Covenants and criticism: Deuteronomy and the American founding

To restate the hypothesis more precisely, this analysis suggests that it is the historical Deuteronomy, the political and religious reforms of Josiah, not Moses and the text of Deuteronomy, that affords scholars a more complete examination of the biblical influence on the American founding. If the Book of Deuteronomy was written to fit a particular historical situation, it is to that situation and not the text of Deuteronomy, that we must turn. The covenant of interest, then, is not the textual covenant of Moses (Deut 29:13) but the contextual, historical covenant of Josiah: "The king made a covenant before the Lord to obey him and keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and so fulfill the terms of the covenant written in this book. And all the people pledged themselves to the covenant" (2 Kgs 23:3).

Scholars, such as Bailyn, Wood, and Elazar (1980), while recognizing the theoretical importance of the biblical covenant, have emphasized the textual covenant to the detriment, or exclusion, of the historical covenant. Ironically, Lutz (1980) notes the textual prominence of both Deuteronomy 29 and 2 Kings 23 without recognizing the contextual tension between these two biblical passages. A careful examination of the Deuteronomic history suggests that historical echoes parallel the textual. As was noted above, the textual attraction of the Book of Deuteronomy for the American founders is fairly obvious. Beyond this textual echo, however, there is a deeper historical parallel. This historical "echo" can be divided into three areas: Independence, Reform, and Medium.

Independence

While the American move toward independence has been well documented, the parallel between this movement and the Deuteronomic history deserves further attention. Nicholson (12) contended that the "reformation measures" of Josiah "would have been motivated largely by the desire to gain independence from Assyria." In a more detailed analysis of the tension between Israel and Assyria, Rosenbaum noted that "Assyrian rulers imposed more than tribute and political subservience upon their vassals" (72). In a similar vein, Weinfeld argued that "the arrogance of the Assyrian king may also explain the lack of any sign of affection from the sovereign to his vassal" (68-69). Independence, coupled with the specific examples of political subservience and an arrogant king, constitutes a relevant historical precedent for the American founding when compared to the American struggle for independence, the issues of political subservience such as "taxation without representation," and the arrogance of George III.

Reformation

A brief examination of the historical circumstances surrounding the composition of Deuteronomy and the American founding demonstrates that both independence movements were inextricably tied to broader movements of religious reform. For the American founding, the religious reform took the form of the Great Awakening.

   This Great Awakening was perhaps the most extensive intercolonial event:
   that it reached into virtually every kind of community and crossroads; that
   its effects were at first profoundly unsettling to the established order;
   and then became creative elements in establishing a new order [McLoughlin
   1978: viii].