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TRYGGVE N. D. METTINGER, The Riddle of Resurrection: "Dying and Rising Gods" in the Ancient Near East (ConBNT 50; Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 2001). Pp. 378. Paper SEK 238.
This monograph renews the discussion of whether or not there were Near Eastern gods who were considered to have died and then risen from the dead. There is little doubt that the Christian teaching of Jesus' dying and rising is in the background of the inquiry: are there previous Near Eastern religious parallels for this dogma? The category of dying-rising gods in the ancient Mediterranean area stems mostly from the works of J. G. Frazer from 1890 onwards, most notably the various editions of The Golden Bough. Most recently, Jonathan Z. Smith and Mark S. Smith have addressed the controversy again in several articles, both taking a skeptical position.
Three determinations that must begin any analysis of a particular god, Mettinger points out, are (1) whether the figure is actually a god; (2) whether the god in question has actually died, or whether he has just temporarily disappeared or perhaps entered the...