The imperial cult and the development of church order : concepts and images of authority in paganism and early Christianity before the Age of Cyprian /
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Recent studies have re-assessed Emperor worship as a genuinely religious response to the metaphysics of social order. Brent argues that Augustus' revolution represented a genuinely religious reformation of Republican religion that had failed in its metaphysical objectives. Against this backcloth, Luke, John the Seer, Clement, Ignatius and the Apologists refashioned Christian theology as an alternative answer to that metaphysical failure. Callistus and Pseudo-Hippolytus gave different responses to Severan images of imperial power. The early, Monarchian theology of the Trinity was thus to become a reflection of imperial culture and its justification that was later to be articulated both in Neo-Platonism, and in Cyprian's view of episcopal Order. Contra-cultural theory is employed as a sociological model to examine the interaction between developing Pagan and Christian social order.
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1 online resource (xxii, 369 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-343) and indexes. :
9789004313125 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Frontiers of faith : the Christian encounter with Manichaeism in the Acts of Archelaus /
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Taking as their common subject the key early Christian anti-Manichaean work, the Acts of Archelaus ( Acta Archelai ), the contributors to this volume offer a systematic exploration of what the text has to tell us about inter-religious contact, conflict, and comprehension at a crucial moment in religious history: the encounter between Christianity and Manichaeism along the political and cultural frontier zone of West Asia in the early fourth century CE. The contributions examine the text's structure, apologetic and polemical strategies, and possible sources, and through these analyses challenge received notions of 'orthodoxy' and 'heresy' in the mutual construction of identity that took place between these two claimants to the Christian heritage.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-171) and indexes. :
9789047421535 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Proverbs and the African tree of life : grafting Biblical proverbs on to Ghanaian Eve folk proverbs /
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In Proverbs and the African Tree of Life Dorothy BEA Akoto-Abutiate juxtaposes chosen sayings from Proverbs and selected Ewe Folk proverbs using the agricultural metaphor of "grafting," which she calls a "hermeneutic of grafting." Though these two sets of sayings come from completely different cultural contexts, Akoto argues that folk sayings/proverbs, which abound in Africa, should be considered as an already mature, established tree on to which a piece of the biblical tree is spliced or engrafted to produce hybridized fruits that have uniquely different tastes than the fruits of each tree individually. This metaphorical grafting process allows the message of the Bible (in Proverbs) to be understood, imbibed and appropriated in Africa.
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1 online resource (pages) :
9789004274471 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Torah ark in Renaissance Poland : a Jewish revival of classical antiquity /
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The volume explores the stone carved shrines for the scrolls of the Mosaic Law from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century synagogues in the former Polish Kingdom. Created on the margin of mainstream art and at a crossroad of diverse cultures, artistic traditions, aesthetic attitudes and languages, these indoor architectural structures have hitherto not been the subject of a monographic study. Revisiting and integrating multiple sources, the author re-evaluates the relationship of the Jewish culture in Renaissance Poland with the medieval Jewish heritage, sepulchral art of the Polish court and nobles, and earlier adaptations of the Christian revival of classical antiquity by Italian Jews. The book uncovers the evolution of artistic patronage, aesthetics, expressions of identities, and emerging visions among a religious minority on the cusp of the modern age.
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1 online resource (xxviii, 240 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004244405 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Identity matters : John, the Jews and Jewishness /
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This book challenges current scholarly consensus concerning John's references to the Jews in two ways. First, the author suggests that John's portrayal of the Jews cannot be understood as a response to the violent policy of John's opponents. Second, the author claims that John's portrayal of Jewishness is much more ambivalent than is often claimed today. The first part of the book offers a detailed criticism on the so called two-level reading strategy which claims that John's references to the Jews emerge from the conflict with rabbinic Judaism. The second part examines in detail John's relationship to some basic markers of Jewishness. The book contributes to the ongoing discussion of anti-Judaism in John and efforts to understand John's historical setting.
