{"id":7160,"date":"2023-02-09T14:14:41","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T19:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=7160"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T20:33:07","slug":"113-inventing-god-and-law-josiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=7160","title":{"rendered":"113. Inventing God and Law: Josiah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"To<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although there is plenty of archaeological evidence that this guy existed and did what he did, the only sources that say his name are in Old Testament books written long after he was dead. Was his name really Josiah? Who knows, maybe? But that’s what people call him now, so let’s go with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Constitutional Law<\/p>\n

Part 2: \u201cWhat Were They Thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n

Digression: \u201cA History of Government in 6 Revolutions: From the Paleolithic to Philadelphia\u201d<\/p>\n

113. Inventing God and Law: Josiah<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Title: Part G: Josiah<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 1: King Josiah, dressed in pinks and purples and wearing a feathered crown, leaps a grand jet\u00e9 over the head of a priestly official, partly obscuring the narration text box.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NARRATION:<\/p>\n

With Assyria out of the picture, Yehudah\u2019s king Josiah leapt<\/strong> at the chance to rule his country with a strong, independent<\/strong> monarchy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOSIAH:<\/p>\n

Only one<\/strong> ruler in the land!<\/p>\n

Me!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PRIESTLY OFFICIAL:<\/p>\n

And only one god<\/strong> in the land!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 2: Josiah lands deftly on the other side of the official.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOSIAH:<\/p>\n

Come again?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PRIESTLY OFFICIAL:<\/p>\n

Think of it, sire:<\/p>\n

Already our civic<\/strong> cult only worships Yahweh, yes?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 3: Yahweh holds his arms out in benediction as light rays fall from him to Josiah, who holds up a finger of authority as light rays spread down from him to adoring multitudes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PRIESTLY OFFICIAL (offscreen):<\/p>\n

So\u2026 make it so the people<\/strong> only worship Yahweh, as well!<\/p>\n

With Yahweh as the undiluted<\/strong> celestial power\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026and you<\/strong> his anointed regent, ruling here on Earth\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026can you imagine a more potent<\/strong> narrative with which to legitimize<\/strong> your autocracy?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 3: Josiah folds his arms and looks at the official with suspicion. The official makes a confident gesture with one hand.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOSIAH:<\/p>\n

No<\/strong> other gods?<\/p>\n

The priests aren\u2019t going to like it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PRIESTLY OFFICIAL:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be silly. We\u2019re not denying that the other gods exist. That\u2019d be like denying that air<\/strong> exists.<\/p>\n

And if other<\/strong> peoples keep on worshipping them, so what?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 4: The official holds up his hands in a preventive gesture, while Josiah ponders.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PRIESTLY OFFICIAL:<\/p>\n

But the people of Yehudah?<\/strong> No way. Forbidden. We must not allow it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOSIAH:<\/p>\n

I see\u2026<\/p>\n

Intolerant<\/strong> monolatry.<\/p>\n

The priests are going to hate<\/strong> it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NARRATION:<\/p>\n

Josiah needed to impose shockingly unprecedented religious reforms on the whole<\/strong> of Yehudite culture, from the temple\u2019s altars, to the hearth of the lowliest shepherd.<\/p>\n

How could he possibly persuade his people\u2014not to mention the priests and elites\u2014to change the very fabric of their lives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

INSET: Josiah clasps his hands behind his head with a knowing smile.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOSIAH:<\/p>\n

Thank the gods-<\/p>\n

I mean, thank God<\/strong>–<\/p>\n

At least I won\u2019t need to re-invent the wheel.<\/p>\n

Because kings have long known this one simple trick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

FOOTNOTE:<\/p>\n

Although there is plenty of archaeological evidence that this guy existed and did what he did, the only sources that say his name are in Old Testament books written long after he was dead. Was his name really Josiah? Who knows, maybe? But that\u2019s what people call him now, so let\u2019s go with that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>View Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. \u00a0 Although there is plenty of archaeological evidence that this guy existed and did what he did, the only sources that say his name are in Old Testament books written long after he was dead. Was his name really … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,35,63,60,1,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-brief-history-of-government","category-constitutional-law","category-inventing-the-law","category-the-institution-revolution","category-uncategorized","category-what-were-they-thinking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10584,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7160\/revisions\/10584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}