The 'Anti-religious' Testimony of the Bible: Criticism of Religion as a Theological Ally

The Dutch theologian K.H. Miskotte (1894-1976) has brought to the fore that the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) contains a profound criticism of religion. Inspired by Barth, he has even called Tanakh as a whole an ‘anti-religious testimony’ and has developed his entire biblical-theological work from this angle. According to Miskotte, criticism of religion is at the core of the Hebrew Bible, as it proclaims the exodus from religious slavery. This proclamation should not be considered a criticism towards other religions but mainly as a self-criticism for the reader/listener of Tanakh.

In the current debate on religion, it is especially Egyptologist Jan Assmann who stresses the critical distinction that ‘Moses’ makes between true and false gods. According to Assmann, the biblical motto ‘No other gods!’ implies violence, or at least the option of violence towards the religious other. With this study I would like to investigate if the biblical-theological approach of K.H. Miskotte could contribute to the current debate on monotheism and violence, as initiated by Assmann. By carefully analyzing the biblical texts that Assmann and Miskotte bring to the fore to support their theses (Exodus 32, Jonah, Psalm 115), I plan to investigate what the exclusivistic confession of Israel (‘No other gods!’) could mean for systematic-theological thinking on revelation, ecclesiology and theology of religions.