The debate between a man and his soul : a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian literature /
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This book is a new study of the ancient Egyptian poem known in English as The Man Who Was Tired of Life or The Dialogue of a Man and His Ba (or Soul ). The composition is universally regarded as one of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian literature. It is also one of the most difficult and continually debated, as well as being the subject of more than one hundred books and articles. The present study offers new readings and translations, along with an analysis of the text's grammar and versification, and a complete philological apparatus.
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Includes a transliteration of the original text with English translation. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004193062 :
1566-2055 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Nazirites in late Second Temple Judaism : a survey of ancient Jewish writings, the New Testament, archaeological evidence, and other writings from late antiquity /
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Nazirites appear in a number of sources relevant to Judaism of the late Second Temple period. This book surveys the pertinent evidence and assesses what it reveals regarding the role of the Nazirite within Judaism of the late Second Temple and early Christian era. The survey is arranged according to three primary sections: "Direct Evidence for Nazirites"; "Possible and Tangential Evidence for Nazirites"; and a final section, "Making Sense of the Evidence." It concludes by arguing that the role of the Nazirite portrayed in sources was that of a religious devotee, and concomitant with biblical law, Nazirite devotion typically involved flexibility, personal freedom of expression, and adaptation to outside cultural norms. Those interested in the Nazirite vow as portrayed in the New Testament and other relevant sources will find this study useful, as will those interested in Bible translation and interpretation in late Second Temple and early rabbinic literature.
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Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 2002. :
1 online resource (x, 196 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047407874 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Crisis management in late antiquity (410-590 CE) : a survey of the evidence from episcopal letters /
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Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil investigate crisis management as conducted by the increasingly important episcopal class in the 5th and 6th centuries. Their basic source is the neglected corpus of bishops' letters in Greek and Latin, the letter being the most significant mode of communication and information-transfer in the period from 410 to 590 CE. The volume brings together into a wider setting a wealth of previous international research on episcopal strategies for dealing with crises of various kinds. Six broad categories of crisis are identified and analysed: population displacement, natural disasters, religious disputes and religious violence, social abuses and the breakdown of the structures of dependence. Individual case-studies of episcopal management are provided for each of these categories. This is the first comprehensive treatment of crisis management in the late-antique world, and the first survey of episcopal letter-writing across the later Roman empire.
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1 online resource (xiii, 284 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-239) and index. :
9789004254824 :
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.
Jethro and the Jews : Jewish biblical interpretation and the question of identity /
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In Jethro and the Jews , Beatrice J. W. Lawrence examines rabbinic texts that address the biblical character of Jethro, a Midianite priest, Moses' advisor and father-in-law, and the creator of the system of Jewish jurisprudence. Lawrence explores biblical interpretations in Midrash, Targum and Talmud, revealing a spectrum of responses to the presence of a man who straddles the line between insider and outsider. Ranging from character assassination to valorization of Jethro as a convert, these interpretive strategies reveal him to be a locus of anxiety for the rabbis concerning conversion, community boundaries, intermarriage, and non-Jews.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004348929 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Dead Sea scrolls and contemporary culture : proceedings of the international conference held at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (July 6-8, 2008) /
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This volume contains the proceedings of the international conference held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in July 2008 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As indicated by its title "The Dead Sea Scrolls and Contemporary Culture," the aim of the conference was to move beyond the strict confines of conventional scholarship and to explore new avenues of research, including the examination of the place of the findings from the Judean Desert in contemporary culture. The book is divided into five main sections: (1) the Identity and History of the Community; (2) the Qumran "Library": Origins, Use, and Nature (2a. Biblical Texts; 2b. Biblical Interpretation; 2c. Sectarian and Non-Sectarian Literature; 2d. Sectarian vis-à-vis Rabbinic Halakha); (3) Christianity in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls; (4) Gender at Qumran; and (5) New Perspectives (5a. Methodological Approaches; 5b. Educational Approaches).
