Abstract
The question of hope in dark times, though topical, is not new. The Babylonian Exile (597/587–539 BCE) is commonly recognised as perhaps the most profound, yet also most fruitful crisis in biblical (Old Testament) times. It involved the total breakdown of all religious and political structures and institutions that previously had provided meaning and protection, yet it led to significant theological progress, laying the foundations for both Judaism and Christianity. Today the metaphor of exile is sometimes used with reference to the present; however, the connection is usually not further explored. This article examines a biblical exilic voice, the book of Ezekiel, which offers an initial prophetic response to the theological, political and identity crisis of the early Babylonian Exile. While resisting both optimism and despair, Ezekiel arrives at an original, if peculiar, imagination of hope, founded solely on theological conviction. The article outlines this process by discussing select texts of the book as examples, and opens it up to conversation with the present. The logic of Ezekiel’s theocentric hope is bound to ultimately remain foreign to modern thinking. However, while it cannot be directly transferred into our times, the article aims to demonstrate that theological reflection on Ezekiel still yields valuable and transferable impulses for thought.
Highlights
“Dark times [ . . . ] are not new, they are no rarity in history” (Arendt 1973, p. 9)
After presenting the Babylonian Exile as a particular instance of dark times, a discussion of selected relevant texts from the book of Ezekiel will provide the basis for outlining the kind of hope present therein, as a hope not centred on historical merits and familiar religious traditions but unexpectedly emerging from a transcendent source after all contingent certainties have ceased
The beginning of the Babylonian Exile can be regarded as a “dark time” in the sense in which
Summary
Edited by Roger Berkowitz, Jeffrey Katz and Thomas Keenan. New York:New. Use Use of rwḥ the of Ezekiel. Prophet of Spirit: the Spirit: of in rwh the Book of Ezekiel. Studies in Theological Studies the Book of Ezekiel. (Delorme 2019) Delorme, Jean-Philippe. בית ישראלin in Ezekiel: Ezekiel: Identity. (Eagleton 2017) Eagleton, Terry. Vision Vision of the Valley the Bones. Seeking Out the Wisdom (Friebel 2005) Friebel, G.G.2005
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