Norman Karol Gottwald (October 27, 1926 – March 11, 2022) was a 20th-century American Marxist, political activist, and Old Testament scholar who pioneered the use of social theory and method in biblical studies.
"[1] Gottwald was an ordained minister of American Baptist Churches USA and as such "...a strong advocate of popular biblical study committed to social change.
The liberal must warn that in the struggle for survival we may sell our soul.Certainly, we must uncover and prosecute those who intend the violent overthrow of our government.
But we must resist with all our strength the self-righteousness and assumed importance, the political opportunism of those who would have us believe these skirmishes constitute the real war against Communism.
The "liberal neurosis" is trying to lift the vision of shortsighted men who have little or no understanding of the conflict of ideas, of why men become Communists, why they are disillusioned, and how we may enlist these factors in the cause of freedom.Norman K. Gottwald New York, NY[10] Gottwald's was the final letter published by the magazine and seemed to make the most effort to resolve conflicting views in the foregoing letters.
He proposed Israelites emerged as local Canaanite peasants sought to overthrow the corrupt regimes they lived in.