Israel’s Rituals, God’s Needs, and the Covenant That Changed Everything (John Walton) Ep. #223
Description
What happens when a senior biblical scholar changes their mind—publicly? In this episode, Dr. John Walton returns to explain key shifts in his thinking, especially about Genesis, the temple, and covenant theology.
He unpacks two major paradigm shifts: first, that Genesis creation isn’t about material origins, but about functional order; second, that Genesis 3 isn’t even about sin—it’s about humanity’s search for order. He also revisits his earlier view that the cosmos should be seen as a temple, now offering a more nuanced perspective: “I’m very happy to think about this as establishing sacred space… without necessarily extending the temple metaphor to the concept of boundaries.”
Walton explains how ancient Near Eastern concepts shape the biblical text, but cautions against overgeneralizing differences between Israel and its neighbors. “God does not have needs. Don’t think that way. Everybody else around you thinks that way.” He argues Israel’s rituals weren’t about feeding the deity, but forming covenant relationship—and this, he claims, is unique in the ancient world.
More than anything, Walton champions a commitment to evidence over dogma. “If your commitment is to the evidence, your commitment has to be to cognitive flexibility.”
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Chapters:
00:00 Paradigm Shifts in Biblical Interpretation
03:03 The Temple and Creation
05:45 Understanding Ancient Near Eastern Thought
08:45 Cognitive Flexibility in Scholarship
11:58 Rituals and Their Significance
14:54 The Role of Ancient Near Eastern Backgrounds
17:54 Literary Structures in Biblical Texts
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