I spent many years teaching young
people, some with exceptionally brilliant minds, and some of whom adopted my
religion. Dealing with an inquisitive and brilliant mind is a challenge. So, as
off topic as this is, I am breaking a self-imposed rule to pass on a Bible question that I cannot answer and
do not have the time to research. I don’t expect my blog readers to spend
excessive time researching it either. But one of you might know the answer.
First some preliminaries: Our
inquisitor is reading through the Bible with more attention to detail than
before. They describe themselves as a ‘novice Bible reader.’ They
were in the Book of Numbers but were distracted by something they read in
Bright’s 1949 book, The Kingdom of God. This led them to 1 Samuel,
producing a flood of research questions. The one that remains unanswered
concerns Hannah.
At the tabernacle, Hannah prays to
Jehovah for a child. Jehovah grants her wish. The question is: If Hannah had
been a Canaanite, what would she have done? Now this may seem an irrelevant
question. But it is not. The four Books of Kings set up contrasts between true
and false worship. The Samuel narrative especially does this. Without question,
those who read the Hannah narrative in ancient times would have seen more than
we do. The writer’s point of view is that of a covenant supporter. The Mosaic
Covenant is antagonistic to Canaanite practice.
So, do we know, can we find out,
what a Canaanite Hannah would have done? I teach my students to ask
wide-ranging questions. This is the result.
Wish List
Several controversialist booklets
were written to refute Food for Thinking Questions. I don’t have the
titles for most. Can you fill in the blanks? Do you know the titles? Do you
have any of these?
A large number of anti-Russell
pamphlets were written by British Brethren. None of these are available to me
in the United States. Can one of my British readers compile a list? Make
copies? Otherwise locate them?
I need a more complete list of
early-days evangelists. Anyone?
I would like to see any letters,
postcards, personal notes, diaries written by adherents in the Russell era no
matter how insignificant they may seem. Anyone?
3 comments:
I'm sure Bruce that you could answer this far better than I, but for times winged chariot.
This may be too simplistic an answer for your gifted colleague, of course, but while the Mosaic covenant is antagonistic to Canaanite practice, it is not necessarily so to Canaanite individuals willing to forgo such practices. The examples of the Canaanite Rahab and her family, as well as the Gibeonites, illustrate this fact and demonstrate that no Canaanite individual or, indeed, group was necessarily beyond reform and the reach of Jehovah's love.
So a Canaanite equivalent of Hannah, desirous of having a child and devoting it to the worship of Jehovah (as opposed to Canaanite gods and the sacrifice of children this is known to have sometimes entailed) could surely have humbly sought the help of God in prayer. (The difficulties and practicalities of her and her husband adopting and adapting to live with the Israelites would be complex, no doubt, and call for considerable humility. But isn't this a quality all should strive for?)
As was later stated: “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”
While Gary's comment is factual and thoughtful, the question isn't what would a convert do, but what would a pagan Canaanite do.
Sorry Bruce, but I entirely misunderstood the question and can see that, as a result, an answer becomes far more complex. I'll have one last go, hopefully to redeem myself!
I find it extremely difficult to contemplate the idea of a Canaanite equivalent to Hannah who seems too pure in heart to have such a counterpart. If a Canaanite woman was desirous of child she would, no doubt, have taken advice from her local Baal priest or Asherah priestess and been encouraged into various casual encounters tantamount to sacred prostitution. I suspect that not all Canaanite tribes were the same, but certain ones are known to have practiced child sacrifice as mentioned in the Bible and supported by various archaeological finds. In such instances, if pregnancy and childbirth resulted the firstborn child was apparently offered back to the god quite literally as a burnt offering in thanks for their fertility and, presumably, mothers desirous of having 'children of their own' repeated the practice all over again, but this time retaining the child. Long before this time, in my estimation, such a Canaanite female had ceased to be an equivalent to Hannah.
Among other things, the inspiring Biblical accounts involving Hannah and Samuel, and indeed Jephthah and his daughter, are notable in presenting the superiority of Israelite worship over Canaanite practice. Fertility gods and goddesses were unnecessary for the Israelites while the worship of Jehovah was exalted and family life and kinship championed. These also served as examples and emphasised the importance of the firstborn in particular, who - like Samuel and Jephthah's daughter - should be devoted in their life and service to Jehovah, regardless of where they live.
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