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1 online resource (x, 291 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p.[243] - 274) and indexes. :
9789047407256 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jewish and Christian communal identities in the Roman world /
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Jews and Christians under the Roman Empire shared a unique sense of community. Set apart from their civic and cultic surroundings, both groups resisted complete assimilation into the dominant political and social structures. However, Jewish communities differed from their Christian counterparts in their overall patterns of response to the surrounding challenges. They exhibit diverse levels of integration into the civic fabric of the cities of the Empire and display contrary attitudes towards the creation of trans-local communal networks. The variety of local case studies examined in this volume offers an integrated image of the multiple factors, both internal and external, which determined the role of communal identity in creating a sense of belonging among Jews and Christians under Imperial constraints.
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"This volume presents revised versions of lectures given in October 2013 at a Jerusalem symposium on Jewish and Christian Communal Identities in Antiquity. The Hebrew University's Scholion Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities and Jewish Studies together with the editorial board of Brill's Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity series kindly co-sponsored the symposium in memory of our colleague Friedrich Avemarie."--Preface. :
1 online resource (xi, 286 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004321694 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Interaction between Judaism and Christianity in history, religion, art and literature /
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This volume contains a variety of essays that deal with the complex relationships between Judaism and Christianity. From the Jewish side, particularly in Orthodox circles, there is a position maintaining the independence of Judaism from outside influences including Christianity. Traditional Christian theology, on the other hand, held a supercessionist view in which Judaism was seen merely as a historical preparation for the later revelation of Christianity. Was there no real interaction? When and how did Judaism and Christianity become two distinct religions? When did the 'parting of ways\' take place, if indeed there really was such a parting of ways? The present volume takes a bold step forward by assuming that no historical period can be excluded from the interactive process between Judaism and Christianity, conscious or unconscious, as a polemical rejection or as tacit appropriation.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047424826 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The exegetical encounter between Jews and Christians in late antiquity /
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The 'Exegetical Encounter between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity' is a collection of essays examining the relationship between Jewish and Christian biblical commentators. The contributions focus on analysis of interpretations of the book of Genesis, a text which has considerable importance in both Christian and Jewish tradition. The essays cover a wide range of Jewish and Christian literature, including primarily rabbinic and patristic sources, but also apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus and Gnostic texts. In bringing together the studies of a variety of eminent scholars on the topic of 'Exegetical Encounter', the book presents the latest research on the topic and illuminates a variety of original approaches to analysis of exegetical contacts between the two sets of religious groups. The volume is significant for the light it sheds on the history of relations between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004182189 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The cosmic breath : spirit and nature in the Christianity-Buddhism-science trialogue /
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Recent thinking in the interfaith dialogue and in the theology-science dialogue have taken a "pneumatological turn." The Cosmic Breath explores this pneumatological theology as unfolded in the Christian-Buddhist dialogue alongside critical interaction with the theology-and-science conversation. As an attempt in comparative and constructive Christian philosophical theology, its central thesis is that a pneumatological approach to Buddhist traditions in further dialogue with modern science generates new philosophical resources that invigorate Christian thinking about the natural world and humanity's place in it. The result is a transformation of the Buddhist-Christian dialogue from insights generated in the theology-and-science interface and a contribution to the religion-and-science dialogue from a comparative theological and philosophical perspective.
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1 online resource (xv, 282 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004230491 :
1877-8542 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian Muslim relations : a bibliographical history /
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Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 1 (CMR1) is the first part of a general history of relations between the faiths from the seventh century to the present. It covers the period from 600 to 1500, when encounters took place through the extended Mediterranean basin and are recorded in Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin and other languages. It comprises introductory essays on the treatment of Christians in the Qur'an, Qur'an commentaries, biographies of the Prophet, Hadith and Sunni law, and of Muslims in canon law, and the main body of more than two hundred detailed entries on all the works recorded, whether surviving or lost. These entries provide biographical details of the authors where known, descriptions and assessments of the works themselves, and complete accounts of manuscripts, editions, translations and studies. The result of collaboration between leading scholars, CMR1 is intended as a basic tool for research in Christian-Muslim relations.
