The Origin and Character of God

The Origin and Character of God is a magnum opus on the religion of ancient Israel. Taking a history of religion approach, Professor Lewis properly places the emergence of Israelite religion in the broader context of near eastern religion and history. It will be an essential reference work for generations to come. * William M. Schniedewind, UCLA * In this landmark reference work, Theodore J. Lewis surveys the gods El and Yahweh, along with the goddess Astarte, as well as their rituals, personnel and polemics. Lewis masterfully describes the vast evidence found in iconography and texts, both biblical and extrabiblical. A readable volume marked by rich documentation, sober assessment, balanced judgment. * Mark S. Smith, Author of The Genesis of Good and Evil: The Fall(out) and Original Sin in the Bible * The Origin and Character of God is driven by critically evaluated data. In it, Theodore J. Lewis illustrates how hypotheses developed with conscientious methodological rigor should be applied to explain such data. In this remarkable magnum opus, Lewis, whose many contributions to the study of Israelite religion and, more generally, of divinity in the ancient Near East are well known and highly regarded, provides scholars a useful model for the type and quality of research that will carry these fields forward in coming decades. * Ziony Zevit, American Jewish University * Theodore Lewis's new book is a true magnum opus. It takes on the challenge of understanding ancient Israelite religion by focusing on how the Israelites conceptualized deity, more specifically, the god Yahweh and Yahweh's older relative, the Canaanite El. Lewis spares no effort to be comprehensive, taking in all the primary evidence from written texts and non-written archaeology and all the modern scholarship.... His coverage is lucid and systematic, and not simply descriptive, but a probing inquiry on many levels... paying close attention to both visual and written sources and their interplay, and demonstrating an acute awareness of the limits of our primary evidence. * Peter Machinist, Harvard University *