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004196148 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Syriac idiosyncrasies : theology and hermeneutics in early Syriac literature /
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The study of early Syriac Christianity has for decades been steadily expanding, yet its scope still lags way behind that of research relating to Greek and Latin Christianity. One of the intriguing and understudied topics here is the nature of Syriac Christianity's autonomous identity in late antiquity. This question is intrinsically connected to its genesis from an indigenous Christian Aramaic background as well as its interaction with the neighboring Jewish milieu. This volume unearthes some of the idiosyncracies -- mainly pertaining to trinitarian theology, christology and hermeneutics -- to be found in early Syriac literature before the onslaught of Greek hegemony. The idiosyncrasies analyzed here offer new insights into the nature of that peculiar brand of early Christianity, confirming a model of an indigenous early Syriac tradition gradually entering into a dynamic interaction with Greek influence.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004191112 :
1570-078X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Apostles in Early Christian Art and Poetry /
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The Apostles in Early Christian Art and Poetry presents the first in-depth analysis of the origins of the representation of the apostles (the twelve disciples and Paul) in verse and image in the late antique Greco-Roman world (250-400). Especially in the West, the apostles are omnipresent, in particular on sarcophagi and in Biblical and martyr poetry. They primarily function as witnesses of Christ's stay on earth, but Peter and Paul are also popular saints of their own. Occasionally, the other apostles come to the fore as individual figures. Direct influence from art on poetry or vice versa appears to be difficult to trace, but principal developments of late antique society are reflected in the representation of the apostles in both media.
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Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.--Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 2014). :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004309746 :
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.
L'apocalypse des animaux (1 Hen 85-90) : une propagande militaire? : approches narrative, historico-critique, perspectives théologiques /
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For the majority of scholars, the Animal Apocalypse is a militant text, a piece of pro-Maccabean propaganda. This text, however, develops theological reflections that are distinctly different from a justification of an armed struggle. Its themes are even incompatible with the Maccabean movement. It is impossible to condemn the Second Temple and, at the same time, mobilise people for a fight in order to purify that very Temple. After dealing with text-critical issues, this work challenges the thesis that the text is military propaganda through the use of narrative and historical approaches. The analyses, besides proposing a new way of a studying an apocalypse, spell out the peculiarity and the significance of the theology of the Animal Apocalypse in connection with the biblical history of Israel and the theology of the Qumran community.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-348) and indexes. :
9789047421900 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Nag Hammadi Library after Fifty Years : Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration /
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This volume contains 22 papers originally delivered at the Society of Biblical Literature's 1995 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library. Of these papers, five focus on the theme "Past, Present, and Future Research on the Nag Hammadi Codices" (J.M. Robinson, S. Emmel, B.A. Pearson, H.-M. Schenke, E.M. Yamauchi); thirteen stem from three seminars respectively devoted to the Apocryphon of John (M. Waldstein, F. Wisse, K.L. King, and S. LaPorta), the Gospel of Thomas and the Thomasine tradition (P.-H. Poirier, P.H. Sellew, J.-M. Sevrin, I. Dunderberg, S.R. Johnson, A. DeConick), and the Gospel of Philip ( E. Pagels, E. Thomassen, M. Turner); and two deal with the Valentinian school (C. Markschies, L. Painchaud & T. Janz).
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439740
9789004108240
For out of Babylonia shall come Torah and the word of the Lord from Nehar Peqod : the quest for Babylonian tannaitic traditions /
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In For Out of Babylonia Shall Come Torah and the Word of the Lord from Nehar Peqod , Barak S. Cohen reevaluates the evidence in Tannaitic and Amoraic literature of an independent "Babylonian Mishnah" which originated in the proto-talmudic period. The book focuses on an analysis of the most notable halakhic corpora that have been identified by scholars as originating in the Tannaitic period or at the outset of the amoraic. If indeed such an early corpus did exist, what are its characteristics and what, if any, connection does it have with the parallel Palestinian collections? Was this Babylonian Mishnah created in order to harmonize the Palestinian Mishnah with a corpus of rabbinic teachings already existent in Babylonia? Was this corpus one of the main contributors to the forced interpretations and resolutions found so frequently in the Bavli?
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1 online resource (viii, 295 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347021 :
1571-5000 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Early Christian poetry : a collection of essays /
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This collection of essays deals with the rise and development of early Christian poetry, discussing its techniques and its theoretical foundation. The individual papers concern specimina of Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin poetry and study the various and partly conflicting traditions from which it originated. The biblical examples, e.g. of the Psalms, held great authority, but on the other hand it was impossible to break away from the models of classical Greco-Roman poetry, although these were deemed dangerous because of the pagan content and excessive cult of literary art. The book shows how the problems involved were solved in different ways, which justified the use of pagan literary accomplishments for singing the praises of the Lord.
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1 online resource (xi, 318 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004312890 :
0902-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Maximus I. von Turin : die Verkündigung eines Bischofs der frühen Reichskirche im zeitgeschichtlichen, gesellschaftlichen und liturgischen Kontext /
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This volume deals with the sermons of St. Maximus I, Bishop of Turin about AD 305-420. It presents an exemplary study which, besides clarifying problems of dating and authorship, points out the importance of context for an appropriate interpretation of sermon literature. The sermons are thus placed in the contexts of contemporary history, of society and of liturgy. The liturgical contextualisation forms the core of the book. The author reconstructs the liturgical year of late-Antique Turin and takes it as the basis of a detailed diachronic analysis of the bishop's preaching from advent to pentecost. Additionally, the Feasts of the Saints are seen in their kerygmatic function. In a concluding chapter the author tackles such problems as the exegetical nature of preaching and the importance of the Bible.
