Richard Elliott Friedman in Who Wrote the Bible? (1987). Bloom read this work, for he refers to it in another context in The Book of J. However, Bloom fails to credit Friedman with the idea that is at the heart of The Book of J's thesis. He should have paid more attention, for not only is Friedman more cautious in stating the possibility that J was female, but he notes evidence that indicates that J must be later than the time of Rehoboam—evidence that Bloom ignores. Friedman points out that J's account of Isaac's blessing of Esau states that the neighboring nation of Edom will serve Israel for a time, but will eventually achieve independence. Since Edom's successful rebellion took place during the 840s B.C.E., J must have been written after that time.

It should also be pointed out that the eighth century B.C.E. prophets Amos and Hosea depict the time when the Israelites were wandering in the wilder-ness as an ideal era of simple, faithful worship (Amos 5:25; Hosea 2:15, 12:9-10). Moreover, they assume that their audience feels the same way. Thus, J's view of the desert wanderings as a period of almost constant complaining and rebellion against Moses does not seem to be simply a repetition of ancient

Heaven: A History, by Colleen McDan-nell and Bernhard Lang (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988). xiv + 410 pp., illus. $29.95, cloth.

I n Heaven, Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang have written a history

of the changing concepts of heaven within the Christian tradition. They begin with the Semitic view as exem-plified in the Hebrew scriptures and end with concepts in contemporary Christianity.

Each period in Christian thought, unhappy with the descriptions of earlier generations, seems to explain heaven in a different way. Though all interpreters

tradition. It more likely reflects a reinterpretation of the Exodus experi-ence based on the religious situation during the mid- to late eighth century B.C.E.

Even more controversial than the claim that J was a woman is Bloom's contention that J was a non-religious or even anti-religious writer who reveled in depicting a childish, impish Yahweh. The public needs an occasional reminder that the Bible contains a number of diverse and sometimes conflicting theological viewpoints. J's anthropo-morphic Yahweh is certainly different from the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent spirit worshiped in later Judaism and Christianity. But Bloom's claim that J mocks Yahweh's imperfec-tions seems to be drawn more from Bloom's own feelings about God and normative religion than from J's text.

In recent years a number of studies of Israelite religion have emphasized its continuity with Canaanite cultic prac-tices. The evidence seems to indicate that many, if not most, Israelites equated Yahweh with the Canaanite god El (or occasionally even with Baal), worshiped Yahweh at high places formerly asso-ciated with Canaanite deities, and regarded the goddess Asherah as Yah-

base their views on the Christian New Testament, there has been a tremendous variety. This is because the biblical view is so sparse and unclear, characterized mainly by a uncompromising "charis-matic fixation on God where Christians are `children of God' in this world and the next." Eternal life is composed of heavenly liturgies, spiritual beings, and an angelic, celibate lifestyle. In short, heaven is a rather boring place.

This view changed in the early Christian church through the writings of St. Augustine and others. The theocratic model was redefined in terms of monastic lifestyle and Neoplatonic philosophy, where the "flight in solitude

weh's consort. The writings of the prophets as well as the materials in First and Second Kings testify to the existence of such syncretism in Israelite religion during the time of the monarchy. J wrote in this environ-ment. So, the very fact that J insists that the Patriarchs worshiped Yahweh by name (not as El-Shadday, El-Bethel, or other Canaanite names, as other sources contend) is clearly a theological statement. J's Yahweh is not equated with Canaanite gods, and at Sinai He orders that Canaanite altars, pillars, and sacred poles be destroyed (Exodus 34:13). Here J is clearly criticizing the accepted religion of his or her time and siding with the opposition movement initiated by the prophets. Since Bloom fails to recognize the pervasiveness of the Canaanite-Yahwistic syncretism during the monarchy, he naturally misses the theological force of J's work.

Scholars will reject most of Bloom's thesis and The Book of J will probably have little impact on the future direction of biblical studies. But the audacious style in which it is written and Bloom's reputation as a literary critic will undoubtedly keep it on the best-seller lists for some time to come. •

to Solitary" emphasized the privatized nature of heaven. Even the community psalm-singing saints take a second place to the individual's relationship with God. Medieval scholastics again rede-fined the view of the afterlife, although they reaffirmed Augustine's "beatific vision" and stressed its intellectual quality. All earthly concerns were denied; God and the soul met in the empyrean, a transcendent, light-filled place outside of, but enveloping, the universe. Entering the divine light provided the highest bliss human creatures could attain. The scholastic vision is best symbolized by the Gothic cathedral and the magnificence of Dante's Paradiso.

