AA013 – What is a God? with Jaco Gericke
What was a god assumed to be, according to Hebrew scripture? How do our cultural contexts and philosophical assumptions impact the way we conceive of ancient religious concepts today? Can philosophy help us to understand how these issues have served to shape the very question of what a god is down through history? In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Jaco Gericke about these topics and others that raise important issues with much of our contemporary discourse about God. Dr. Gericke is Professor of Biblical Studies at North-West University, South Africa. He has doctorates in Semitic Languages and Old Testament Studies, and did post-graduate work in theology and philosophy. His work has been published in journals such as Old Testament Essays and the Journal for Semitics, as well as in various books, the most recent of which is What is a God?, released in 2017 by T&T Clark.
Armchair Atheism is the official podcast of GodlessHaven.com, exploring subjects related to religion and non-belief through interview discussions with a variety of scholarly and thoughtful voices.
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Jaco Gericke at Academia.edu
Gericke on philosophy of ancient Israelite religion at Common Sense Atheism
Dr. Gericke’s Books:
What is a God? Philosophical Perspectives on Divine Essence in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible and Philosophy of Religion
Mentioned in the show:
History of ancient Israel and Judah at Wikipedia
Elohim at Wikipedia
The Origins of Biblical Monotheism by Mark S. Smith
Concepts of God at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Perfect being theology at Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Jacques Derrida at Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (see Section 2 in particular)
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