The serpent kills or the serpent gives life the kabbalist Abraham Abulafia's response to Christianity /
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Abraham Abulafia (1240 - c. 1291) founded an enormously influential branch of Jewish mysticism, referred to as the prophetic or ecstatic kabbalah. This book, from several perspectives, explores the impact of Christianity upon Abulafia. His copious writings evince an intense fascination with Christian themes, yet Abulafia's frequent diatribes against Jesus and Christianity reveal him to be deeply conflicted in his relationship to his southern European religious neighbors. This book undertakes a careful study of Abulafia's writings, suggesting that the recognition of an inner dynamic of attraction and revulsion toward the forbidden other provides a crucial key to understanding Abulafia's mystical hermeneutic and his meditative practice. It also demonstrates that Abulafia's uneasy relationship to Christianity shaped the very core of his mystical doctrine.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004194472 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Purity and the forming of religious traditions in the ancient Mediterranean world and ancient Judaism /
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Purity is a cultural construct that had a central role in the forming and the development of religious traditions in the ancient Mediterranean. This volume analyzes concepts, practices and images associated with purity in the main cultures of Antiquity, and discusses from a comparative perspective their parallel developments and transformations. The perspective adopted is both synchronic and diachronic; the comparative approach takes into account points of contact and mutual influences, but also includes major transcultural trends. A number of renowned specialists contribute a large variety of perspectives and approaches, combining archaeology, epigraphy and social history; in addition, particular attention is given to concepts of purity in ancient Israel and early Judaism as a 'test-case' of sorts. Through its extensive coverage, the volume contributes decisively to the present discussion about the forming of religious traditions in the ancient Mediterranean world.
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1 online resource (601 pages) : illustrations, mappages. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004232297 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studying religions with the iron curtain closed and opened : the academic study of religion in Eastern Europe /
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Studying Religions with the Iron Curtain Closed and Open. The Academic Study of Religion in Eastern Europe offers an account of the research focused on the origins, development and the current situation of the Study of Religions in the 20th century in countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, and Russia. Special attention is devoted to the ideological influences determining the interpretation of religion, especially connected with the rise of Marxist-Leninist criticism of religion.
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1 online resource (xviii, 320 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004292789 :
0169-8834 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religious discourse in modern Japan : religion, state, and Shinto /
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Religious Discourse in Modern Japan explores the introduction of the Western concept of "religion" to Japan in the modern era, and the emergence of discourse on Shinto, philosophy, and Buddhism. Taking Anesaki's founding of religious studies ( shukyogaku ) at Tokyo Imperial University as a pivot, Isomae examines the evolution of this academic discipline in the changing context of social conditions from the Meiji era through the present. Special attention is given to the development of Shinto studies/history of Shinto, and the problems of State Shinto and the emperor system are described in relation to the nature of the concept of religion. Isomae also explains how the discourse of religious studies developed in connection with secular discourses on literature and history, including Marxism.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004272682 :
1878-8106 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Research in the social scientific study of religion.
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The 25th volume of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion continues to provide readers with an interdisciplinary assortment of high quality research studies aimed at capturing salient, contemporary trends in the field. The current volume presents a special section examining the role of spiritual and religious themes in sexuality research. Engaging analyses evaluate homonegativity and how religious advocacy influences perceptions of gay and lesbian individuals across different cultures. Also included are papers on the development of sexual identities among religious committed individuals. These papers help to connect concepts too frequently considered unrelated. The regular articles provide similarly stimulating evaluations of timely topics such as religious coping, gratitude, and the role of personality in describing religious experiences.
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1 online resource (xxi, 264 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004272385 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Seeds of conflict in a haven of peace : from religious studies to interreligious studies in Africa /
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On 7 August 1998 the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were bombed and 200 people lost their lives. These bombings shattered the image of Africa's tradition of peaceful religious coexistence. Since then inter-religious dialogue has been high on the agendas of ecclesial and religious organisations, but not so much of faculties of theology and departments of religion in East Africa. This book investigates why this is so. How are interreligious relations dealt with in Africa, and more particularly, how are they and how should they be taught in institutions of higher learning? This book is based on fieldwork in Nairobi from 2001 onwards. It shows why Africa's tradition of peaceful co-existence is not going to help Africa in the 21st century, and recommends a shift in the education in inter-religious relations: from religions studies to inter-religious studies.
