Trajectories of religion in Africa : essays in honour of John S. Pobee /
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The book, in the main, discusses issues relating to mission, ecumenism, and theological education and is presented in four sections. The first segment discusses works on ecumenical and theological education and assesses the relevance of the World Council of Churches. Other issues discussed in this segment relate to the interrelationships that exist between academic theology, ecumenism, and Christianity. The World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910, which set the agenda for world-wide mission in a promising manner in the 1920s, is also assessed in this section of the work. The second segment, which covers Religion and Public Space, discusses works that examine the relationships between religion and power, religion and development, religion and traditional religious beliefs, and religion and practices in Africa. The third segment of the book treats Religion and Cultural Practices in African and how all these work out in couching out an African theology and African Christianity. Some of the issues discussed in this section related to African traditional philosophy, spiritism, and the interrelationships that exist between African Christianity and African Traditional Religion. The last segment of the book discusses the issue of African biblical hermeneutics and specifically looks at contemporary hermeneutical approaches to biblical interpretations in Africa.
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1 online resource (414 pages) :
9789401210577 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Research in the social scientific study of religion.
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RSSSR continues to offer a place for the publication of theoretical and empirical papers related to the broad area of how the social sciences understand religion. Two papers in the general section add important contributions to the fields of faith development and spirituality. The use of special sections has enabled particular topics to be dealt with in detail and shows how information that is gathered incrementally can help make great advances in a field. Spirituality, alongside religion, features as the key independent variable in many of the nine papers of the special section in this volume. Social scientific approaches have sought to show links between the experiences of health, well-being or disease, and individual differences in religiosity and/or spirituality.
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1 online resource (xii, 368 pages) :
9789004252073 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Dead Sea scrolls : texts and context /
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This volume presents the proceedings of an international conference of the same title held at the University of Birmingham in 2007. The contributors are drawn from the ranks of leading international specialists in the field writing alongside promising younger scholars. The volume includes studies on the contribution of the Scrolls to Second Temple Jewish history, the archaeological context, the role of the temple and its priesthood, as well as treatments on selected texts and issues. These proceedings offer a timely and up to date assessment of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the material remains unearthed at Qumran in their wider context and not infrequently challenge prevailing lines of interpretation. Helen Jacobus has won the Sean Dever Memorial Prize with her contribution to this volume. Commenting on the Dever prize, Professor Carol Meyers of Duke University, North Carolina, said: "The judges thought highly of Helen's meticulous scholarship and careful presentation of the data in her discussion of the zodiac and its role in Jewish calendars."
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"This volume presents the proceedings of an international conference of the same title held at the University of Birmingham in 2007. The contributors are drawn from the ranks of leading international specialists in the field writing alongside promising younger scholars. The volume includes studies on the contribution of the Scrolls to Second Temple Jewish history, the archaeological context, the role of the Temple and its priesthood, as well as treatments on selected texts and issues. These proceedings offer a timely and up to date assessment of the Dead Sea scrolls and the material remains unearthed at Qumran in their wider context and not infrequently challenge prevailing lines of interpretation"--Jacket. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [487]-526) and index. :
9789004190764 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ethics in biomedical research : international perspectives /
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This book deals with the international assessment and regulation of biomedical research. In its chapters, some of the leading figures in today's bioethics address questions centred on global development, scientific advances, and vulnerability. The series Values In Bioethics makes available original philosophical books in all areas of bioethics, including medical and nursing ethics, health care ethics, research ethics, environmental ethics, and global bioethics.
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1 online resource (xii, 248 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401204194 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Expectations of the end : a comparative traditio-historical study of eschatological, apocalyptic, and messianic ideas in the Dead Sea scrolls and the New Testament /
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Since a fuller range of Qumran sectarian and not clearly sectarian texts and recensions has recently become available to us, its implications for the comparative study of eschatological, apocalyptic and messianic ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the New Testament need to be explored anew. This book situates eschatological ideas in Qumran literature between biblical tradition and developments in late Second Temple Judaism and examines how the Qumran evidence on eschatology, resurrection, apocalypticism, and messianism illuminates Palestinian Jewish settings of emerging Christianity. The present study challenges previous dichotomies between realized and futuristic eschatology, wisdom and apocalypticism and provides many new insights into intra-Jewish dimensions to eschatological ideas in Palestinian Judaism and in the early Jesus-movement.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [473]-509) and index. :
9789047425090 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The despoliation of Egypt in pre-rabbinic, rabbinic and patristic traditions /
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This work examines the role played by the biblical motif of the despoliation of Egypt in the understanding Gentiles had of Jews, and how Jews defended themselves, their heroes and their God in the face of anti-Jewish slander. It also examines the manner in which Christians learned from their rabbinic counterparts how to defend Moses and his God against the gnostic challenge. Beginning with Philo and based on haggadic additions, the embarrassment of the episode was 'healed' through allegory and became a critically important biblical justification for the Christian appropriation of the 'Egyptian treasures' of their Greco-Roman cultural heritage. This work describes how Christians borrowed exegetical traditions from rabbis not only to defend their sacred texts against gnostic attacks but to justify their interest in and appropriation of non-Christian philosophy in their theological understandings.
