Creation, covenant, and the beginnings of Judaism : reconceiving historical time in the Second Temple period /
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This study examines the relationship between time and history in Second Temple literature. Numerous sources from that period express a belief that Jewish history began with an act of covenant formation and proceeded in linear fashion until the exile, an unprecedented event which severed the present from the past. The authors of Ben Sira, Jubilees , the Animal Apocalypse , and 4 Ezra responded to this theological challenge by claiming instead that Jewish history began at creation. Between creation and redemption, history unfolds as a series of static, repeating patterns that simultaneously account for the disappointments of the Second Temple period and confirm the eternal nature of the covenant. As iterations of timeless, cyclical patterns, the difficult post-exilic present and the glorious redemption of the future emerge as familiar, unremarkable, and inevitable historical developments.
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1 online resource (xii, 216 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-208) and index. :
9789004281653 :
1384-2161 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Muhammad 'Abduh and his interlocutors : conceptualizing religion in a globalizing world /
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In Muḥammad ʿAbduh and his Interlocutors: Conceptualizing Religion in a Globalizing World , Ammeke Kateman offers an account of Muḥammad ʿAbduh's Islamic Reformism in a context in which ideas increasingly crossed familiar geographical, religious and cultural frontiers. Presenting an alternative to the inadequate perspective of "Westernization", Kateman situates the ideas of Muḥammad ʿAbduh (Egypt, 1849-1905) on Islam and religion amongst those of his interlocutors within a global intellectual field. Ammeke Kateman's approach documents the surprising pluralism of ʿAbduh's interlocutors, the diversity in their shared conceptualizations of religion and the creativity of ʿAbduh's own interpretation. In this way, the conceptualizations of ʿAbduh and his contemporaries also shed light on the diversified global genealogy of the modern concept of religion.
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Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2016, titled Shared questions, diverging answers : Muḥammad ʻAbduh and his interlocutors on 'religion' in a globalizing world. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004398382 :
0169-8834 ;
Chinese Religions Going Global /
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"As China is being increasingly integrated into the global economy, more and more Chinese people live transnational lives and practice religion globally. So far scholarship of the relationship between religion and globalization in the Chinese religious field has primarily been set in the historical context of the encounter between Western Christian missionaries and local Chinese agents, and little is known about a global Chinese religious field that is in the making. The Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion volume 11: Chinese Religions Going Global seeks to challenge the dichotomous ordering of the western global and the Chinese local, and to add a new perspective for understanding religious modernity globally. Contributors from four continents who represent a range of specialisms apply social scientific methods in order to systematically research the globalization of Chinese religions. Contributors are Jacqueline Armijo, Fabio Berti, Nikolas Broy, Nanlai Cao, Shaojin Chai, Marco Guglielmi, Jie Kang, Thoralf Klein, Xinan Li, Jifeng Liu, Line Nyhagen, Utiraruto Otheode, Valentina Pedone, Benjamin Penny, Anna Sun, Jonathan Tam, Grazia Ting Deng, Yuting Wang, Chris White, Hung-Jen Yang"--
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004443327
9789004443167
Marriage in the Western Church : the Christianization of marriage during the patristic and early medieval periods /
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Marriage in the Western Church examines how marriage acquired a specifically Christian identity in the Western Church from the patristic through Carolingian periods. It shows how theologians came to regard marriage as an ecclesiastical institution and how they developed a Christian theology of marriage. The first part of the book deals with marriage and divorce in Roman and Germanic law. Other parts deal with marriage and divorce in ecclesiastical law, with the Latin Fathers' distinction between the divine and human laws of marriage, and with the customary stages by which persons became married. Several chapters are devoted to Augustine's views on marriage and sexuality. The author shows how the doctrine of indissolubility became the West's chief means of christianizing marriage, and how theologians found here their preferred arguments for affirming the holiness and the 'sacramentality' of marriage. The author argues that the Western regime of indissolubility was the product of a fourth century reform movement. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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1 online resource (xxx, 436 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 420-427) and index. :
9789004312913 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Alexander histories and Iranian reflections : remnants of propaganda and resistance /
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Alexander the Great's military campaign to conquer the Achaemenid empire included a propaganda campaign to convince the Iranians his kingship was compatible with their religious and cultural norms. This campaign proved so successful that the overt display of Alexander's Iranian and Zoroastrian preferences alienated some of his Greek and Macedonian allies. Parivash Jamzadeh shows how this original propaganda material displayed multiple layers of Iranian influences. Additionally she demonstrates that the studied sources do not always offer an accurate account of the contemporary Iranian customs, and occasionally included historical inaccuracies. One of the most interesting finds in this study is the confusion of historical sources that arose between the opponents Darius III and Alexander. Jamzadeh argues that the Iranian propaganda regarding Alexander the Great has contributed to this confusion.
