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See this imageYou Shall Be As Gods: A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament and Its Tradition Paperback – July 1, 1991
by Erich Fromm (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 12 customer reviews
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Biography
Erich Seligmann Fromm (German: [fʀɔm]; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Arturo Espinosa [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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James E. Egolf
5.0 out of 5 stars"Cheap Grace" vs. Ultimate ValuesAugust 21, 2013
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Erich Fromm (1900-1980)wrote a facinating study of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. His book YOU SHALL BE AS GODS is an interesting view of Old Testament literature. Fromm focused on the concepts and convictions of the Old Testament as opposed to formality and fixation on traditions. Fromm's book was an attempt to integrate such ideas as compassion, kindness, mercy, etc. with traditions to make the Old Testament literature a call to action rather than comfortable apathy. Fromm cited interesting quotes from the Rabbincal Midrash and Talmud.
The beginning sections of the book provided an interesting study of interpretations of God. Fromm argued that God changed from an unrestrained tyrant to a constitutional monarch Who was bound by His own convenents and rules. For example, even God repented re the Flood Story when He repented via Genesis 9:11. When Abraham confronted God re Genesis 18, Abraham bluntly asked God if God would act unjustly by condemning the innocent with the guilty. Fromm cited Moses' attempt to undermine God's wrath. An interesting interpretation of these confrontations is intimacy with the Supreme Being. Closeness to God and His "laws" is a thoughtful analysis.
Yet, Fromm was clear that closeness to God was NOT an attempt to define God. The phrase in Exodus 3:14 that, "I AM WHO I AM" was attempt to deter idol worship. Fromm noted that idols are dead while God and people are creative and active. Men and woman should act and should act according to God's commands and rules. Basically, as Fromm knew, the Ancient Hebrews had different views of God. God could be tied to the land and race of the Hebrews. Or God could be universal as suggested in the narrative re Noah when God made a convenent with the human race. The Hebrew Prophet Habakkuk was probably the first to separate the concept of God from the land and race. Supposedly King David's father was Hebrew, but his mother was a Moabite woman.
Not only did Fromm write about the concept of God, Fromm wrote about the concept of man (men and women). Fromm cited the Creation Story in that everything God created was good except man. God created men and women in His Image, and Fromm interpreted this view that people had to the capacity for good or evil. The goal was for people to live according to the Image of God, but people had freedom to make a choice. God's call that people should be a "Holy Nation" meant that men and women should be better than their current status.
Are men and women predestined? According to Fromm the answer was "No." As Fromm noted, a difference exists between predictions and predestination. In other words, careless behavior and evil acts will eventually result in terrible consequences. Since people are free to make decions, their acts have consequences-good or evil. Much of The Decalogue dealt with social relationships such as murder, theft, adultry, etc. Fromm alerted readers that some of the Old Testament "heroes" had serious character flaws. Noah was confused. Cain was irresponsible. Abraham was a coward when he let the men of Sodom and Gomorrah violate his wife and daughters. King David committed unforgiveable crimes. In other words, men and women can overcome their evil inclinations if willing to recognize their weaknesses and their potential to be better people.
One of the last sections of the book dealt with the Psalms. Fromm catagorized the Psalms into four types of poetry. He explained a one mood Psalm as one where the mood did not change. The first Psalm is one of self righteousness. The 23rd. Psalm is one of contentment. The 137th. Psalm is one of bitter hatred. From described a dynamic Psalm as one with a sudden mood change such as the sixth and eighth Psalms. A messianic Psalm is one that is optimistic about the future such as the 90th Psalm. A hymnic Psalm is one of praise such as the 150th Psalm.
The Epilogue of the book dealt with the 22nd. Psalm and Christ's Passion. From argued that he found the usual interpretation unsatisfactory. Yet, as G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)noted, Christ's depair was as radical statement as could be, and God was complaining to God. This is obviously a matter of interpretation, and this writer will leave the theologians to debate the issue.
Fromm's book is a good book especially for those readers who are not familiar with the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Fromm provided what may be a radical assessment of the Old Testament, but such assessments can force people to carefully read and think which was Fromm's intention.
James E. Egolf
August 21, 2013
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Jaime Gonella Diaza
4.0 out of 5 starsThe Concept of God and how it evolvesMay 11, 2017
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Well documented historical evolution of the concept of God. Personally I'm not keen on history
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Burton
4.0 out of 5 starsFour StarsDecember 12, 2016
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An interest take of the OT.
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Charles F. Herr
5.0 out of 5 starsI think this book is one of Froom's best. I found his discussion of Judaism is radicalJanuary 31, 2017
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I think this book is one of Froom's best. I found his discussion of Judaism is radical, challenging and surprising. His analysis of Exodus is psychologically fascinating. And the Appendix in which he gives what seems like an obvious explanation of Jesus's saying "My God, my God, why hast thought forsaken me" on the cross resolved the enigma of why Jesus died in despair. (If Froom's explanation is correct, he didn't.)
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Dr. Lee D. Carlson
HALL OF FAME
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly interesting and very originalMay 28, 2002
Format: Paperback
Erich Fromm is not only an interesting thinker but a fine writer, and in this book, one of many that he has written and all of which I have read, he outlines what he calls a radical humanist interpretation of the Old Testament and its history and traditions. In this interpretation, the concept of God evolved from that of a jealous, vengeful spirit to that of a constitutional monarch, and ultimately to a nameless God who is bound by the same morals and principles that govern humankind. Fromm is convincing in his arguments, and even for those readers who will remain unconvinced after the reading of the book, all will no doubt take away an appreciation of the depth of his scholarship.
All of the three major Western religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, owe their origins to the Old Testament, whether this is acknowledged or not, and all have to this day a powerful influence on the lives of millions of people. And yes, as Fromm states in the book, the world's populations do hold a materialistic philosophy that is coupled with ever-increasing globalization and technology, but the acquisition of material goods and the indulgence of their pleasures coexists with a commitment to spirtual values and religion. This superposition of religious and materialistic philosophy shows no sign of abatement.
The radical humanism of Fromm is a philosophy that is delightfully optimistic, and emphasizes the capacity of humans to develop their intellectual powers, to become fully independent, to understand reality as it is, and a renunciation of the initiation of force, the latter of which, Fromm argues, results in intellectual disintegration and emotional dependence. Eschewing a static allegiance to doctrines and concepts that therefore become divorced from experience, Fromm encourages the thinking of concepts as dynamic objects, and cautious that "they have their own lives", and can be aliented from the experiences by which they were invented (discovered). Forgetting the roots of a conceptual structure in experience will transform it to ideology, argues Fromm, and this ideology will usurp the underlying reality of human experience. History will become a history of ideologies, rather than a history of concrete, real individuals who produce ideas. Conceptual structures according to Fromm can never adequately express the experience from which they refer to, and the symbols used allow communication of experiences. But, this also allows an alienation of their use, since such structures are incomplete, and a rush to fill in the gaps, to pad the system, results in one that appears complete, but in reality is still fragmented. It then tends to a state of stagnation and sterility, making it inert and useless. Such is the history of religious concepts in particular, asserts Fromm.
Fromm's interpretation of the Old Testament is essentially as follows:
Stage 1: A dictatorial God as absolute ruler, jealous of the human potential to be God's rival. The use of force and brutality characterizes such a God, who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise and limits human lifetime to 120 years.
Stage 2: God establishes a covenant with Noah and his descendants, promising to never again flood the Earth. For Fromm, the concept of the covenant is one of the most decisive steps in the evolution of Judaism, in that it leads to a conception of complete freedom for humankind, in particular freedom from God. God and human beings become partners in a treaty, this transforming God from an absolute ruler into a constitutional monarch. God then has less freedom to be brutal, to disrepect human life and other living creatures. Abraham's numerical challenge to God at Sodom and Gommorrah is offered in evidence. Abraham's confidence in the principle of universal justice is a departure from the concept of human beings as meek supplicants, fearful of God's reprisals.
Stage 3: The rejection of idols and the subsequent concept of God as a nameless God. One must talk to God, not about him, the latter results in idolatry. The philosophy of Moses Maimonides is offered as evidence of this. The "negative theology" of Maimonides allows only the employment of attributes of actions of God. Both God and humans in this stage become subjected to the same universal principles of truth and justice, and their relationships is no longer confrontational . Conceptions of God then evolve to the more abstract, with God working through history ("horizontally"), and not into it ("vertically").
Fromm's viewpoints on sin and repentance are also very interesting. He points out that in the story of Adam's fall, no mention is made of Adam having committed a sin. Fromm also gives interesting arguments that support his notion that the Old Testament scriptures do not state that humans are intrinsically evil. Humans can choose good with the same potential as their choice for evil, is his reading of these scriptures. The Biblical view, at least from the standpoint of the Old Testament, argues Fromm, is that humans can choose between life and death, good versus evil, and their does not exist any compulsion to choose one rather than the other. God points out the alternatives and asks us to choose life and the good.
Erich Fromm has been away from us for 22 years now, but his writings are to this day still studied diligently by many individuals and they still have a lot to say about human beings, their beliefs, and their relationship to reality. With the complexity of life and knowledge increasing at an accelerating rate, humans now can make copies of themselves, can create thinking machines from mere sand, can travel in space, and can live their lives in ways that the ancient writers of the Old Testament never envisioned. Fromm translates Deuteronomy 30:19: "....I have set before you life and death, choose life....". I think if Fromm were alive, being the optimist he is, he would be proud of what humans now stand for, despite some areas of conflict in the world.
Humans have indeed chosen life, and have become as gods.......
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Jonathan Groner
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 starsJudaism reinterpreted for the modern ageOctober 12, 2009
Format: Paperback
Fromm, a radical humanist (and a nonbeliever in God) still writes in the great Jewish tradition of optimism and of belief in human potential. Fromm had an excellent traditional Jewish upbringing, and although more traditional thinkers will disagree with his conclusions, they are at least well grounded in Old Testament texts.
The book is a bit dated in that one of its intellectual underpinnings is the belief that human beings can perfect themselves through self-understanding, specifically through psychoanalysis. The twenty-first century has not been charitable to that conclusion.
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Aron Mueller
4.0 out of 5 starsMakes the best out of religionDecember 11, 2014
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It demonstrates that if one understands religion and tradition properly as a way to rekindle the human fire not just as a way to dig in its ashes, it can be everlastingly beneficial.
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