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1 online resource (viii, 305 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-298) and indexes. :
9789047433569 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The politics of trad e Egypt and lower Nubia in the 4th millennium BC /
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Until recently much of the discussion regarding the A-Group has emphasised the influence of Egypt in the region. Egyptian material found in A-Group contexts has pointed to some type of exchange system between the two regions but the lack of A-Group manufactured objects in Egyptian contexts has led to the argument that the relationship was somewhat one-sided. Yet was it and how different were Egyptians and Lower Nubians during the 4th millennium BC? Re-examining the material evidence from three major archaeological salvage campaigns, and using anthropological and economic theories this book takes a fresh look at exchange patterns between Egypt and Lower Nubia. The changes and developments in these relationships potentially impacted the development towards the Egyptian state and the fate of the A-Group.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [317]-350) and index. :
9789004196117 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Demons and the Devil in ancient and medieval Christianity /
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This collection of essays approaches the role of demons and the devil in ancient and medieval Christianity from a variety of scholarly perspectives: historical, philosophical, and theological as well as philological, liturgical, and theoretical. In the opening article Gerd Theissen presents a wide-ranging overview of the role of the devil, spanning the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and patristic literature. The contributions that follow address texts on the devil, demons, and evil, and are drawn from ancient philosophy, the New Testament, early Christian apologetics, hagiography, and history. Covering primarily the patristic period, the volume also contains articles on medieval sources. The introduction discusses the different angles of approach found in the articles in an effort to shed fresh light on this familiar but also uniquely troubling theme.
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Based on a conference held Oct. 6-7, 2006 in Heeze, Netherlands. :
1 online resource (xii, 257 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004208056 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Theory and Method in the Study of Religion : Twenty Five Years On.
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Theory and Method are two words that cause considerable consternation in the academic study of religion. Although everyone claims to be aware of and to engage them, the fact of the matter is that they remain poorly understood. Some see the terms as irritants that get in the way of data interpretation and translation. Others may invoke them sporadically to appear in vogue but then return quickly and myopically to their material and with little concern for the larger issues that such terms raise. To contribute to these debates, the present volume reproduces select articles from Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (MTSR) from the first 25 volumes of the journal, and allows a group of younger scholars to introduce and review them, asking if the issues raised are still relevant to the field. Read the Inaugural Editorial now, please click here .
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List of ContributorsIndex. :
1 online resource (314 pages) :
9789004257573 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Annual review of the sociology of religion.
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Prayer is a phenomenon which seems to be characteristic not only of participants in every religion, but also men and women who do not identify with traditional religions. It can be practised even by those who do not believe either in a God or transcendent force. In this sense, therefore, we may assert that the prayer is a typically human activity that has accompanied the development of different civilizations over the course of the centuries. Both the material issues of concrete daily life as well as more symbolic elements expressed through words, gestures, body positions, and community celebration are brought together in the act of praying.
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1 online resource (307 pages) :
9789004260498 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Handbook of Freemasonry /
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Freemasonry is the largest, oldest, and most influential secret society in the world. The Brill Handbook of Freemasonry is a pioneering work that brings together, for the first time, leading scholars on Freemasonry. The first section covers historical perspectives, such as the origins and early history of Freemasonry. The second deals with the relationship between Freemasonry and specific religious traditions such as the Catholic Church, Judaism, and Islam. In the third section, organisational themes, such as the use of rituals, are explored, while the fourth section deals with issues related to society and politics - women, blacks, colonialism, nationalism, and war. The fifth and final section is devoted to Freemasonry and culture, including music, literature, modern art, architecture and material culture.
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1 online resource (pages) :
9789004273122 :
1874-6691 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Perspectives in the study of the Old Testament and early Judiasm : a symposium in honour of Adams S. van der Woude on the occasion of his 70th birthday /
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This volume contains the papers presented to a symposium organized by the Theological Faculty of the University of Groningen on the occasion of the seventieth birthday of Adam S. van der Woude, former Professor of Old Testament and Early Judaism and former head of the Qumran Institute at the same Faculty. The essays, eight in English and four in German, explore (through case studies) the developments over the last few years in the different areas of study of the Old Testament and of Early Judaism, observe the new perspectives opened in these areas and map the directions in which the research will be moving in the third millennium. The volume also includes a German version of the public lecture on the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Study of Old Testament and of Early Judaism delivered in Dutch by Van der Woude during the symposium.