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1 online resource (viii, 193 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004217522 :
2210-3554 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tantra, Ritual Performance, and Politics in Nepal and Kerala : Embodying the Goddess-clan /
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In previous studies of South Asian Tantric ritual, scholars tend to focus on one region or context. For the first time, Tantra, Ritual Performance and Politics in Nepal and Kerala: Embodying the Goddess-clan offers a comparative approach to Tantric mediumship as observed in two locales: Navadurgā rituals in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and Teyyāṭṭam in North Kerala. In this book, Matthew Martin advances a new theory of ritual, which spotlights the way dancer-mediums embody medieval goddess-clans and ancestor deities, through offerings of food and sacrifice, that synchronize their denizens with the land in spiralling web-like ritual networks. Uniquely interdisciplinary in style, this study synthesizes cultural history, ethnography, and theory to explore the continuities - historical, societal, and political - that characterize these ritual traditions across the subcontinent.
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Revision of author's PhD dissertation. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439023
9789004438996
Health and ritual in Morocco : conceptions of the body and healing practices /
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In Health and Ritual in Morocco , Josep Lluis Mateo Dieste analyzes the many notions of the body that appear in various Moroccan medical and religious systems. Viewing these issues from anthropological and historical perspectives to the development of Islamic medicine in Morocco, this study highlights the elements of power that define these representations and practices. Mateo Dieste shows that most of the healing rituals challenge the strict division between physical and mental afflictions. Health and Ritual in Morocco provides a valuable structure for understanding Moroccan conceptions of the person, rites of passage, gender differences, and reproductive practices. It offers insights into the weight of the notions of impurity and purification of the body in the daily life of the contemporary Moroccan population.
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Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 7, 2012). :
1 online resource (vi, 366 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004234482 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ibn Taymiyya's theodicy of perpetual optimism /
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The Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) is famous for polemic against Islamic philosophy, theology and rationalizing mysticism, but his positive theological contribution has not been well understood. This comprehensive study of Ibn Taymiyya's theodicy helps to rectify this lack. Exposition and analysis of Ibn Taymiyya's writings on God's justice and wise purpose, divine determination and human agency, the problem of evil, and juristic method in theological doctrine show that he articulates a theodicy of optimism in which God in His essence perpetually wills the best possible world from eternity. This sets Ibn Taymiyya's theodicy apart from Ashʿarī divine voluntarism, the free-will theodicy of the Muʿtazilīs, and the essentially timeless God of other optimists like Ibn Sīnā and Ibn ʿArabī.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.--University of Birmingham, 2002) under the title: An Islamic theodicy : Ibn Taymiyya on the wise purpose of God, human agency, and problems of evil and justice. :
1 online resource (xii, 270 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047420194 :
0169-8729 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The self as symbolic space : constructing identity and community at Qumran /
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This volume investigates critical practices by which the Qumran community constituted itself as a sectarian society. Key to the formation of the community was the reconstruction of the identity of individual members. In this way the "self" became an important symbolic space for the development of the ideology of the sect. Persons who came to experience themselves in light of the narratives and symbolic structures embedded in the community practices would have developed the dispositions of affinity and estrangement necessary for the constitution of a sectarian society. Drawing on various theories of discourse and practice in rhetoric, philosophy, and anthropology, the book examines the construction of the self in two central documents: the Serek ha-Yahad and the Hodayot.
