‘De waarheid zal u vrijmaken’. Wij-zij-denken en de ‘jaloerse God’ van het Oude Testament

Samenvatting

The Old Testament makes two major claims: Israel alone is YHWH’s chosen people, and YHWH is the one true God. Contemporary debate on the intersection of monotheism and religious exclusivism, criticizes these claims for being open to a religious us-versus-them type of thought. The Old Testament texts which buttress this discussion, however, are selected such that this critique ends placing the discussion in a fundamentalistic framework. This article demonstrates that the wide variety of Old Testament texts cannot be reduced to a position which sets Israel over against the nations. Second, it argues that the Old Testament’s truth claims cannot be separated from the broad portrayal of the historical relationship between God and humanity, nor from the existence of evil in this world. Third, the Old Testament does not depict YHWH as an arbitrary, capricious God, but as a passionate, reliable covenant partner
in His relationship with Israel.