"Convinced that God had called us" : dreams, visions, and the perception of God's will in Luke-Acts /
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Dream and vision scenes figure prominently in Luke-Acts. Following a discussion of methodology, historical background, and critical scholarship, this study provides a comprehensive examination of the dreams and visions in the Lukan narrative. Special attention is given to those scenes that feature significant interpretation by characters in the story (e.g., Zechariah and Mary [Luke 1-2], Saul's/Paul's conversion [Acts 9, 22, and 26], the Cornelius-Peter episode [Acts 10:1-11:18], and Paul's dream at Troas [Acts 16:9-10]). While a number of studies have highlighted the importance of dreams and visions for Luke's portrayal of God, the present study suggests that the human side of these visionary encounters is equally important. Just as Lukan dreams and visions depict God's active involvement in the events of human history, they also depict God's people attempting to perceive God's will through these visionary encounters.
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Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Princeton Theological Seminary. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-257) and indexes. :
9789047411420 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
God and the world of signs Trinity, evolution, and the metaphysical semiotics of C.S. Peirce /
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Christianity has been described as "a religion seeking a metaphysic". Drawing on the philosophy of C. S. Peirce, Robinson develops a metaphysical framework centred around a 'semiotic model' of the Trinity. The model invites a fresh approach to the claim that Jesus was the incarnate Word of God and suggests a new way of understanding how nature may bear the imprint of the Triune Creator in the form of 'vestiges of the Trinity in creation'. Scientific spin-offs include a new perspective on the problem of the origin of life and a novel hypothesis about the evolution of human distinctiveness. The result is an original contribution to Trinitarian theology and a bold new way of integrating philosophy, science and religion.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [355]-367) and indexes. :
9789004195899 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Decayed gods : origin and development of Georges Dumézil's "idéologie tripartie" /
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In 1930 Dumézil wrote an article in which he defended the Indo-European character of the Indian varnas . In 1986 he was completing his final 25 Esquisses , research proposals the aim of which was to allow his model of the 'idéologie tripartie' of Indo-European traditions to be applied to his 'disciples'. According to this model Indo-European traditions were typified by a threefold division into functions of society, the world of the gods, and the heroic traditions. These were the functions of sovereignty, power and 'fertility'. This theoretical model was elaborated by Dumézil in a large number of books and articles. Between 1930 and 1986 he broadened enormously the amount of data on which his model was based. To do so he had regularly to adapt and reformulate his model. This was not without consequences for the material which he had interpreted earlier on. In this study a detailed description is given of this process of reformulation and reinterpretation and the conclusion is that the totality of the various models does not, despite its aesthetic attraction, satisfy the criteria which should be set for scientific models.
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Translation of: Feiten, fouten en fabels, Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Leiden. :
1 online resource (xv, 254 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-245) and index. :
9789004301511 :
0169-9512 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The problem of evil and the power of God
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The problem of evil can be defined theoretically as the apparent inconsistency between, on the one hand, belief in the existence of a perfectly good and omnipotent God and, on the other hand, the existence of evil. This book discusses four different solutions to this problem, provided by Richard Swinburne, Keith Ward, David Griffin and Johan Hygen, with the goal of finding the most coherent solution. The author makes several suggestions for improvement and concludes that there is a coherent answer to the problem of evil. While the focus is on Christian approaches to the problem, many of the approaches and solutions are applicable to other religions as well.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004205611 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Knowledge of God and the development of early Kabbalah /
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In Knowledge of God and the Development of Early Kabbalah , Jonathan Dauber offers a fresh consideration of the emergence and early development of Kabbalah against the backdrop of a re-evaluation of the relationship between early Kabbalistic and philosophic discourse. He argues that the first Kabbalists adopted a philosophic ethos that was foreign to traditional Rabbinic Judaism but had taken root in Languedoc and Catalonia under the influence of newly available philosophical materials. In this ethos, the act of investigating God was accorded great religious significance, and it was its adoption by the first Kabbalists that helped spur them to engage in their investigations of God and, in so doing, develop Kabbalah.
