Death and Symbolic Immortality in Second Temple Wisdom Instructions Público
Williamson, Jr., Robert (2011)
Abstract
This study examines the transformations in the constructions of
symbolic immortality in
the major wisdom instructions of the early Second Temple Period. As
a theoretical
framework, it draws on a branch of experimental social psychology
known as Terror
Management Theory (TMT), which builds on the work of social
anthropologist Ernest
Becker. TMT argues that the natural state of humankind is a
constant and debilitating
anxiety about death resulting from the combination of a biological
predisposition toward
self-preservation awareness of death's inevitability. It claims
that humankind overcomes
this terror of death by constructing cultural worldviews that
enable individuals to view
themselves as beings of eternal significance capable of
transcending death either literally
or symbolically.
The present study considers whether and how the various Hebrew
wisdom instructions
function as buffers against death anxiety in the manner predicted
by Terror Management
Theory. It begins with Proverbs 10-29, which serves as a baseline
for the worldview of
traditional wisdom. It argues that Proverbs 10-29 offers its
adherents the possibility of
death transcendence, primarily in the biological and creative
modes. In Proverbs 1-9, the
worldview of traditional wisdom comes under threat from alternative
worldviews, the
worldview defense mechanisms of exaggeration and derogation.
Qohelet represents a
complete impairment of all modes of symbolic immortality. Having
concluded that the
modes of death transcendence offered him by his tradition have
failed, Qohelet is left
unbuffered against death anxiety, which threatens to overshadow him
altogether. Ben
Sira and 4QInstruction representing competing attempts to
resymbolize the wisdom
tradition, each preserving aspects of the traditional worldview but
reconstituting it
through appeal to modes of symbolic death transcendence from
outside traditional
wisdom-apocalyptic in the case of 4QInstruction and Torah
traditions in the case of Ben
Sira.
The study suggests that that the process of symbolization,
desymbolization, and
resymbolization of the wisdom worldview is consistent with the
social changes taking
places in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods. During this period
of cultural transition, at
least parts of the traditional worldview collapsed, as evidenced by
Qohelet, while others
resymoblized, as in the cases of 4QInstruction and Ben Sira.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS Introduction:
Wisdom, Death, and Symbolic Immortality 1
Terror Management Theory 5Empirical Evidence for Terror Management Theory 9
Terror Management Theory and the Ancient Near East 17
Terror Management Theory and the Transformation of Wisdom 22
Chapter 1:
Symbolic Death Transcendence in Proverbs 10-29 24
Date, Setting, and Purpose of Proverbs 10-29 24
Values, Success, and "Self-Esteem" in the Worldview of Proverbs 10-29 26
Order and Security in the Worldview of Proverbs 10-29 30
Proverbs 10-29 and the Tun-Ergehen-Zusammenhang 30 Yhwh's Protection of the Righteous 36The Paths of the Righteous and the Wicked 38
Security of Motion 39
Direction of Motion 42
Symbolic Death Transcendence in Proverbs 10-29 44
Literal and Symbolic Immortality in Psychological Perspective 51
The Endurance of Memory in Proverbs 10:7 54
Symbolic Immortality in the Creative Mode 57
Symbolic Immortality in the Biological Mode 62
Symbolic Immortality in the Religious Mode 68
Do the Righteous Transcend Death? 70
Chapter 2:
Wisdom and Worldview Defense in Proverbs 1-9 77
Date and Setting of Proverbs 1-9 77
Symbolic Death Transcendence in Proverbs 1-9 81
Symbolic Immortality in the Biological and Biosocial Modes 81
Symbolic Immortality in the Creative Mode 85
Symbolic Immortality in the Natural Mode 88
Proverbs 3:19-20 90
Proverbs 8:27-29 92
Symbolic Immortality in the Religious Mode 97
Proverbs 8:22-31 98
Proverbs 3:13-20 103
Proverbs 4:5-7 104
Wisdom as Heavenly Archetype 106
Worldview Enhancement as a Response to Worldview Threat 108
Evidence of Competing Worldviews in Proverbs 1-9 110
The Dynamics of Cultural Worldview Defense 113
Derogation 115Association of Worldview Violators with Death 116
The "Man Speaking Perversities" 123
The "Strange Woman" 124Conclusions: Proverbs 1-9 as a Worldview under Threat 127
Chapter 3:
Desymbolization of Symbolic Immortalities in the Book of Qohelet 133
"What Profit is There?": A Search for Death Transcendence 137
The Failure of Symbolic Immortalities in Qohelet 140
The Failure of Symbolic Immortality in the 141
Biological/Biosocial ModeThe Biological Mode 141
The Biosocial Mode 142
The Failure of Symbolic Immortality in the Creative Mode 144
The Failure of Symbolic Immortality in the Natural Mode 151
The Failure of Symbolic Immortality in the Religious Mode 158
Humankind's Connection to God 158
Literal Immortality in Qohelet? 171
Death in Qohelet: The Broken Connection 174
Qohelet 2:14-16 174 Qohelet 3:18-21 178 Qohelet 9:1-3 180 Qohelet in Historical Context 182 Chapter 4: Reading Qohelet as a Desymbolized Worldview 189Qohelet and Cosmic Death 189
The Incursion of Death into Life 200
Separation 205 Disintegration 206 Stasis 208Life as Mimetic Death 212
Vitality in the Midst of Mimetic Death 216
Qohelet and Enjoyment 217
Qohelet 2:24-26 218
Qohelet 3:22 220
Qohelet 9:7-10 222
Enjoyment in Psychological Perspective 225
Qohelet's Counsel for Human Connections 227
Human Connection in Psychological Perspective 229
Qohelet and His Contradictions 231
The Collapse of Wisdom in Qohelet 237
The Resymbolization of Symbolic Immortality in 4QInstruction 240
Background to 4QInstruction 241
Symbolic Immortality in the Biological and Biosocial Modes 244
Symbolic Immortality in the Creative Mode 248
Symbolic Immortality in the Natural Mode 252
The Orderly Design of the Cosmos 252
Periodization of History 256
Creation and Eschatological Judgment 258
Esoteric Knowledge of the Order of Creation 261
Conclusions on the Natural Mode 264
Immortality in the Religious Mode: Literal Life after Death 265
The Final Destruction of the Wicked 265
Reward for the Righteous: Literal Life after Death 269
Conclusions on the Religious Mode 274
4QInstruction and the Wisdom Tradition 275
Chapter 6:Resymbolizations of Symbolic Immortality in the Book of Ben Sira 280
Date and Social Setting of Ben Sira 281
Symbolic Immortality in the Biological and Biosocial Modes 283
The Biological Mode 283
The Biosocial Mode 283
Symbolic Immortality in the Creative Mode 287
The Survival of the Name 287
The Transmission of Instruction 292
Symbolic Immortality in the Natural Mode 294
Humankind's Place in the Cosmos 299
Creation and Human (Im)mortality 303
Symbolic Immortality in the Religious Mode 304
Personalizing God 305
Wisdom as God's Presence in Temple and Torah 307
God's Presence Embodied in the Priesthood 311
Literal Immortality in the Book of Ben Sira? 314
Death in the Book of Ben Sira 315
Conclusion 318 Conclusion:Death and Symbolic Immortality 319
Works Cited 327
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