Christians shaping identity from the Roman Empire to Byzantium : studies inspired by Pauline Allen /
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The essays collected in Christians Shaping Identity celebrate Pauline Allen's significant contribution to early Christian, late antique, and Byzantine studies, especially concerning bishops, heresy/orthodoxy and christology. Covering the period from earliest Christianity to middle Byzantium, the first eighteen essays explore the varied ways in which Christians constructed their own identity and that of the society around them. A final four essays explore the same theme within Roman Catholicism and oriental Christianity in the late 19th to 21st centuries, with particular attention to the subtle relationships between the shaping of the early Christian past and the moulding of Christian identity today. Among the many leading scholars represented are Averil Cameron and Elizabeth A. Clark.
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1 online resource (xv, 520 pages) :
"Publications by Pauline Allen"--Pages 13-21.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004301573 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ephraim Radner, Hosean Wilderness, and the Church in the Post-Christendom West : A Dialogue on the Shape of Waiting /
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Ephraim Radner, Hosean Wilderness, and the Church in the Post-Christendom West offers the first monograph-length treatment of the compelling and perplexing contemporary Anglican theologian Ephraim Radner. While unravelling his distinctive approach to biblical hermeneutics and ecclesiology, it queries the state of today's secularized church through a theological interpretation of an equally enigmatic writer: the prophet Hosea. It concludes that an eschatological posture of waiting and a heuristic of poesis should dictate the church's shape for an era in which God is stripping the church of its foregoing institutional forms.
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1 online resource. :
9789004420212
9789004420205
Būluṣ ibn Rajāʾ : The Fatimid Egyptian Convert Who Shaped Christian Views of Islam /
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Būluṣ ibn Rajāʾ (ca. 955-ca. 1020) was a celebrated writer of Coptic Christianity from Fatimid Egypt. Born to an influential Muslim family in Cairo, Ibn Rajāʾ later converted to Christianity and composed The Truthful Exposer ( Kitāb al-Wāḍiḥ bi-l-Ḥaqq ) outlining his skepticism regarding Islam. His ideas circulated across the Middle East and the Mediterranean in the medieval period, shaping the Christian understanding of the Qurʾan's origins, Muḥammad's life, the practice of Islamic law, and Muslim political history. This book includes a study of Ibn Rajāʾ's life, along with an Arabic edition and English translation of The Truthful Exposer.
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In eleventh-century Egypt, the Christian convert Būluṣ ibn Rajāʾ composed The Truthful Exposercritiquing Islam. This publication includes a study of Ibn Rajāʾ's biography, his impact on Christian approaches to Islam, and an Arabic edition with English translation of his work. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004517400
9789004517394
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 hope of glory : education and exhortation in the Epistle to the Colossians /
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This study explores the background, character, and function of Colossians as a form of theological education and appeal in the Pauline tradition. A historical, literary, rhetorical, and narrative analysis of the text shows how its theological affirmations and claims were presented so as to engage the life of its readers in practical ways and in practical contexts, especially in order to direct their moral formation as Christians and their self-understanding as a Christian community in a time of controversy. The specific strategies adopted by the author in designing his message and instructing the readers are familiar from Hellenistic conventions of moral and spiritual guidance, particularly those conventions associated with philosophic paraenesis , or moral exhortation for recent converts.
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1 online resource (xiv, 297 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-274) and indexes. :
9789004267343 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The book of Psalms : composition and reception /
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Written by leading experts in the field as well as some younger scholars, The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception offers a wide-ranging treatment of the main aspects of Psalms study. The almost 30 essays consist of two overall sections. The first section contains studies of a more general nature; commentary on or interpretation of specific Psalms; social setting; and the Psalter as book. The second section contains essays on the literary context of the Psalter (including Qumran texts); textual history and reception in Judaism and Christianity; and the theology of the Psalter. The volume ends with a cumulative bibliography and several useful indices.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047414797 :
0083-5889 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Judaism in late antiquity.