The medieval period also gave an alternative view of heaven, where a more intimate, blessed union with Jesus was envisioned by the mystics. In their view, God granted heavenly lovemaking to the

Heaven Vern L. Bullough

Fall 1991 53

virgins, and intimate union transcended the intellectual joys of the vision of God. Heaven was not merely God dazzling the saints with his majesty, but it could also be a place where the soul was caressed as a lover. Protestant reformers rejected the scholastic view as unbiblical and medieval mysticism as visionary fancy, as did Tridentine Catholics. These critics revived the charismatic zeal of the New Testament at the expense of the intellectualism inherited from early Augustine and the scholastics. True Christians in Calvinism and Catholic Jansenism enjoyed praising the Lord more than anything else in this world and the next.

The major reaction to these views came in the eighteenth century and was led by Emmanuel Swedenborg, who claimed to have been transported to heaven in his visions. He emphasized the nearness of the next world to this one, its material character, and its acceptance of human love and progress. The height of this anthropocentric view of heaven was reached in the nineteenth century, when a number of popular writers and artists, as well as theolo-gians, emphasized the union of the lover and the beloved, productive work, spiritual development, and technologi-cal progress. Social life, marriage, sexuality, and work were divinely ordered. Ideas of eternal life were not modeled on the enthusiastic worship of religious charismatics, but on an ideal-ized life of leisure, service, and spiritual growth. This view is today perpetuated in the theology of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and the spiritualists, as well as in contemporary popular culture and in the glimpses of afterlife in near-death experiences.

Much contemporary theology, how-ever, has rejected this anthropocentric view of the next world. Many of the current theologians either reject an afterlife or prefer to say nothing about it. Those who deal with it present a minimal description of heaven. Even the charismatics who believe in "rapture" (immediate salvation) concentrate more on the evils of the last days than the joys of heaven. Current fundamental-ists, for the most part, assert that the Bible reveals very little about the next life while liberal Christian writers regard

such knowledge as essentially unattain-able.

Since this is the case, the question to ask of believers in heaven (71 percent of Americans believed in heaven in 1982) is what kind of afterlife they imagine. In the past poets and artists have led the way in describing it most imagi-natively, but it might be symptomatic of the times that there is today, with only a few exceptions, a paucity of imagination. Perhaps this reflects a real lack of concern over the next world and

African-American Humanism: An Anthology, edited by Norm R. Allen, Jr. (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1991). 300 pages. $16.95. Norm Allen, Jr., the executive director of African-Americans for Humanism, has compiled a detailed resource book, demonstrating the underlying humanist thread that runs through much of the black experience in the United States. Featuring articles both by and about such prominent Americans as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes, this volume also includes articles on contemporary African-American humanists and dis-cusses the connections between these individuals and the current African scene. This volume is a must for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the humanist experience.

Original Intent: Chief Justice Rehnquist and the Course of American Church/ State Relations, by Derek Davis (Buf-falo: Prometheus Books, 1991). 220 pages. $24.95 cloth. Chief Justice William Rehnquist has never made it a secret that he considers the wall between church and state to be an unnecessary barrier, and during his time on the bench he has done his best to make it come tumbling down. This book examines the Supreme Court's historical interpretation of the First Amendment's establishment clause, and shows how Rehnquist's evaluation deviates greatly

the need to concentrate on the concerns of this one, with people who adhere to the concept of heaven simply repeating unexamined beliefs without real analysis or interest. Whatever the reason, interest in the afterlife is on the decline.

McDannell and Lang have written an interesting and fascinating account of one of the key elements in Western religious thinking. In the process, they have emphasized how conceptions of heaven have reflected the changing concerns of the living. s

from previous rulings. As he is joined by an increasing number of colleagues who share his view, Rehnquist's influ-ence is more and more ominous for those who prefer to keep that wall firmly intact.

Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Here-sies, by George H. Smith (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1991). 324 pages. $22.95 cloth. Fans of George Smith's Atheism: The Case Against God will be delighted by his latest offering, as will devotees of Ayn Rand's Objectivism. In a series of essays, Smith discusses the relevance of atheism today, and the best arguments for it. He also attempts to show how Rand's philosophy is firmly grounded in a thoroughly godless world view. This book is sure to spark controversies, not only amongst theists but also amongst atheists who find Objectivism objectionable.

A lcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? by Charles Bufe (San Francisco: See Sharp Press, 1991). 158 pages. $9.95 paper. While falling short of labeling AA a cult, this iconoclastic book points out some of the ways in which AA, by presenting itself as the one true cure for alcoholism, can at times be more harmful than helpful to substance abusers. The most interesting part of the book is Bufe's discussion of AA's beginnings as an offshoot of the funda-mentalist Christian Oxford Movement

Books in Brief

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