Back to top: Chapter 21
Proclamation
1 The first function of the texts concerning the divine sphere is to present in an articulate form the vision that had crystallized over time. But there is another aspect of these narratives that is more closely related to our current interest: that these narratives explicitly and insistently involve their interlocutors. A detailed study of these narratives is found in a companion volume and website.
2 Biblical documentation is very rich in explicit indications that narratives must be presented and proclaimed to the whole people, and contains extensive accounts of the meaning of its message. The closest analogy in Mesopotamia is the liturgical reading of the Enūma elīš, but the proclamation aspect of the myths is not clear.
Back to top: Chapter 21
The kerygmatic nature of narratives
3 The kerygmatic nature of the message consists of the communicative intent of the narrative. Proclamation is a form of presence: in the Biblical context this means the presence of God, who intervenes as a subject; while in the Mesopotamian context, the presence of the absolute is communicated as an object without intervention.
4 Mesopotamian myths are essentially static: the texts do not solicit an answer or even less an assent. It imposes no expectation of participation.
5 In the biblical conception, one cannot listen to the text without accepting its challenge. The text provokes an encounter, and calls forth a response. Even when presented as an object, the perception of God in the Bible is of a subject.