Seite - 73 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 03/02

Review: Hermeneutik des Bilderverbots | 73www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 71–77 symbolic or even aniconic religious objects. Here, an interesting designation of icons as a “verge” (schwelle) between the divine and human spheres is intro- duced. the author emphasizes that interpretation of such images as “portraits” of an original, in a paradigm of similarity, does not correspond with cultic in- tention in the ancient east. The cultic object must instead be regarded as the privileged “place of the divine´s presence” (36), which is why it can function as a medium of communication with deities and of direct veneration of deities. the author´s reference to a “mental iconography” (49, 66–71) is particularly striking, highlighting a common conception of a divine world where gods are pictured as mostly corporeal and human (even if no anthropomorphic icons are integrated into cultic practice), which makes them, together with their individual names, able to be addressed by human beings. Like Jens Kamlah, hartenstein does not understand israel´s cultic tradition as contrasting with other practices in the pluralistic eastern context. israel´s empty throne in the temple and the ark of the Covenant can therefore be categorized as “iconic cult symbols”, which, Kamlah notes, “represented a deity without depicting the deity´s image. though they avoided depicting the (anthropomor- phic, theriomorphic or hybrid) figure of the deity, they were decorated with figures or figurative elements” (57). Although israel probably did not venerate an anthropomorphic icon, its iconic symbols were embedded in a mental ico- nography, as is evident in the metaphoric language of the Psalms. hartenstein records such anthropomorphisms in speech and prayer as “social metaphors” that regulate and reflect the relationship between God and the people. in his second chapter, hartenstein turns to ancient written Judaic and non- Judaic sources that reflect the extraordinary absence of iconic divine repre- sentation in the tradition of Israel and the significant biblical criticism of idols. the author thus paves the way for inquiry into the genesis of and precondi- tions for the biblical image ban, formulated explicitly in the decalogue and at other points in the scriptures. starting with later biblical and non-biblical texts, hartenstein “archeologically” works his way back to older, less “secure” lay- ers of the scriptures. assuming that the decalogue was formulated during or shortly after the Babylonian exile, he highlights the concurrence of the image ban and developing monotheism. the author emphasizes the role of emergent creation theology in which God and world – the creator and the creation – were clearly separated. Within this context, hartenstein analyses the slight shifts in biblical idol-critical argumentation. his central thesis is that something that in ancient eastern cultic practice was certainly not extraordinary – the absence of cultic iconic representation – became a fundamental distinction as a result of israel´s struggle for identity during and after the Babylonian exile. This first part of the book ends by considering the implications of a herme- neutic of the image ban from an exegetical perspective (chapter 3). Whereas