Papers by Tyson Putthoff, PhD
Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2000
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Anthropology (Jewish and Christian), 2021
Examines "anthropology" in Jewish and Christian thought from antiquity to the present.
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Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (EBR)
An analysis of the concept of 'mystery' in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the New Testament and ... more An analysis of the concept of 'mystery' in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the New Testament and Second Temple Judaism. For submission in the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (EBR).
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In the present study, I contend that Joseph and Aseneth establishes a model for an elite Jewish u... more In the present study, I contend that Joseph and Aseneth establishes a model for an elite Jewish unit, set apart from the general populace, who mediate between God and humanity. They serve as the medium through whom God transfers his regenerating, recreating Spirit to humankind. As pneumatic intermediaries, the unit obtain a state of existence higher even than that of other Jews. Aseneth is exemplary of this defeat of the old ontological condition and entry into the new. She is also prototype of those who dispense God’s Spirit to others so that they too can participate in the new creation. To obtain this mediatorial role and attain to this exalted condition, one must commit to the via mystica modelled by Aseneth, at the end of which lies visionary ‘meal’ experience—a gastronomical vision—in which the initiate ingests the presence of God. Like Aseneth, initiates into this elite unit therefore engage in sustained, ritual asceticism. Their principal aim in doing so is to prompt the visionary-cognitive encounter with the divine. Upon beholding God directly, the initiate takes possession of the Spirit of life and undergoes an ontological transformation such that he or she comes to possess the existence of the new creation. God’s pneumatic presence is so thoroughly permeating that the authors cannot but think of its reception and regenerating effects as anything other than an experience of ingestion, or what I call mystical theophagy.
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Books by Tyson Putthoff, PhD
Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East, 2020
Chapter 4 on Hittite Anatolia. From my book with CUP, 2020.
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Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East, 2020
Chapter 3 on ancient Mesopotamia. From my book with CUP, 2020.
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2017
This chapter examines the anthropology of Hekhalot mysticism. The Hekhalot mystics are contempora... more This chapter examines the anthropology of Hekhalot mysticism. The Hekhalot mystics are contemporaneous to the rabbinic movement, and their ideas and practices are preserved in the so-called Hekhalot literature. I investigate the work called Hekhalot Zutarti, or the ‘Lesser Temples’, which offers instructions for aspiring mystics who want to navigate the heavenly palaces and behold God on his throne safely and successfully. Ontological aspects of the self are perhaps more explicit in Hekhalot anthropology than in the anthropology of any other variety of Judaism. According to Hekhalot anthropology, the self is able to be changed both by and into the glory of God. But it does not undergo transformation without first undergoing painful destruction. Through rigorous praxis, the mystic descends into himself and enters heaven therein. Here he traverses the various temples until he arrives at the highest heaven, where God sits on his throne. Upon seeing God, the self undergoes terrible destruction, for the presence of God is fatal to anyone it contacts. However, rather than remain dead, the worthy self emerges on the other side radically and gloriously transformed. It undergoes such a transformation that it now transcends even the most powerful angels in heaven. It is now re-made of the incinerating fire of which God himself is made and can now enjoy his presence in safety.
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2017
This chapter examines the anthropology of Rabbinic Judaism. Tractate Sotah of the Babylonian Talm... more This chapter examines the anthropology of Rabbinic Judaism. Tractate Sotah of the Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, re-presents a widespread ancient tradition in which the disciple of the Sages, by studying Torah and performing the well known prayer called the Amidah (among others), can enter God’s space even without the Jerusalem Temple and behold his face. During this encounter, the disciple ingests God’s presence through his eyes like one eats or drinks through the mouth. The self undergoes transformation in which its own space shifts in a way that it cannot completely be distinguished from God’s space, and the divine presence overtakes the self to the point that it can now survive without food or drink for long periods of time. Just as Moses became like the angels at Sinai and the righteous shall become in the world to come, the self can likewise partake in this transcendent state even now and overcome the most dreadful of circumstances.