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1 online resource (x, 376 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 353-364) and indexes. :
9789047405153 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Politics of worship in the contemporary Middle East : sainthood in fragile states /
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In Sainthood in Fragile States , a wide range of social scientists explore the contested role of sainthood in the contemporary Middle East. By expanding the notion of sainthood to cover both the religious and secular ways of dealing with extraordinary events, people and things, the volume offers new insights into the way sainthood is embedded in various levels of everyday life, as well as national and international politics. The case studies highlight how fragility as a central aspect of sainthood is a productive force that often consolidates tales of the extraordinary, and is also the source of contesting social identities. Contributors include: Andreas Bandak, Mikkel Bille, Jürgen Frembgen, Sune Haugbolle, Angie Heo, Daniella Kuzmanovic, Edith Szanto, and Pnina Werbner.
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1 online resource (215 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004249226 :
1385-3376 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Portraits of spiritual authority : religious power in early Christianity, Byzantium, and the Christian Orient /
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This volume deals with several figures of spiritual authority in Christianity during late antiquity and the early middle ages, and seeks to illuminate the way in which the struggle for religious influence evolved with changes in church and society. A number of literary portraits are examined, portraits which, in various literary genres, are themselves designed to establish and propagate the authority of the people whose lives and activities they describe. The sequence begins with visionary and prophetic figures of the second and third centuries, proceeds through several testimonies from the fourth century to the power of holy persons, moves on to Syriac portraits of the fifth to seventh centuries, and ends with the demise of the authority of the holy man in the eighth.
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1 online resource (xiii, 227 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004295919 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Die Geheimnisse der oberen und der unteren Welt : Magie im Islam zwischen Glaube und Wissenschaft /
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Die Geheimnisse der oberen und der unteren Welt ( The Secrets of the Upper and the Lower World ) is a substantial new collection of essays on magic in Islamic cultural history. Both comprehensive and innovative in its approach, this book offers fresh insights into an important yet still understudied area of Islamic intellectual history. The seventeen chapters deal with key aspects of Islamic magic, including its historical developments, geographical variants, and modern-day practices. The general introduction identifies and problematizes numerous sub-topics and key practitioners/theoreticians in the Arabo-Islamic context. This, along with terminological and bibliographical appendices, makes the volume an unparalleled reference work for both specialists and a broader readership. Contributors: Ursula Bsees, Johann Christoph Bürgel, Susanne Enderwitz, Hans Daiber; Sebastian Günther, Mahmoud Haggag, Maher Jarrar, Anke Joisten-Pruschke, Fabian Käs, Ulrich Marzolph, Christian Mauder, Tobias Nünlist, Khanna Omarkhali, Eva Orthmann, Bernd-Christian Otto, Dorothee Pielow, Lutz Richter-Bernburg, Johanna Schott andamp; Johannes Thomann.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004387577
Revisiting aspect and Aktionsart : a corpus approach to Koine Greek event typology /
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In Revisiting Aspect and Aktionsart, Francis G.H. Pang employs a corpus approach to analyze the relationship between Greek aspect and Aktionsart . Recent works have tried to predict the meanings that emerge when a certain set of clausal factors and lexical features combine with one of the grammatical aspects. Most of these works rely heavily on Zeno Vendler's telicity distinction. Based on empirical evidence, Pang argues that telicity and perfectivity are not related in a systematic manner in Koine Greek. As a corollary, Aktionsart should be considered an interpretive category, meaning that its different values emerge, not from the interaction of only one or two linguistic parameters, but from the process of interpreting language in context.
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"This monograph is a revision of my doctoral dissertation (McMaster Divinity College, May 2014)." :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004310889 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
To increase learning for the understanding ones : reading and reconstructing the fragmentary early Jewish sapiential text 4QInstruction /
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This study aims at furthering our understanding of the early Jewish sapiential composition 4QInstruction which was found in fragmentary manuscripts at Qumran. The first part focuses on the reading and joining of the fragments, and gives an approximate reconstruction of the manuscripts and the composition. The second part discusses some disputed sections and themes in more detail, especially the beginning of the composition (4Q416 1), its relation to the Community Rule and the Hodayot, alleged sacerdotal fragments (4Q415 1 ii-2 I and 4Q418 81), as well as fragments describing fate after death (4Q418 55 and 69 ii). The first part is intended as a supplement to the official DJD edition, whereas the second part is of a more general interest.