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1 online resource (xviii, 342 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 288-327) and index. :
9789004313071 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The organization of the pyramid texts : typology and disposition /
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The ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts form the oldest sizable body of religious texts in the world. Discovered in the late nineteenth century, they had been inscribed on the interior stone walls of the pyramid tombs of third-millennium kings and queens. From their content it is clear that they were concerned with the afterlife state of the tomb owner, but the historical meaning of their emergence has been poorly understood. This book weds traditional philological approaches to linguistic anthropology in order to associate them with two spheres of human action: mortuary cult and personal preparation for the afterlife. Monumentalized as hieroglyphs in the tomb, their function was now one step removed from the human events that had motivated their original production.
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1 online resource (2 volumes in 1 (xxxiv, 712 pages)) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004227491 :
0169-9601 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Paul and the ancient letter form /
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Throughout the last century, there has been continuous study of Paul as a writer of letters. Although this fact was acknowledged by previous generations of scholars, it was during the twentieth century that the study of ancient letter-writing practices came to the fore and began to be applied to the study of the letters of the New Testament. This volume seeks to advance the discussion of Paul's relationship to Greek epistolary traditions by evaluating the nature of ancient letters as well as the individual letter components. These features are evaluated alongside Paul's letters to better understand Paul's use and adaptations of these traditions in order to meet his communicative needs.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004190672 :
1572-4913 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The political thought of Václav Havel : philosophical influences and contemporary applications /
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The book considers Václav Havel's body of writing as a cohesive whole offering a consistent political philosophy. This bold claim is backed up through a close examination of Havel's plays, letters, essays and aphorisms. The political philosophy that a close reading of Havel reveals is a liberal one. However, Havel is not the run-of the-mill liberal having influences from the field of phenomenology, Masaryk, Husserl, Levinas Patočka and Heidegger which give him a nuanced view of the self. Havel sees the self as something always being formed. Hence for Havel man has an ability to 'shake' his current state and invite transcendence into his life. This agonistic process reveals our responsibility and liberates the self from forces which coerce behaviour.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004332195 :
0929-8436 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Josephus' Contra Apionem : studies in its character and context with a Latin concordance to the portion missing in Greek /
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This volume offers a state-of-the-art collection of papers on one of the most significant works of Flavius Josephus, by many of the leading scholars in current Josephus research. The collection, which includes a concordance by H. Schreckenberg of the Latin section Contra Apionem 2.52-113, forms a standard, indispensable resource for the study of Josephus' writings, of apologetic literature in general, and particularly for the study of Contra Apionem , one of the most significant apologetic treatises in Antiquity.
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1 online resource (x, 517 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004332881 :
0169-734X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
"And scripture cannot be broken" : the form and function of the early Christian Testimonia collections /
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This work argues that many early Christian quotations of the Old Testament derive not from scriptural manuscripts, but rather from authoritative written testimonia collections developed to support basic Christian beliefs. Combining recent patristic studies (notably on Justin and Barnabas ) and evidence from Qumran with detailed examination of quotations in the New Testament, the book builds a fresh case for a neglected scholarly hypothesis. After reviewing the scholarly literature and analogous Jewish and Greco-Roman literary collections, the book presents a comprehensive overview of extant testimonia traditions from the second to the fourth century C.E. The final chapters argue for the use of written testimonia collections in the New Testament. This study offers solid evidence for a remarkably unified early Christian scriptural tradition that extended throughout the Mediterranean world.
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Revised version of author's dissertation (Ph. D.)--Marquette University, 1997. :
1 online resource (xvi, 335 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-310) and indexes. :
9789004267466 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The challenge of the silver screen : an analysis of the cinematic portraits of Jesus, Rama, Buddha and Muhammad /
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In 1897 - only two years after the invention of film - the first feature film about Jesus appeared. This and other films about Jesus became examples for and an inspiration for films on other important religious figures like Rama, Buddha and Muhammad. Although religious leaders did not always approve of these films, they did find a ready audience among believers. This book explores these films and looks at how these films dealt with the fundamental question of portraying an individual thought to have either divine status or a very special and unique status among human beings. This book will thus benefit not only students of religious film but also those studying the portrayal of central religious figures in the contemporary world.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmography and videography. :
9789004194045 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.