The Bible With and Without Jesus Quotes

“The Tanakh directs many polemics against Israelites who practice polytheism and idolatry. Isaiah 44:9 declares, “All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit.” The polemic continues when the chapter mocks the construction of such images: He cuts down cedars [to be used as fuel]. . . . Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. . . . The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!” (44:14–17) The unit concludes by stating about anyone who would worship such idols that “a deluded mind has led him astray” (44:20). We suspect, were there a Canaanite Anti-Defamation League, they would protest such claims as bigoted polemic. We have heard these verses deployed against Roman Catholics, for whom art can function as a focus of prayer, and Hindus, who depict their gods through artwork. We find such deployments equally unhealthy.”
― Amy-Jill Levine, The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

“polemics can sometimes be constructive.43 Averil Cameron notes that some polemics help sharpen arguments and consolidate knowledge.44 Polemics also tell us what is at stake for the individual or group issuing the invectives.”
― Amy-Jill Levine, The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

“Conversion is a matter of the heart, not of the academy; polemics function more to “speak to the choir” and shore up internal unity rather than to facilitate understanding, let alone to show love of neighbor.”
― Amy-Jill Levine, The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently