The Antitheist meets the Shepherd: A response to Yoram Hazony’s <i>The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture</i>

Abstract

Yoram Hazony’s book begins by asking whether there is something important missing in our understanding of the Hebrew Bible (2012, ix). His answer, as you might have expected, is yes. But the nature of the answer is something you might not have anticipated. According to Hazony, the problem is that we think of the Bible as works of revelation rather than reason. Hazony does not deny that the Hebrew Bible is a work of revelation, but he does worry that this confession has obscured the fact that these works were (and are) first and foremost exercises in philosophical reasoning. As I read The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture I began to wonder how Hazony’s conception of the Bible would stand up against the vociferous critiques of the new atheists. Admittedly, a new atheist might appear to be a rather curious choice for an interlocutor given that, when it comes to religion, they are typically the very antithesis of nuanced and charitable critical analysis. Even so, there is value in choosing a new atheist as an interlocutor given their effectiveness at summarizing common objections to the Bible with all the skill of the populist rhetorician. We can put it this way: it would surely be foolhardy to suggest that the worth of a tent be judged by its ability to withstand a hurricane. Nonetheless, if a tent can withstand a hurricane surely that would count in its favor. Similarly, while it would be foolhardy to judge Hazony’s view of the Bible simply on its ability to neutralize new atheist incredulity, nonetheless, if it can provide a viable response to new atheist incredulity, that would surely count in its favor. With that in mind, I have decided to invite to the table perhaps the most vitriolic of the new atheists, the late Christopher Hitchens. Can Hazony’s treatment of the Bible respond effectively to the main objections raised by this fierce critic? To answer this question, I will look briefly at Hitchens’ bestseller god is not Great (2007) where we will see that he rejects the Bible for its alleged triviality, ignorant provincialism and immorality. On each point we will find that Hazony’s treatment of the Bible as works of philosophy offers a reply. But Hazony’s account is not without problems. I will close by noting one important objection: while Hazony states that the biblical writers view their works as vindicated by concordance with moral reason and received wisdom, those texts contain much content that seems to violate moral reason and received wisdom. While Hazony’s view allows the reader to resolve this tension by repudiating specific readings of problem texts, this leaves us in danger of saving the Bible by reducing it to the pliant wax into which we press the seal of our own errant perspectives. We begin with popular skeptical views of the Bible, and that brings us to chapter 7 of Hitchens’ bestseller god is not Great, which is titled: “Revelation: The