Die wêreld- en mensbeeld van die Ou Testament

Abstract

The article, part 1 of the Stoker Lectures for 1984, deals with Old Testament world view and anthropology. After briefly referring to the fact that Old Testament thought cannot be regarded as being "logical" in the Greek concept of the thought, he also points out that Old Testament thought is opposed to mythopoeic thought, concluding that it can most accurately be typified as being empirico-logical in nature (Albright). This way of thinking is further exemplified as containing logic implicitly and not in formal categories. It is also pointed out, in a fuller discussion of the Hebrew conception of the world, that it was influenced of necessity by surrounding nations. The view of the world in which the Old Testament writer lived could not materially be distinguished from his religious views, and likewise it could not be distinguished from the views held in general by Eastern Antiquity. The same views could be applied in looking at the anthropology of these people, although Old Testament anthropology does oppose the mythological view of man held by Eastern Antiquity. This is exemplified, for example, in the Old Testament view of the division, in principle, between God and man, man's dependency on God, and man's position in the hierarchy of creation, keeping in mind his responsibility in the personal sense. The concept of death, as opposed to various views held in Mesopotamia, Egypt and among mythopoeic thinkers, also developed to the point where it was regarded as being a natural part of life.The article ends with a discussion of views of time and history as based on these concepts of the world and of man, with time seen as a mere instrument in the salvational plan of God with the world, and overall God being seen as central to man and his world.