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Papers presented at the symposium on Oct. 17-18, 1997 at the Theological Faculty of Groningen. :
1 online resource (xi, 284 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004275980 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reading John in Ephesus /
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This study describes the embedding of the Gospel of John in the city life of Ephesus. It uses the epigraphical and historical materials of first-century Ephesus as the point of reference for a reading of John. The study is a specific demonstration of the linguistic supposition that the use of the same (combination of) words in different co-texts evokes semantic similarities and dissimilarities which influence the process of giving meaning to a text. Reading John against the background of Ephesus influences its impact. Five topics have been selected: the use of names; the use of the titles for the emperors and Artemis in relation to the titles used for Jesus; the social city life; the group formations; and the function of the high priests in relation to the imperial cult.
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1 online resource (vii, 232 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-230) and index. :
9789004267299 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Language system, translation technique, and textual tradition in the Peshitta of Kings /
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Using the VU University syntactically analyzed, hiearchically structured database of ancient languages, the authors compared the Masoretic text of Kings to the Syriac Peshitta translation. The core question in this comparison is: which deviations between the two texts are related to the requirements of the distinct language systems, which are related to other aspects of the translation process, and which are related to the transmission history of the translated text? Though linguistic and text-historical approaches differ in method and focus, research into ancient biblical translations must take both into account. On the basis of a synoptic matching at clause level, corresponding phrases within the clauses are matched, and corresponding words within phrases. A choice out of a wealth of detailed differences thus brought to light are discussed at the syntactic level at which the phenomenon best fits: word, phrase, clause and above the clause.
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1 online resource (xviii, 529 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 489-495) and index. :
9789004256583 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Congress volume : Basel, 2001 /
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This volume publishes the papers given by invitation at the 17th Congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, which was held in Basel from 5-10 August 2001. It presents a state of the art of the current exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, taking into account the latest research in general linguistics and semitic philology, as well as textual criticism (Massora Magna, Septuagint, Qumran manuscripts), ethno-sociology and archaeology. Feminist biblical studies are duly represented as well as the last research on literary criticism on the Pentateuch, especially in its relation to other ancient Near Eastern texts (Neo-assyrian and Aramaic inscriptions). Finally, two contributions throw light on the problem of religious interpretation of the Bible (Resurrection of the Dead and Biblical Theology).
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004276185 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Naming and thinking God in Europe today : theology in global dialogue /
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Is there a new need and place for God-talk in Europe? The present volume both confirms this and opens up new questions for discussion. It shows how different traditions of naming and thinking God in Europe draw on various theoretical and philosophical foundations that are in competition with one another in many ways. Due to socio-cultural, historical and political divides between Eastern and Western Europe, these theological traditions often suffer from isolation and mutual misunderstanding. Can the inherent tensions and conflicts be understood more adequately? While exploring a variety of approaches in Europe on the topic, several authors also ask: How can God be named and thought in Europe, which finds itself in the midst of complex crosscultural and interreligious processes - particularly as immigration increases and peoples of non-Christian faith traditions name and think God in ways that differ from and sometimes conflict with Europe's dominant religion(s) and secular culture? What function and impact will traditional God-talk have in a globalizing Europe as religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism move into the foreground? This volume not only reveals the broad spectrum of its topic but also documents the vivid seeking undertaken by a new generation of European theologians and scholars of religion who openly engage the question of how to live and believe in Europe today, facing complex global challenges.
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"This volume is the first publication of a three-year-long European Socrates Intensive program entitled "The concept of God in Europe's global religious dialogue," compare pages [11]. The program comprised three conference seminars that met in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The papers in this volume were presented at the meeting held in May, 2003, in Vienna. :
1 online resource (536 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004358225 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Babylonian disputation poems : with editions of the series of the poplar, palm and vine, the series. of the spider, and the story of the poor, forlorn.
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In The Babylonian Disputation Poems Enrique Jiménez studies a group of ancient Babylonian poems that feature discussions between animals and trees. Using intertextual parallels and comparison with similar works in other literatures, he espouses a new classification of the Babylonian disputation poems as parodies. After examining neighboring traditions of literary disputation, he argues that the Babylonian poems influenced them, and that some may have been translated from Akkadian to Aramaic, from Aramaic and Syriac to Arabic. In addition, The Babylonian Disputation Poems provides editions of several previously unpublished Babylonian disputations, such as Palm and Vine and the Series of the Spider . It also offers the first edition of the latest known Babylonian fable, The Story of the Poor, Forlorn Wren .
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1 online resource. :
9789004336261 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Reading the Bible ethically : recovering the voice in the text /
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All interpretive systems deal with the author. Modern systems consider the text to be autonomous, so that it is disconnected from the author's interests. In Reading the Bible Ethically , Eric Douglass reconsiders this connection. His central argument is that the author is a subject who reproduces her culture and her subjectivity in the text. As the author reproduces her subjectivity, the text functions as the author's voice. This allows Douglass to apply ethical principles to interpretation, where that voice is treated as a subject for conversation, and not an object for manipulation. He uses this to texture the reading process, so that an initial reading takes account of the author's communication, while a second reading critiques that communication.
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1 online resource (301 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-293) and indexes. :
9789004282872 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.