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Includes indexes. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047443681 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian apocalyptic texts in Islamic messianic discourse : the 'Christian chapter' of the Javidan-nama-yi kabir by Fadl Allah Astarabadi (d. 796/1394) /
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In Christian Apocalyptic Texts in Islamic Messianic Discourse Orkhan Mir-Kasimov offers an account of the interpretation of these Christian texts by Faḍl Allāh Astarābādī (d. 796/1394), the founder of a mystical and messianic movement which was influential in medieval Iran and Anatolia. This interpretation can be situated within the tradition of 'positive' Muslim hermeneutics of the Christian and Jewish scriptures which was particularly developed in Shıīʿī and especially Ismaīʿlī circles. Faḍl Allāh incorporates the Christian apocalyptic texts into an Islamic eschatological context, combining them with Qurʾān and ḥadīth material. In addition to an introductory study, the book contains a critical edition and an English translation of the relevant passages from Faḍl Allāh's magnum opus, the Jāvidān-nāma-yi kabīr .
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004330856 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Martin Luther and Islam : a study in sixteenth-century polemics and apologetics /
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Martin Luther (1483-1546) lived at an important juncture during the long and tortuous history of the conflict between Islam and Europe. Scholars have long focused on his apocalyptic interpretation of the rise of the Muslim Ottoman Empire, but only a few have probed deeper into his thought on Islam. As a result, one of the most influential thinkers in the western intellectual tradition has received very little attention in the history of Christian perceptions of and responses to Islam. Drawing upon a vast array of the Reformer's writings while also examining several key texts, this book reveals an often-overlooked aspect of Luther's thought, and thereby provides fresh insight into his place in the history of Christian-Muslim relations.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-255) and index. :
9789047420842 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
John of Damascus and Islam : Christian heresiology and the intellectual background to earliest Christian-Muslim relations /
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How did Islam come to be considered a Christian heresy? In this book, Peter Schadler outlines the intellectual background of the Christian Near East that led John, a Christian serving in the court of the caliph in Damascus, to categorize Islam as a heresy. Schadler shows that different uses of the term heresy persisted among Christians, and then demonstrates that John's assessment of the beliefs and practices of Muslims has been mistakenly dismissed on assumptions he was highly biased. The practices and beliefs John ascribes to Islam have analogues in the Islamic tradition, proving that John may well represent an accurate picture of Islam as he knew it in the seventh and eighth centuries in Syria and Palestine.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004356054 :
1570-7350 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Early Christian-Muslim debate on the unity of God : three Christian scholars and their engagement with Islamic thought (9th century c.e.) /
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Early Christian-Muslim Debate on the Unity of God examines the writings of three of the earliest known Christian theologians to write comprehensive theological works in Arabic. Theodore Abū Qurra, Abū Rā'iṭa and 'Ammār al-Baṣrī provide valuable insight into early Christian-Muslim debate shortly after the rise of the Islamic empire. Through close examination of their writings on the doctrine of the Trinity, Sara Husseini demonstrates the creativity of these theologians, who make use of language, style and argumentation characteristic of Islamic theological thought (kalām), in order to help articulate their long-established religious truths. Husseini offers close analysis of the authors individually and comparatively, exploring their engagement with Islamic theology and their role in this fascinating period.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004279698 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ideas in motion in Baghdad and beyond : philosophical and theological exchanges between Christians and Muslims in the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries /
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This volume contains a collection of articles focusing on the philosophical and theological exchanges between Muslim and Christian intellectuals living in Baghdad during the classical period of Islamic history, when this city was a vibrant center of philosophical, scientific, and literary activity. The philosophical accomplishments and contribution of Christians writing in Arabic and Syriac represent a crucial component of Islamic society during this period, but they have typically been studied in isolation from the development of mainstream Islamic philosophy. The present book aims for a more integrated approach by exploring case studies of philosophical and theological cross-pollination between the Christian and Muslim traditions, with an emphasis on the Baghdad School and its main representative, Yaḥyā ibn ʿAdī. Contributors: Carmela Baffioni, David Bennett, Gerhard Endress, Damien Janos, Olga Lizzini, Ute Pietruschka, Alexander Treiger, David Twetten, Orsolya Varsányi, John W. Watt, Robert Wisnovsky
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004306264 :
0929-2403 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Resurgence of Religion : A Comparative Study of Selected Themes in Christian and Islamic Fundamentalist Discourses /
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This book is a comparative study of basic themes in Christian and Islamic fundamentalist discourses, analyzing and comparing texts from a wide variety of fundamentalist leaders and movements, looking for \'family resemblances\' and significant differences in order to better understand the contemporary phenomenon of religious resurgence. After placing fundamentalisms in a theoretical framework, the study looks at selected themes important to fundamentalists, noting resemblances and differences. These themes include their anti-secularist stance, their theocentric worldviews, their reliance on inerrant sacred scriptures, and their attitudes to politics, government, state and democracy. The study also looks at the fundamentalist view of the world as a perennial battlefield between the forces of good and those of evil, in the realm of ideologies as well as politics and the legitimation of violence.
