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THE BIBLE UNEARTHED: THE MAKING OF A RELIGION -- ILLUSTRATED SCREENPLAY & SCREENCAP GALLERY |
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But as a result of this DISCOVERY [?],
Josiah launched THE MOST RADICAL reform in the kingdom's history.
EXPERTS BELIEVE that this book, which has been given the name "The Book of the Covenant,"
was in fact the Book of Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Pentateuch.
The REFORM gave PRIORITY TO THE LAWS that were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and CENTRALIZED THE REGION IN JERUSALEM.
But was this Josiah's only objective?
[Israel Finkelstein, Tel Aviv University] Josiah NEEDED centralization of power, strong administration, COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE STATE.
One way to do that was to CENTRALIZE CULT, to do this REFORM OF CULT, which would lead BACK TO the idea, to the pan-Israelite idea, that ALL ISRAELITES MUST WORSHIP ONE GOD in ONE PLACE -- in Jerusalem. If you do this, and you DEMOLISH the CULT PLACES in the countryside, definitely you CONTROL better the economy, you control better THE STATE, and you can achieve your goals in A BETTER AND FASTER WAY.
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