The Dower Power Hour

This is from a class I took last semester entitled the Economics of Religion. I’ve gone ahead and attached the paper I am describing here for those of you that may be interested.

In ancient Israel rival religious groups competed over members. The two chief competitors were the Levite and Aaronite priesthoods. However, by the time of King David and the political unification of Israel, the priesthoods were centralized. One of the key reasons we know that there were rivalries are in the name of God in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The Aaronite priests of Jerusalem in the south refer to God as Yahweh whereas Elohim evolved from El, the god of the Canaanites in north Israel. Historians believe that these initially distinct terms for different deities were edited and combined by Aaronite priests after Israel’s fall to the Assyrians in 722. For example, in Exodus 6:3 God explains to Moses that Abraham knew him, Isaac and Jacob as El Shaddai but reveals himself to Moses as Yahweh.

So, what does this have to do with economics? Cultic worship in ancient times can be described as fee-for-service variety. The faithful would pray for blessings and would be expected to “pay” for this bounty through an animal sacrifice. This quid pro quo form of religion was extremely prevalent throughout the ancient and classical eras and even survived in Catholicism through the penance system.

The various Gods of the region competed, through their priesthoods, for members much the way modern corporations compete for customers. The sacrifice necessary to gain the God’s favor can be related to today’s price. In order for the priests, who often relied on members for their income and social status, to maintain their positions, the religious leaders sought to maximize their total sacrificial offerings. Having one God, Yaweh, is far more efficient than having numerous Gods for each element, season, or naturally phenomena. Interestingly, several passages in Exodus imply a belief that Yahweh is but one god among many, albeit the most powerful one. It isn’t until Deuteronomy that an unequivocal statement that there are no other gods besides Yahweh.

In fact the Mosaic Covenent is an extremely interesting monopolistic contract. The paper goes into greater detail than I want to go into, including some impressive mathematical proofs, but let me go into a few points. “You shall have no other gods besides Me,” demands exclusive monopolistic control and punishes anyone that might seek supplemental blessings for other, minor Gods. Thus, the monopoly is enforceable by God. Even a non-believer will suffer social ostracism by making sacrifices to other gods. King David may have even promoted a state-sponsored monotheistic religion as a way to solidify his political control and forge a national identity among the tribes.

Interestingly, as Judaism became more unified, centralized, and genuinely monotheistic, the stipulated prices for religious services (the frequency of offerings and the portion appropriated by the presiding priest rather than consumed by the supplicant) went up considerably. Just as when competition is shut down and monopolies are able to charge more for their goods, the monopolized Judaism was able to demand more from its followers. By comparing the costs in Leviticus and Numbers to the extensive code laid down in Deuteronomy, the actual cost of being a religious follower in those different time periods can be compared.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this bit of analysis. For a full explanation, please read the paper itself. I thought it was one of the most interesting reading assignments we received in that class but overall the entire course was filled with some thought provoking subject matter. Suffice to say that this is the kind of “economics of religion” that I think should be studied. The kind mentioned in my blog post a few weeks ago is rubbish by comparison.

Ye Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me