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1 online resource (x, 275 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p.[253]-268 ) and index. :
9789004234277 :
1873-9008 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A Medieval Critique of Anthropomorphism : Ibn al-Jawzī's /
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This study consists of a critical edition of Ibn al-Jawzī's Kitāb Akhbār as-Sifāt (KAS) along with an annotated translation and introduction. KAS is a critique of anthropomorphic conceptions of God, directed in the first instance against Ibn al-Jawzī's fellow Hanbalī, but also against Sunnī traditionalists more generally. As an intra-Hanbalīr polemic, KAS sheds important new light on the intellectual fault-lines within medieval Hanbalism, and reveals the extent to which kalām had penetrated the Hanbalite school by the 12th century. In his work, Ibn al- Jawzī's makes extensive use of kalām , drawing on its technical language and crafting his arguments against anthropomorphism on the basis of the dialectical methods developed within the great theological schools of medieval Islam. The study also contains a translation of al-ʿAlthī's Risāla , a pointed response to Ibn al-Jawzī, written by a fellow Hanbalī from a traditionalist perspective.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004453265
9789004123762
Postcolonial Europe in the crucible of cultures : reckoning with God in a world of conflicts /
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Over the past forty years Europe has grown as a global presence and today it plays an important role in a variety of ways: politically, socially, economically, and culturally. European theologians have no choice but to take cognizance of this fact and respond to the broad social challenges by clarifying their views on God and being a prophetic voice in cultural, political and social decision-making. The authors in this volume take up four main contemporary global challenges, id est globalization, violence, gender, and the environment, and the volume provides its readers with first-rate theological reflections in Europe. The articles offered here are the result of an intensive workshop held in Leuven in September 2004 and are sponsored by the European Commission and the VLIR, as part of a three-year study program on the understanding of God in Europe.
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International conference proceedings. :
1 online resource (253 pages) :
9789401204699 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Eugene Borowitz : rethinking God and ethics /
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Eugene B. Borowitz is Sigmund L. Falk Distinguished Professor of Education and Jewish Religious Thought at Hebrew Union College in New York. A rabbi, teacher of rabbis, and a theologian, Borowitz has been an important spokesperson for non-Orthodox forms of Judaism, Reform Judaism in particular. Over seven decades, Borowitz has explored the centrality of God in Jewish existence, the normative force of Jewish law, the meaning of the Covenant, the distinctiveness of Jewish life, and the meaning of Jewish personhood for non-Orthodox Jews. Adopting the language of religious existentialism, he has reflected on the relational nature of human existence, on the one hand, and human self-determination on the other. Rethinking God and Ethics presents influential essays by Borowitz and explains his contribution to Jewish religious thought in the 20th century. This volume is also available in paperback . Brill mourns the death of Professor Eugene Borowitz, of blessed memory, in January 2016. The LCJP honors his valuable contribution to Jewish theology, ethics, and education.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004269996 :
2213-6010 ;
Traditions of theology : studies in Hellenistic theology, its background and aftermath /
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The nine articles in this volume were orginally presented at the VIII. Symposium Hellenisticum in Lille in August 1998. The authors discuss a set of theological questions that were central to the doctrines of the dominant schools in the Hellenistic age, such as the existence of the gods, their nature, and their concern for humankind. While the philosophers of the Classical age had kept their distance from conventional religion, the Stoics and Epicureans saw the need to come to terms with the religious tradition both in a critical and in a supportive sense. Especially the challenge by the Sceptics forced the followers of the dogmatic schools (Stoics, Epicureans) to clarify the basis of their theological tenets. Many of the texts that are accessible to us only in a fragmentary state were still highly influential in the early Christian era, so that the reconstruction of the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophers form an important part not only of the history of philosophy, but also of Christian theology and the history of religion in general. One distinctive feature of the volume is that it mirrors the changes of perspective that took place over the many centuries in this area, thus presenting the Hellenistic contribution within the larger framework of Greek philosophical theology.
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Papers presented at the 8th Symposium Hellenisticum, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, 1998. :
1 online resource (xiv, 343 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047401063 :
0079-1687 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses : Perspectives from Judaism, the Pagan Graeco-Roman World, and Early Christianity /
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The revelation of YHWH's name to Moses is a momentous event according to the Old Testament. The name 'Yahweh' is of central importance in Judaism, and 'Yahwism' became tantamount to Jewish monotheism. As such, this designation of God also attracted the attention of pagan writers in the Graeco-Roman period. And early Christians had to deal with this divine name as well. These three perspectives on YHWH constitute the framework for this volume. It appears that the Name of God and its revelation to Moses constitute a major theme which runs from the book of Exodus through the Old Testament, early Judaism, and early Christianity. It also attracted pagan philosophical interest, both positive and negative. The Name of God was not only perceived from an insider's perspective, but also provoked a reaction from outsiders. The combined perspectives show the fundamental importance of the divine Name for the formation of Jewish and Christian identities.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047411031
9789004153981
Isis on the Nile : Egyptian gods in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt : proceedings of the IVth...
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The diffusion of the cults of Isis is recently again intensively studied. Research on this fascinating phenomenon has traditionally been characterised by its focus on L'Égypte hors d'Égypte, while developments in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt itself were often seen as belonging to a different domain. This volume tries to overcome that unhealthy dichotomy by studying the cults of Isis in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt itself in relation to developments in the Mediterranean at large. The book not only presents an overview of the most important deities, often based on new or unpublished material, but also pays ample attention to the cultural processes behind Isis on Nile, like relations between style and identity, religious choice, social- and cultural memory and Egypt's view of its own past.