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1 online resource (282 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-266) and index. :
9789401204286 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The study of religion under the impact of fascism /
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The study of religion under the spell of fascism has not received due attention. One reason for the noticeable lack of interest was the political involvement of many historians of religions. Among those who had good reason to leave the era of fascism untouched, we find prominent figures in the field. Another obstacle to examining the past impartially has been the connection with religious and other worldviews which render historical accounts in the study of religion an intricate matter. The articles in this volume provide evidence of the great complexity of the problems involved. Laying the groundwork in many cases, they shed new light on a dark and poorly-lit era of the academic study of religion in Europe.
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Includes index.
Papers presented at an international symposium on "The Study of religion under the Impact of National Socialist and Fascist Ideologies in Europe" held 16-18 July 2004 at the University of Tübingen--Pref. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047423065 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Theory of religious cycles : tradition modernity and the Bahá'í faith /
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In Theory of Religious Cycles: Tradition, Modernity and the Bahá'í Faith Mikhail Sergeev offers a new interpretation of the Soviet period of Russian history as a phase within the religious evolution of humankind by developing a theory of religious cycles, which he applies to modernity and to all the major world faiths of Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Sergeev argues that in the course of its evolution religion passes through six common phases-formative, orthodox, classical, reformist, critical, and post-critical. Modernity, which was started by the European Enlightenment, represents the critical phase of Christianity, a systemic crisis that could be overcome with the appearance of new religious movements such as the Bahá'í Faith, which offers a spiritual extension of the modern worldview.
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1 online resource (xiii, 161 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004301078 :
0929-8436 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Corinth in context : comparative studies on religion and society /
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This volume is the product of an interdisciplinary conference held at the University of Texas at Austin. Specialists in the study of inscriptions, architecture, sculpture, coins, tombs, pottery, and texts collaborate to produce new portraits of religion and society in the ancient city of Corinth. The studies focus on groups like the early Roman colonists, the Augustales (priests of Augustus), or the Pauline house churches; on specific cults such as those of Asklepios, Demeter, or the Sacred Spring; on media (e.g., coins, or burial inscriptions); or on the monuments and populations of nearby Kenchreai or Isthmia. The result is a deeper understanding of the religious life of Corinth, contextualized within the socially stratified cultures of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
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Papers presented at a conference held Jan. 10-14, 2007, at the University of Texas at Austin, under the auspices of the Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins along with the Dept. of Religious Studies and the Dept. of Classics. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [477]-509) and index. :
9789004190610 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Faith and freedom in Galatia and Senegal : the Apostle Paul, colonists and sending gods /
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Faith and Freedom in Galatia and Senegal reads Galatians 2:11-15 and 3:26-29 through the lens of the 19th-20th century experiences of French colonialism by the Diola people in Senegal, West Africa, and portrays the Apostle Paul as a \''sociopostcolonial hermeneut who acted on his self-understanding as God's messenger to create, through faith in the cross of Christ, free communities' -- a self-definition that is critical of ancient Graeco-Roman and modern colonial lore that justify colonization as a divine mandate.\' Aliou C. Niang ingeniously compares the colonial objectification of his own people by French colonists to the Graeco-Roman colonial objectifications of the ancient Celts/Gauls/Galatians, and Paul's role in bringing about a different portrayal.
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Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Brite Divinity School, 2007. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [139]-164) and indexes. :
9789047428671 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion and secularity : transformations and transfers of religious discourses in Europe and Asia /
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Religion and Secularity traces the history of the conceptual binary of religion and secularity in Europe and the repercussions it had in other regions and cultures of the Eurasian continent during the age of imperialism and beyond. Twelve authors from a wide range of disciplines, deal in their contributions with the trajectory, the concepts of "religion" and "secularity/secularization" took, as well as with the corresponding re-configurations of the religious field in a variety of cultures in Europe, the Near and Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Taken together, these in-depth studies provide a broad comparative perspective on a penomenon that has been crucial for the development of globalized modernity and its regional interpretations.
