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Benatar’s Asymmetry Argument has been challenged in a number of places. Some have suggested that the distinction between a life worth starting and a life worth continuing does not hold up to scrutiny (DeGrazia 2012; Metz 2011, 241). Why think these are two distinct standards? For example, why not hold that a life worth starting…

Article Possible memories of vivification rituals also figure prominently in the sacerdotal profile of one of the most famous divine mediators of Jewish tradition – the high priest, who is often understood in later Jewish interpretations as an eschatological imago Dei. We have seen how several pseudepigraphical imagines Dei were endowed with attributes and functions…

Article In the Bible Many verses in the Bible reflect a belief in an anthropomorphic God; in other words, the Lord has a body which has a head, limbs, and so forth. This concept is attested in the whole Bible both explicitly and implicitly. It is clear from early sources that in the biblical period,…

Article In recent decades there has been an increased scholarly interest in rabbinic and Hekhalot testimonies pertaining to the so-called two powers in heaven controversy. On the two powers in heaven controversy see: D. Boyarin, “Two Powers in Heaven; or, the Making of a Heresy,” in The Idea of Biblical Interpretation: Essays in Honor of…

In antiquity, the highest “god” (be he pagan, Jewish, or Christian) was a member of a larger class, “gods.” The very idea of a theos hypsistos—a favorite designation for Israel’s god in the Septuagint—is itself intrinsically comparative: the god in question is the highest of all the (other) gods. Even the phrase εἷς θεὸς ἐν…