Big Ideas · Introduction
Is 'Yahwism' the right word?
Many scholars call the community in the Bible 'Yahwists' and its scriptures 'Yahwism,' following Wellhausen's idea that defeat turned a nation into a religion.
The category 'religion' can hide politics.
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That framing also reflects a Christian habit of linking the national community of the Hebrew Bible to the faith community of the New Testament. It obscures the Bible's political innovations.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 11–12
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