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1 online resource (xiv, 265 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-252) and indexes. :
9789004350427 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religions and trade : religious formation, transformation, and cross-cultural exchange between East and West /
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In Religions and Trade a number of international scholars investigate the ways in which eastern and western religions were formed and transformed from the perspective of "trade." Trade changes religions. Religions expand through the help of trade infrastructures, and religions extend and enrich the trade relations with cultural and religious "commodities" which they contribute to the "market place" of human culture and religion. This leads to the inclusion, demarcation and densification as well as the amalgamation of religious traditions. In an attempt to find new pathways into the world of religious dynamics, this collection of essays focuses on four elements or "commodities" of religious interchange: topologies of religious space, religious symbol systems, religious knowledge, and religious-ethical ways of life.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004255302
Biblical exegesis without authorial intention? : interdisciplinary approaches to authorship and meaning /
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In Biblical Exegesis without Authorial Intention? Interdisciplinary Approaches to Authorship and Meaning , Clarissa Breu offers interdisciplinary contributions to the question of the author in biblical interpretation with a focus on "death of the author" theory. The wide range of approaches represented in the volume comprises mostly postmodern theory (e. g. Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Paul de Man, Julia Kristeva and Gilles Deleuze), but also the implied author and intentio operis. Furthermore, psychology, choreography, reader-response theories and anthropological studies are reflected. Inasmuch as the contributions demonstrate that biblical studies could utilize significantly more differentiated views on the author than are predominantly presumed within the discipline, it is an invitation to question the importance and place attributed to the author.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004379558 :
0928-0731 ;
A New Reading of the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch : "All Nations Shall be Blessed" /
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A New Reading of the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch is the most comprehensive theological commentary on this important second-century BCE Jewish apocalypse to date, laying out the purpose and methodology of this Enochic allegory and using this as the basis for a new commentary on the whole text, presented here in a fresh translation. Against other interpretations that focus on Israel and its institutions, Daniel Olson argues that the promise of universal blessing in the Abrahamic covenant is presented in the Animal Apocalypse as the governing dynamic in a sacred history that begins and ends with humanity in general. The authentic Jacob/Israel will appear in the end times and be the catalyst of universal salvation
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1 online resource (xi, 297 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004247789 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Kingdom-minded people : Christian identity and the contributions of Chinese business Christians /
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During the early twentieth century in China, a number of key economic leaders converted to Christianity. Whilst strongly influenced by cultural heritage, powerful modernizing forces and tumultuous political changes, the new Christian identity inculcated by Protestant missionaries motivated these entrepreneurs to modify their business practices, improve their social environment and extend the influence of Christianity. Protestant and Catholic sojourners likewise made significant contributions into their adopted communities. With unprecedented economic growth in China today, a fascinating contemporary parallel can be seen, particularly through the influence of Pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical training. Previous research has explored the emergence of the urban Christian élite in modern China. However, this systematic study provides new understanding of how Christian identity motivates Chinese business Christians toward economic, social and religious contribution.
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1 online resource (xx, 286 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004222670 :
1876-2247 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion in times of crisis /
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Religion is alive and well all over the world, especially in times of personal, political, and social crisis. Even in Europe, long regarded the most "secular" continent, religion has taken centre stage in how people respond to the crises associated with modernity, or how they interact with the nation-state. In this book, scholars working in and on Europe offer fresh perspectives on how religion provides answers to existential crisis, how crisis increases the salience of religious identities and cultural polarization, and how religion is contributing to changes in the modern world in Europe and beyond. Cases from Poland to Pakistan and from Ireland to Zimbabwe, among others, demonstrate the complexity and ambivalence of religion's role in the contemporary world.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource (pages) :
9789004277793 :
1061-5210 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.