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The authors have asked of the documents of the Dead Sea Library found at Qumran a simple question: how does each participate in a single Judaic religious system? They propose a reading of the Scrolls from the hypothesis that all of them, in one way or another, rest upon one, authoritative, Judaism. Their analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls describes how diverse writings hold together to make a single coherent statement, to stand for a religious system possessed of integrity and wisdom. This account of the world view of Judaism covers principal questions addressed to any Judaic religious system: the doctrine of God, the Torah, and matters of history, wisdom, and mysticism. When it comes to the way of life, they include the evidence of the material culture of the community as well as practical matters of religious conduct. How the community's world view comes to realization is suggested by its treatment of the calendar, by its provision of laws that concern women, by questions of cultic and secular purity, by its piety and forms of worship and views of Temple, sacrifice, and the like. Finally, with the community's definition of 'Israel' and of itself in relationship to 'Israel', inclusive of Israelites excluded from this 'Israel', an account is gained of the theory of who and what is Israel that animates the particular Judaism represented in these writings.
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Pt. 3, volume 4 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck and Jacob Neusner.
Pt. 5, volume 1-2 edited by Alan J. Avery-Peck, Jacob Neusner and Bruce D. Chilton. :
1 online resource (xii, 276 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004294196 :
0169-9423 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion, politics and law : philosophical reflections on the sources of normative order in society /
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Modern, liberal democracies in the West living under the rule of law and protection of human rights cannot articulate the very values from which they derive their legitimacy. These pre-political and pre-legal preconditions cannot be guaranteed, let alone be enforced by the state, but constitute nevertheless its moral and spiritual infrastructure. Until recently, a common background and horizon consisted in Christianity, but due to secularisation and globalisation, society has become increasingly multicultural and multireligious. The question can and should be raised how religion relates to these sources of normative order in society, how religion, politics and law relate to each other, and how social cohesion can be attained in society, given the growing varieties of religious experiences. In this book, a philosophical account of this question is carried out, on the one hand historically from Plato to the Enlightenment, on the other hand systematically and practically.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047425380 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The divine father : religious and philosophical concepts of divine parenthood in antiquity /
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The present volume is devoted to the theme of \'Divine Father\' in Second Temple Jewish and early Christian tradition and in its ancient pagan contexts. It brings together proceedings of a conference under the same title, held in Göttingen in September 2011. Selected articles by well-known scholars focus on religious and philosophical concepts of divine parenthood in antiquity, from the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism (the Dead Sea Scrolls, Targums, Philo and Josephus) to the field of the New Testament. In addition, the volume deals with the designation of deity as \'father\' or \'mother\' from the broad spectrum of ancient Egypt and classical antiquity (Homer, Hesiod, Plato, and its reception) to late antiquity (Plotinus and Porphyry).
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1 online resource. :
9789004264779
Kykeon : studies in honour of H.S. Versnel /
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A collection of papers with new insights on ancient religion, read at a colloquium in honour of Professor H.S. Versnel (\'Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion\'). The contributions, presented by nine leading scholars in the field, cover many areas of the religious experience of the Greeks and Romans: myth and ritual (W. Burkert), the gods (F. Zeitlin), cult, festivals, sacrifice. Several papers consider methodological problems and the progress of scholarship; they highlight the contribution of H.S. Versnel to the field. The papers are based on a wide range of sources: pagan and Christian, literary and epigraphical and iconographical. The collection will fascinate all scholars interested in ancient religion, whether they study malign magic, the Imperial cult or general theory.
