Abstract
This article is a response to Steve Wiggins's article which seeks to challenge the notion of solar Yahwism. Some of his cautions are commendable. In most areas, however, his alternative explanations seem only barely possible. Moreover, Wiggins offers no alternative to the recent consensus that sun worship was a Yahwistic phenomenon but to relegate the existence of sun worship to the realm only of the 'possible', which is untenable in light of the evidence. Specific criticisms of Wiggins include a severe downplaying of the religious significance of iconography and solar symbols, and a tendency to simplify, overlook or misunderstand key features in the debate. In the case of Ezek. 8.16 and 1 Kgs 8.12 (v. 53 LXX) he simply assumes the mutual exclusivity of Yahweh and the sun, thereby avoiding the possibility that the sun was considered to be symbolic of the presence of Yahweh.
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