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Ontological Aspects of Early Jewish Anthropology, 2017
In the present chapter, my interest is in ontological aspects of Qumran sectarian anthropology. I... more In the present chapter, my interest is in ontological aspects of Qumran sectarian anthropology. I want to know in what sense the community believe themselves to be a group who now stand in place of the Jerusalem Temple. By looking into various sectarian writings, we shall learn more about the community’s collective self-understanding and, in particular, gain insight into beliefs about the ontological state of the sectarian self.
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Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East, 2020
Chapter 5 "YHWH and his Theomorphic Body". From my recently published book Gods and Humans in the... more Chapter 5 "YHWH and his Theomorphic Body". From my recently published book Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East. CUP, 2020
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Gods and Humans in the Ancient Near East, 2020
In this book, Tyson Putthoff explores the relationship between gods and
humans, and between divin... more In this book, Tyson Putthoff explores the relationship between gods and
humans, and between divine nature and human nature, in the Ancient
Near East. In this world, gods lived among humans. The two groups shared
the world with one another, each playing a special role in maintaining
order in the cosmos. Humans also shared aspects of a godlike nature. Even in their natural condition, humans enjoyed a taste of the divine state. Indeed, gods not only lived among humans, but also they lived inside them, taking up residence in the physical body. As such, human nature was actually a composite of humanity and divinity. Putthoff offers new insights into the ancients’ understanding of humanity’s relationship with the gods, providing a comparative study of this phenomenon from the third millennium BCE to the first century CE.
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Papers by Tyson Putthoff, PhD
Books by Tyson Putthoff, PhD
humans, and between divine nature and human nature, in the Ancient
Near East. In this world, gods lived among humans. The two groups shared
the world with one another, each playing a special role in maintaining
order in the cosmos. Humans also shared aspects of a godlike nature. Even in their natural condition, humans enjoyed a taste of the divine state. Indeed, gods not only lived among humans, but also they lived inside them, taking up residence in the physical body. As such, human nature was actually a composite of humanity and divinity. Putthoff offers new insights into the ancients’ understanding of humanity’s relationship with the gods, providing a comparative study of this phenomenon from the third millennium BCE to the first century CE.
humans, and between divine nature and human nature, in the Ancient
Near East. In this world, gods lived among humans. The two groups shared
the world with one another, each playing a special role in maintaining
order in the cosmos. Humans also shared aspects of a godlike nature. Even in their natural condition, humans enjoyed a taste of the divine state. Indeed, gods not only lived among humans, but also they lived inside them, taking up residence in the physical body. As such, human nature was actually a composite of humanity and divinity. Putthoff offers new insights into the ancients’ understanding of humanity’s relationship with the gods, providing a comparative study of this phenomenon from the third millennium BCE to the first century CE.
I argue that throughout the Ancient Near East, the human was imagined to possess a monstrous inclination. Naturally, one did not need to look far to see how truly violent and destructive humans could be. Even the best of the best had the potential to behave monstrously. In fact, even the greatest deities in heaven had a monstrous capacity such that they could throw the cosmos into utter chaos if provoked. But just as it is today, it turns out that in antiquity, too, the monster was not a creature lurking about out there. It lived instead within the self. Those awful aspects of the self which haunted the ancients came to life in the form of violent deities, gruesome battles, bloody deaths and sickening displays of evil. The human creature, in the ancient imagination, was nothing short of a monstrous creature.
humans, and between divine nature and human nature, in the Ancient
Near East. In this world gods lived among humans. The two groups
shared the world with one another, each playing a special role in
maintaining order in the cosmos. Humans also shared aspects of a
godlike nature.
Even in their natural condition, humans enjoyed a taste of the divine
state. Indeed, gods not only lived among humans but also lived inside
them, taking up residence in the physical body. As such, human nature
was actually a composite of humanity and divinity. Putthoff offers new
insights into the ancients’ understanding of humanity’s relationship
with the gods, providing a comparative study of this phenomenon from
the third millennium BCE to the first century CE. His book will be of
interest to scholars and students of history, philosophy, theology and
anthropology of the Ancient Near East and the biblical world.
Book can be accessed at https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/gods-and-humans-in-the-ancient-near-east/8BEA550FAC7F9B07504807951BE58D3B