The 19th century Religionswissenschaft, “the scientific” or the comparative study of religion, approach is examined, as well as how more recent books on the religion of ancient Israel view the wilderness traditions. Surprisingly, most studies of the religion of Israel in recent years have completely failed to recognize the formative nature of the wilderness period to ancient Israel’s religion. Recognizing the limitations of modern (enlightenment positivism) and post-modern approaches to the Bible and ancient Israel’s religion, an alternative method, the phenomenological approach, is proffered.

The 19th century Religionswissenschaft, “the scientific” or the comparative study of religion, approach is examined, as well as how more recent books on the religion of ancient Israel view the wilderness traditions. Surprisingly, most studies of the religion of Israel in recent years have completely failed to recognize the formative nature of the wilderness period to ancient Israel’s religion. Recognizing the limitations of modern (enlightenment positivism) and post-modern approaches to the Bible and ancient Israel’s religion, an alternative method, the phenomenological approach, is proffered.