Books by Robert Kimball Shinkoskey

Early literary man learned that free speech and free labor were frequently suppressed or obliterated by powerful governments in the Near Eastern world. This is the source of the Bible's passionate interest in liberation from political and economic repression. Moses and his people in Egypt, for example, experienced the rapid disintegration of their traditional right to religious liberty and self-directed labor. They attempted to rectify the situation at Sinai and in Canaan. Mesopotamians and Egyptians, Greeks, Sicilians, and Romans labored against tyranny as well. Robert Kimball Shinkoskey focuses on stories, laws, and movements dealing with the problem of political idolatry in the ancient world. His purpose is to show that the Bible is a civic narrative as much as a religious one, and that the Ten Commandments are articles in a constitutional law system that promotes the steady rule of law rather than the capricious rule of man.

A foundational law promoting worship of the God of the Exodus (the Decalogue's First Commandment) has little meaning without a government policy permitting such worship. Robert Kimball Shinkoskey discusses policies in the Bible which enact freedom of religion for prophets and other dissidents who work to restore worship of the God of their ancestors. In the process, he challenges the theological idea of the cessation of prophecy. New revelation from God is necessary to rescue ancient Israel from backsliding and restore her to a place of security and tranquility in a Mediterranean world gone mad with imperial war-making.

Description:A foundational law promoting worship of the God of the Exodus (the Decalogue's First Commandment) has little meaning without a government policy permitting such worship. Robert Kimball Shinkoskey discusses policies in the Bible which enact freedom of religion for prophets and other dissidents who work to restore worship of the God of their ancestors. In the process, he challenges the theological idea of the cessation of prophecy. New revelation from God is necessary to rescue ancient Israel from backsliding and restore her to a place of security and tranquility in a Mediterranean world gone mad with imperial war-making. Endorsements:""Robert Kimball Shinkoskey has shown in this remarkable book that at its core, the Bible is a bold, liberative, usually misunderstood challenge--at the very antipodes of sectarian narrowness. Israel is 'chosen' only to spread the message that all of humanity is chosen to risk the experience of life as an adventure where no moral tradition and no religion monopolizes the truth.""--Daniel C. MaguireMarquette University""Not satisfied with the religious tradition he inherited, Shinkoskey declares that God never intended prophecy to end. He surveys prophets from the first man through Moses and Jesus and suggests the likelihood of prophecy beyond the Bible."" --James H. Gailey Columbia Theological SeminaryAbout the Contributor(s):Robert Kimball Shinkoskey is a career employee in the Utah Department of Health. He is a citizen editorial writer, now making his first foray into the realm of theology and ancient history.

Early literary man learned that free speech and free labor were frequently suppressed or obliterated by powerful governments in the Near Eastern world. This is the source of the Bible's passionate interest in liberation from political and economic repression. Moses and his people in Egypt, for example, experienced the rapid disintegration of their traditional right to religious liberty and self-directed labor. They attempted to rectify the situation at Sinai and in Canaan. Mesopotamians and Egyptians, Greeks, Sicilians, and Romans labored against tyranny as well. Robert Kimball Shinkoskey focuses on stories, laws, and movements dealing with the problem of political idolatry in the ancient world. His purpose is to show that the Bible is a civic narrative as much as a religious one, and that the Ten Commandments are articles in a constitutional law system that promotes the steady rule of law rather than the capricious rule of man.