Corrine L. Carvalho

Paul Niskanen

The books of Ezekiel and Daniel provide some of the most memorable stories and images of the Old Testament: the blazing wheeled throne of God leaving Jerusalem, the valley of dry bones, and miraculous survivals in a fiery furnace and a lions den. This commentary explores the extraordinary messages of hope and divine power delivered by these prophets.

Ezekiel, Daniel

Dr. Paul Niskanen received his Bachelor of Arts in French and Religious Studies from Seattle University, his S.T.B. from the Pontifical University Teresianum in Rome, and his Ph. D. in Biblical Studies from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, California. He is currently an associate professor of Theology for the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. A few of Professor Niskanen's publications include, The Human and the Divine in History: Herodotus and the Book of Daniel, Yhwh as Father, and The Last Words of Jesus. He is also a professional member of the Catholic Biblical Association of America as well as the Society of Biblical Literature.

An Analysis of Wrath, Justice, Mercy and Love

God of the Old Testament

The Human and the Divine in History investigates the possibility that the author of Daniel knew and drew upon the Histories of Herodotus. Daniel uses and develops Herodotean concepts such as the succession of world empires, dynastic dreams, and the focus on both human and divine cauration in explaining historical events. A comparative reading of these two texts illuminates Daniel's theology of history, showing it to be neither as exclusively eschatological nor as sectarian as is often supposed. Rather, it is specifically the end of exile—understood as foreign domination—that Daniel envisions for the entire Jewish people.

Paul Niskanen

Books

Your next favorite book is out there