Themes of Divine Absence: Mapping Variations

Building on the common conceptions and clarifying definitions provided in Chapter Two, this chapter surveys conceptions of divine absence common across the ancient Mediterranean basin. The chapter groups the data around six themes: (1) divine conflict; (2) imperial conquest; (3) theodicy; (4) exile; (5) a desire for intimacy with the divine; (6) identity formation. For each of the first five themes, the chapter considers examples from both Jewish and non-Jewish contexts. For the final theme, the chapter provides an extended consideration of Ezekiel, which, it is contended, provides particularly fruitful ground for comparison to John’s Gospel. The chapter concludes by mapping points of commonality and difference in perspectives on divine absence to suggest an outline of the symbolic world which John inhabits and through which his narrative of Jesus’s presence and absence could be understood.