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1 online resource (xxviii, 293 pages, [68] pages of plates) : illustrations (1 color) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. xi-xiv) and index. :
9789004210868 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A Local history of Greek polytheism : gods, people, and the land of Aigina, 800-400 bce /
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This book provides the first comprehensive and detailed study of the deities and cults of the important Greek island-state of Aigina from the Geometric to Classical periods (800-400 BCE). It rests on a thorough first-hand reconsideration of the archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence. The development of the local cults is reconstructed, along with their interrelationships and how they responded to the social needs of the Aiginetans. Revising other recent models of interpretation, the author proposes a distinctive approach, informed by anthropology and social theory, to the study of the religious life of the ancient Greeks. On this basis, she uses the case of Aigina to explore fundamental issues such as the nature and variety of local religious worlds and their relationship to the panhellenic concepts and practices of Greek religion.
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1 online resource (xxviii, 690 pages) : illustrations, maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 551-577) and index. :
9789004262089 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Essays in contextual theology /
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Essays in Contextual Theology is a collection of essays that reflect on the doing of contextual theology from several perspectives. After a general introductory essay, subsequent essays reflect on topics such as contextual theology and prophetic dialogue, criteria for orthodoxy, the nature of tradition, the role of culture, the dynamics of conversion, and the way theology is being done in World Christianity. The collection closes with an autobiographical essay tracing the author's journey to becoming a "global theologian."
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789004363083 :
2452-2953 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The book of Jubilees : rewritten Bible, redaction, ideology and theology /
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Almost all scholars have viewed the book of Jubilees as the work of a single author, applying to the book methods of analysis determined primarily by its literary genre, Rewritten Bible. This study suggests a new approach, in light of numerous contradictions between the rewritten stories on the one hand, and the juxtaposed legal passages and chronological framework on the other. It is suggested here that the editor of Jubilees adopted extant reworked sources, and added his own legal and chronological framework. This proposed literary-critical method is highly significant for the study of the book's worldview, as is demonstrated by the analysis of passages in Jubilees that relate to the origins of evil and of law in the world.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2004.
Translated from the Hebrew. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [325]-344) and indexes. :
9789047419488 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Pieties and gender /
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Taking up the challenge of Saba Mahmood to feminist studies in religion, that there is a liberalist understanding of agency and a tendency to mix the feminist political project with the analytical, the authors of this anthology discuss the relations between pieties and politics, pieties and methodologies, virtuous masculinities, and symbolic gender representations. Several articles discuss highly controversial questions: Muslim piety, religion in the European Union between the Vatican and the Muslim populations, the religiously motivated abstinence policies of the US. Furthermore, there is an interesting section about religious masculinities in a historical and contemporary perspective.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047440611 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Manichaeism and its legacy /
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This volume reproduces nineteen chapters and articles published between 1991 through 2008, on Manichaeism, and its contacts with Augustine of Hippo, its most famous convert and also best-known adversary. The contents are divided into four parts: perceptions of Mani within the Roman Empire, select aspects of Manichaean thought, women in Manichaeism, and Manichaeism and Augustine. Though these chapters and articles reproduce their originals, adjustments have been made to include cross-referencing, newer editions, and the like, all with the aim of rendering them more accessible to a new readership among those who follow the fortunes of Mani's religion in the Roman Empire and/or the "Manichaean" aspects of Augustine of Hippo.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [329]-336) and indexes. :
9789047429180 :
0929-2470 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Disease in Babylonia /
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This collection of articles is the first collection of studies on the specific subject of disease in Babylonia, based upon actual medical texts, with contributions by senior scholars who have spent years working on published and unpublished cuneiform medical texts. The volume contains editions of unpublished materials as well as syntheses of information about specific diseases in Babylonia, such as fever, published here for the first time. The volume will be important for anyone interested in the history of ancient medicine as well as being an important contribution to Assyriology.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047404187 :
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.
Pentecostalism in Africa : presence and impact of pneumatic Christianity in postcolonial societies /
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Within recent decades Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity has moved from an initially peripheral position to become a force to be reckoned with within Africa's religious landscape. Bringing together prominent Africanist scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this book offers a comprehensive and multifaceted treatment of the ways in which Pentecostal-Charismatic movements have shaped the orientations of African Christianity and extended their influence into other spheres of post-colonial societies such as politics, developmental work and popular entertainment. Among other things, the chapters of the book show how Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity responds to social and cultural concerns of Africans, and how its growth and increasingly assertive presence in public life have facilitated new kinds of social positioning and claims to political power.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004281875 :
1876-2247 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.