Crisis and Resolution in the Development of Judaism

Abstract

In 587 B.C. the kingdom of Judah was invaded by the Babylonian empire, the Davidic king was dethroned, his heirs slaughtered, and Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon were razed. These events motivated the construction of a new religious logic, characterized by universal natural law and covenantal particularism, which became constitutive of Judaism. I specify the conditions under which this cultural structure was generated and identify them historically. This serves as an exercise in constructing a model of cultural change in which cultural attributes can be given causal explanations