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1 online resource (xii, 286 pages) :
9789004251335 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The wisdom of Egypt : Jewish, early Christian, and gnostic essays in honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen /
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This collection of essays gives a vivid impression of Egypt as background and stage of Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic thought and life in antiquity. It demonstrates Egypt's important role in the history, literature and culture of these religions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 537-547) and indexes. :
9789047407676 :
0169-734X = :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Inculturation as dialogue : Igbo culture and the message of Christ /
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Although Africa is today often seen, because of its large number of Christians, as the future hope of the Church, a closer examination of African Christianity, however, shows that the Christian faith has not taken deep root in Africa. Many Africans today declare themselves to be Christians but still remain followers of their traditional African religions, especially in matters concerning the inner dimensions of their lives. It is evident that, in strictly personal matters relating to such issues as passage rites and crises, most Africans turn to their African traditional religions. As an incarnational faith, part of the history of Christianity has been its encounter with other cultures and its becoming deeply rooted in some of these cultures. The central question remains: Why has the Christian faith not taken deep root in Africa? This volume is concerned with answering this question.
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1 online resource (xvi, 227 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-227). :
9789401204606 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Adam, Satan, and the King of Tyre : the interpretation of Ezekiel 28:11-19 in late antiquity /
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The oracle against the King of Tyre, found in Ezekiel 28.12-19, is a difficult text that inspired diverse interpretations in Late Antiquity. For example, according to one rabbinic tradition the text spoke of the first man, Adam, while the Church Fathers found in the same text a description of the fall of Satan. This book studies the rabbinic sources, patristic literature, the Targum, and the ancient translations, and seeks to understand the reasons for the diverse interpretation, the interaction between the exegetical traditions and the communities of interpreters, in particular between Jews and Christians, and the effect the specific form and wording of the text had on the formation and development of each interpretation.
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1 online resource (274 pages) :
9789004208803 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Early Christian ethics in interaction with Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts /
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Early Christian Ethics in Interaction with Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts focuses upon the nexus of early Christian Ethics and its contexts as a dynamic process. The ongoing interaction with Jewish, Greco-Roman or early Christian traditions as well as with the social-historical context at large continuously transformed early Christian ethics. The volume proposes a dynamic model for studying culture and its various expressions in a society composed of several ethnic and religious groups. The contributions focus on specific transformations of ethics in key documents of early Christianity, or take a more comparative perspective pointing to similar developments and overlaps as well as particularities within early Christian writings, Hellenistic-Jewish writings, Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish inscriptions.
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1 online resource (ix, 305 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004242159 :
1566-208X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Lived religion : conceptual, empirical and practical-theological approaches : essays in honor of Hans-Günter Heimbrock /
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Lived religion' signifies a shift of focus in order to attend to the religiosity of individuals and groups as embedded in the contexts of life-worlds. It suggests fresh attention to the body, to perception, to experience, to everyday life, and to biography. The essays in this collection gravitate around the concept of 'lived religion', honoring the contributions of Hans-Günter Heimbrock , in which he suggests this conceptual framework for understanding practical theology and religious education and for designing empirical research in theology. The contributions embrace a broad spectrum and include empirical studies, exegetical and historical investigations, contributions on practical theology as well as on the theory and practice of religious education, inviting further reflection and discussion about 'lived religion.'
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047432289 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East : Collected Papers of the International Symposium "Alevism in Turkey and Comparable Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Ne...
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This volume deals with Islamic sects in the Near East such as the Alevis (Turkey), Druzes (Libanon), Alawis (Syria), Ahl-i Haqq (Iran, Iraq) and Shabak (Iraq), which have in common a syncretistic system of belief with a strong Shi'ite influence, as well as secrecy and endogamy. The contributions in this volume focus on the present situation of these communities, their relation to mainstream Islam, their involvement in national and ethnic politics, aspects of faith and rituals, the relevance of sacred texts, modes of religious and social transformation, and the recent revival of Alevism. In view of the new visibility of these formerly "hidden" sects and their increasing social and political importance, this volume provides important information for all scholars interested in the religious and political situation of the region.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004378988 :
0169-8834 ;