However, this is not a fatalistic type of determinism. The tension between the notions of divine and human agency is real and both notions ought to inform our understanding of the theology of the texts.
References
Aitken, James, Hector M. Patmore og Ishay Rosen-Zvi (red.). 2021. The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Block, Daniel I. 2017. The Triumph of Grace: Literary and Theological Studies in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Themes. Eugene: Cascade Books.
Boccaccini, Gabriele. 1991. Middle Judaism: Jewish Thought, 300 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Brettler, Marc Z. 1999. “Predestination in Deuteronomy 30.1–10.” I Those Elusive Deuteronomists: The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism, red. Linda S. Schearing og Steven L. McKenzie, 171-188. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 268. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic.
Broshi, Magen. 2006. “Predestination in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls.” I The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Volume Two: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran Community, red. James H. Charlesworth, 235-246. Waco: Baylor University Press.
Carson, Donald A. 1981. Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspectives in Tension. New Foundations Theological Library. Atlanta: John Knox Press.
Collins, John J. 2018. “Theologies in Tension in the Dead Sea Scrolls.” I The Religious Worldviews Reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 28–30 May, 2013, red. Ruth A. Clements, Menahem Kister og Michael Segal, 25-47. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 127. Leiden: Brill.
Ellis, Anthony. 2023. “The Rot of the Bones: A New Analysis of קנאה (‘Envy/Jealousy’) in the Hebrew Bible.” Journal of Biblical Literature 142/3: 385-408.
Fox, Michael V. 2009. Proverbs 10–31: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Yale Bible 18B. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Jeremias, Jörg. 1975. Die Reue Gottes: Aspekte alttestamentlicher Gottesvorstellung. Biblische Studien 65. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.
Klawans, Jonathan. 2009. “Josephus on Fate, Free Will, and Ancient Jewish Types of Compatibilism.” Numen 56/1: 44-90.
Klawans, Jonathan. 2010. “The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes, and the Study of Religious Belief: Determinism and Freedom of Choice.” I Rediscovering the Dead Sea Scrolls: An Assessment of Old and New Approaches and Methods, red. Maxine L. Grossman, 264-283. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Köhler, Ludwig. 1953. Theologie des Alten Testaments. 3. udg. Neue Theologische Grundrisse. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
Lasine, Stuart. 2023. Divine Envy, Jealousy, and Vengefulness in Ancient Israel and Greece. Abingdon: Routledge.
Lundager Jensen, Hans J. 1998. Gammeltestamentlig religion: En indføring. Frederiksberg: ANIS.
Lundager Jensen, Hans J. 2021a. Religion og teologi i Det Gamle Testamente: En indføring. København: Eksistensen.
Lundager Jensen, Hans J. 2021b. “Enklave-mentalitet og pietisme, vold og visdom: Teologiske strømninger i Deuteronomium.” I Gud og os: Teologiske læsninger af Det Gamle Testamente i det 21. århundrede, red. Jan Dietrich og Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme, 113-144. København: Bibelselskabets Forlag.
McGinnis, Claire M. 2012. “The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart in Christian and Jewish Interpretation.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 6/1: 43-64.
Millar, J. Gary. 1998. Now Choose Life: Theology and Ethics in Deuteronomy. New Studies in Biblical Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Mizrahi, Noam. 2021. “Reconsidering the Semantics of the ‘Inclination’ (yeṣer) in Classical Biblical Hebrew.” I The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity, red. James Aitken, Hector M. Patmore og Ishay Rosen-Zvi, 13-32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Newsom, Carol A. 2012. “Models of the Moral Self: Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism.” Journal of Biblical Literature 131/1: 5-25.
Newsom, Carol A. 2021. The Spirit within Me: Self and Agency in Ancient Israel and Second Temple Judaism. The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Pereboom, Derek. 2022. Free Will. Cambridge Elements/Elements in the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rogerson, John W. 2009. A Theology of the Old Testament: Cultural Memory, Communication and Being Human. London: SPCK.
Schuller, Eileen. 2000. “Petitionary Prayer and the Religion of Qumran.” I Religion in the Dead Scrolls, red. John J. Collins og Robert A. Kugler, 29-45. Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Siegismund, Kasper. 2021. “Frygt Gud og opfør dig ordentligt: Teologiske læsninger i Ordsprogenes Bog.” I Gud og os: Teologiske læsninger af Det Gamle Testamente i det 21. århundrede, red. Jan Dietrich og Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme, 271-288. København: Bibelselskabets Forlag.
Sprinkle, Preston M. 2013. Paul & Judaism Revisited: A Study of Divine and Human Agency in Salvation. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Stauber, Chad M. 2011. “Determinism in the Rule of the Community (1QS): A New Perspective.” I Celebrating the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Canadian Contribution, red. Peter W. Flint, Jean Duhaime og Kyung S. Back, 345-358. Early Judaism and its Literature 30. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
Vicens, Leigh C. og Simon Kittle. 2019. God and Human Freedom. Cambridge Elements/Elements in the Philosophy of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