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Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D). :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [321]-371) and index. :
9789047401827 :
0169-8834 ;
Christian Muslim relations. a bibliographical history /
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Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History, volume 7 (CMR 7), covering Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America in the period 1500-1600, is a continuing volume in a general history of relations between the two faiths from the seventh century to the early 20th century. It comprises introductory essays and the main body of detailed entries which treat all the works, surviving or lost, that have been recorded. These entries provide biographical details of the authors, descriptions and assessments of the works themselves, and complete accounts of manuscripts, editions, translations and studies. The result of collaboration between numerous leading scholars, CMR 7, along with the other volumes in this series, is intended as a basic tool for research in Christian-Muslim relations. Section editors: Clinton Bennett, Luis F. Bernabe Pons, Lejla Demiri, Martha Frederiks, John-Paul Ghobrial, David Grafton, Alan Guenther, Abdulkadir Hashim, Şevket Küçükhüseyin, Emma Loghin, Gordon Nickel, Claire Norton, Peter Riddell, Umar Ryad, Davide Tacchini, Moussa Serge Hyacinthe Traore, Carsten Walbiner
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1 online resource (xii, 962 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004298484 :
1570-7350 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian engagement with Islam : ecumenical journeys since 1910 /
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Why did the Christian Church, in the twentieth century, engage in dialogue with Islam? What has been the ecumenical experience? What is happening now? Such questions underlie Douglas Pratt's Christian Engagement with Islam: Ecumenical Journeys since 1910 . Pratt charts recent Christian (WCC and Vatican) engagement with Islam up to the early 21st century and examines the ecumenical initiatives of Africa's PROCMURA, 'Building Bridges', and the German 'Christian-Muslim Theological Forum', together with responses to the 2007 'Common Word' letter. Between them, Islam and Christianity represent over half the earth's population. Their history of interaction, positive and negative, impacts widely still today. Contentious issues remain real enough, yet the story and ongoing reality of contemporary Christian-Muslim engagement is both exciting and encouraging.
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1 online resource (xiv, 282 pages) ; 25 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004344945 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
In defense of the Bible : a critical edition and an introduction to al-Biqāʻī's Bible treatise /
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The history of the Islamic interaction with the Scriptures of Judaism and Christianity has been studied extensively in academia. The prevailing view is that Muslims had hardly any religious appreciation to the Bible and when used by Muslims it was mainly in apologetic or polemical settings. The document presented here squarely contradicts such a view. The treatise argues for the permissiblity of using the Bible by Muslims for religious purposes. Al-Biqāʿī, the author of this treatise, wrote a huge Qurʾān commentary that used the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels to interpret parts of the Qurʾān. Al-Sakhāwī, a bitter enemy, opposed such a practice. The document preserves for us a fundamental argument inside Islam about the value of the Scriptures of other religions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-223) and indexes. :
9789047433781 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.