Chapter 20 - No King in Israel

(concludes Judges and begins I Samuel)

"It seems to be a recurring feature of religious life that practices which at the outset are characteristic of the entire religious group tend eventually to devolve on a particular "professional" order with in the group."

"It is probably a mistake to label the moments of diffused spontaneity as "good" and those of ordered regularity as "bad." They represent a tension that is inevitable, and each has its merits and its dangers."

Samuel straddles both the period of the judges and the beginning of the monarchy.

Luke's Jesus and Samuel: parallels.

The whole "turning from YHWH to the Baals" is interesting. Don't you think we all tend to do that - consciously or unconsciously?

"...and certainly then as now a religious gathering could easily ignite a political revolution."

"The suffering of the innocent and the success of the unrighteous became problems with which the Israelite theology would wrestle."

constituting a purposeful dialogue of call and response ... without negating the freedom and responsibility of humankind. Not a puppet theater.

God and people respond with 'yea' or 'nay' - hmmm...