YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach

Daniel O. McClellan’s YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach offers a rigorous challenge to established norms in Hebrew Bible studies by integrating the cognitive science of religion (CSR) with archaeological and textual analysis. McClellan’s central thesis argues that the modern category of "religion" is an ineffective and potentially distorting tool for studying the first millennium BCE, as it imposes a contemporary sociocultural framework onto a world that did not conceptualize experience in such distinct domains. To move beyond these restrictive conventions and "colonizing" terminology, the author employs a cognitive methodology, utilizing concepts such as "indexing"—where objects serve as cues for entities—and "presence," the process of making an agent's existence feel manifested to a person's perception.

The work is deeply grounded in material evidence, drawing on a vast array of artifacts including the Katumuwa Stele, the Mesha Stele, the Taanach Cult Stand, and various shrine models from Khirbet Qeiyafa and Megiddo. By analyzing deity figurines of gold and bronze foil and the evidence from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, McClellan explores how divine images functioned as cognitive tools to streamline communication and shape thought patterns. This interdisciplinary approach makes the book an essential resource for biblical scholars, cognitive linguists, and students of religion, while remaining accessible to laypeople. Despite the author's personal faith, the text maintains a strictly academic posture, utilizing gender-neutral terminology and standard transcriptions like YHWH to avoid devotional bias. Serious students should approach this work as a methodological intervention, reading it as a guide to dismantling rigid academic conventions in favor of a more cognitively informed understanding of Iron Age Israel and Judah.