An Introduction and Two Essays on Josiah's Reform and Margaret Barker’s Temple Theology

King Josiah's reign has come under increasing focus for its importance to the formation of the Hebrew Bible, and for its proximity to the ministry of important prophets such as Jeremiah and Lehi. Whereas the canonical accounts and conventional scholarship have seen Josiah portrayed as the ideal king, Margaret Barker's argues Josiah's reform was hostile to the temple. These two essays take differing viewpoints on this topic.