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1 online resource (viii, 228 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004295940 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Torah and tradition : papers read at the Sixteenth Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap, Edinburgh, 2015 /
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The proceedings of the sixteenth joint meeting presented in this volume will show the fruits of the ongoing cooperation between the members of the British Society for the Study of the Old Testament and the Dutch Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap . The theme of the conference was 'Torah and Tradition'. The volume brings together many different approaches in describing the multifaceted traditions behind the Hebrew Bible in its present form.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004337695 :
0169-7226 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jewish education from Antiquity to the Middle Ages : studies in honour of Philip S. Alexander /
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In Jewish Education from Antiquity to the Middle Ages fifteen scholars offer specialist studies on Jewish education from the areas of their expertise. This tightly themed volume in honour of Philip S. Alexander has some essays that look at individual manuscripts, some that consider larger literary corpora, and some that are more thematically organised. Jewish education has been addressed largely as a matter of the study house, the bet midrash. Here a richer range of texts and themes discloses a wide variety of activity in several spheres of Jewish life. In addition, some notable non-Jewish sources provide a wider context for the discourse than is often the case.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347762 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hebrews in contexts /
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Scholars of Hebrews have repeatedly echoed the almost proverbial saying that the book appears to its reader as a "Melchizedekian being without genealogy". For such scholars the aphorism identified prominent traits of Hebrews, its enigma, its otherness, its marginality. Although Franz Overbeck might unintentionally have stimulated such correlations, they do not represent what his dictum originally meant. Writing during the high noon of historicism in 1880, Overbeck lamented a lack of historical context, one that he had deduced on the basis of flawed presuppositions of the ideological frameworks prevalent of his time. His assertion made an impact, and consequently Hebrews was not only "othered" within New Testament scholarship, its context was neglected and by some, even judged as irrelevant altogether. Understandably, the neglect created a deficit keenly felt by more recent scholarship, which has developed a particular interest in Hebrews' contexts. Hebrews in Contexts , edited by Gabriella Gelardini and Harold W. Attridge, is an expression of this interest. It gathers authors who explore extensively on Hebrews' relations to other early traditions and texts (Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman) in order to map Hebrews' historical, cultural, and religious identity in greater, and perhaps surprising detail.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004311695 :
1871-6636 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
One god, two goddesses, three studies of South Indian cosmology /
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One, God, Two Goddesses presents three studies, one of Tamil myths of the god Murugan and two of goddess rituals: Gangamma in Tirupati and Paiditalli in Vizianagaram, both in Andhra Pradesh. All three essays search for lineaments of the cosmos that these deities inhabit and shape. These cosmoi are characterised by the dynamism of their incessant interior movement. Should they become still, they would die. Deities activate and regenerate such a cosmos. The dynamism of Murugan's cosmos eliminates the chaotic. Through ritual, Gangamma regenerates her cosmos through feminising it. Through ritual, Paiditalli annually re-grows the historic little kingdom of Vizianagaram, regenerating its kingship. All three studies point to the need to rethink cosmology in South India.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004257399 :
1570-078X ;
The Virgin Goddess, Studies in the Pagan and Christian Roots of Mariology.
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The contemporary search for the feminine face of God is requiring a re-examination of the relationship of Christianity to the pagan world in which it came to birth. Stephen Benko approaches this study as both an historian and a Christian believer. Inquiring into extra-biblical sources of Marian piety, belief and doctrine, he proposes 'that there is a direct line, unbroken and clearly discernible, from the goddess-cults of the ancients to the reverence paid and eventually the cult accorded to the Virgin Mary.' Chapter by chapter he seeks to establish his conclusion that 'in Mariology the Christian genius preserved and transformed some of the best and noblest ideas that paganism developed. Rather than being a 'regression' into Paganism, Mariology is a progression toward a clearer and better understanding of the feminine aspect of the divine and the role of the female in the history of salvation.' This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.
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1 online resource. :
9789047412588
The silent god /
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The silence of God is a recurring theme in modern reflection. It is not only addressed in theology, religious studies and philosophy, but also in literary fiction, film and theatre. The authors show that the concept of a silent deity emerged in the ancient Near East (including Greece). What did the Ancients mean when they assumed that under circumstances their deities remained silent? What reasons are discernable for silence between human beings and their gods? For the first time the close interrelation between the divine and the human in the revelatory process is demonstrated here on the basis of a wealth of translated ancient texts. In an intriguing epilogue, the authors explore the theological consequences of what they have found.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004206564 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The "God of Israel" in History and Tradition /
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In The "God of Israel" in History and Tradition , Michael Stahl provides a foundational study of the formulaic title "god of Israel" ( 'elohe yisra'el ) in the Hebrew Bible. Employing critical theory on social power and identity, and through close literary and historical analysis, Dr. Stahl shows how the epithet "god of Israel" evolved to serve different social and political agendas throughout the course of ancient Israel and Judah's histories. Reaching beyond the field of Biblical Studies, Dr. Stahl's treatment of the historical and ideological significances of the title "god of Israel" in the Hebrew Bible offers a fruitful case study into the larger issue of the ways in which religion may shape-and be shaped by-social and political structures.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004447721
9789004447714