Salvation for earth? A body critical analysis of Psalm 74

Philip P. Venter

University of Johannesburg

Correspondence

ABSTRACT

In Psalm 74 the god metaphor is strictly and forcefully male. In Israel the king was a man, and the man was king. So the God of Psalm 74 is king, a man, and thereby the cult is constituted. Nature, Earth and her components are simply the stage on which the cult is enacted, and does not have intrinsic value. The values underpinning the god construct in Psalm 74 are ethnocentric and androcentric. This text should be regarded as a cultural artefact that renders no contribution towards an ideology which regards Earth and her components as intrinsically valuable.

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Correspondence:
Phillip Venter
University of Johannesburg
E-mail:phillipv@lantic.net