Statues in context : production, meaning and (re)uses
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Moving beyond typological and stylistic discourses on Egyptian statuary, the papers gathered here seek to explore the architectural, cultic and production contexts of statuary, to shed light on religious or cultural practices, and the political or economic agenda behind the display or hiding of these sculptures. How and why were they originally displayed or kept invisible, transported, transformed or buried?0New discoveries, the re-contextualisation of earlier excavated statues as well as recent scientific analyses provide significant new insights into the production, meaning and (re- )uses of statues. This collection of papers encompasses the full typological and chronological range? from the Old Kingdom to Late Antiquity? and include statuary of all scales, from colossi to figurines. The studies cover statues mainly set up in temples and houses, and the later biographies of statues?
Gandhāran art in its Buddhist context : papers from the Fifth International Workshop...
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This edited volume considers Gandharan art in relation to its religious contexts and meanings within ancient Buddhism. Addressing the responses of patrons and worshippers at the monasteries and shrines of Gandhara, papers seek to understand more about why Gandharan art was made and what its iconographical repertoire meant to ancient viewers.
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Also issued in print: 2023. :
1 online resource (viii, 87 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour), maps (black and white, and colour) :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781803274744 (PDF ebook) : :
Open access.
The Qurʼān in context : historical and literary investigations into the Qurʼānic milieu /
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Although recent scholarship has increasingly situated the Qur'ān in the historical context of Late Antiquity, such a perspective is only rarely accompanied by the kind of microstructural literary analysis routinely applied to the Bible. The present volume seeks to redress this lack of contact between literary and historical studies. Contributions to the first part of the volume address various general aspects of the Qur'an's political, economic, linguistic, and cultural context, while the second part contains a number of close readings of specific Qur'ānic passages in the light of Judeo-Christian tradition and ancient Arabic poetry, as well as discussions of the Qur'ān's internal chronology and transmission history. Throughout, special emphasis is given to methodological questions. This title is available as paperback .
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"This volume has emerged from the conference 'Historische Sondierungen und methodische Reflexionen zur Korangenese: Wege zur Rekonstruktion des vorkanonischen Koran' January 2004, Berlin"--T.p. verso. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047430322 :
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.
North American Buddhists in social context /
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This volume marks an important milestone in the growing literature on North American Buddhists-the first multi-author collection of social scientific scholarship on the topic. Chapters examine the current state of research and key aspects of Buddhist life and experience in social context, including group identity and status, religious practices, organizational structures, generational dynamics, relations with non-Buddhist groups and the larger society, and migratory and adaptive processes. Case studies feature Southeast Asian, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, meditation-oriented, and socially engaged Buddhists. For social scientists, this volume provides a convenient overview of scholarship heretofore available only piecemeal. All readers will discover how social scientific perspectives and approaches helpfully inform the study of North American Buddhists.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789047443537 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Legal pluralism in Muslim contexts /
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Approaches to legal pluralism vary widely across the spectrum of different disciplines. They comprise normative and descriptive perspectives, focus both on legal pluralist realities as well as public debates, and address legal pluralism in a range of different societies with varying political, institutional and historical conditions. Emphasising an empirical research to contemporary legal pluralist settings in Muslim contexts, the present collected volume contributes to a deepened understanding of legal pluralist issues and realities through comparative examination. This approach reveals some common features, such as the relevance of Islamic law in power struggles and in the construction of (state or national) identities, strategies of coping with coexisting sets of legal norms by the respective agents, or public debates about the risks induced by the recognition of religious institutions in migrant societies. At the same time, the studies contained in this volume reveal that legal pluralist settings often reflect very specific historical and social constellations, which demands caution towards any generalisation. The volume is based on papers presented at a conference in Münster (Germany) in 2016 and comprises contributions by Judith Koschorke, Karen Meerschaut, Yvonne Prief, Ulrike Qubaja, Werner de Saeger, Ido Shahar, Katrin Seidel, Konstantinos Tsitselikis, Vishal Vora and Ihsan Yilmaz.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004398269
The ethics and religious philosophy of Etty Hillesum : proceedings of the Etty Hillesum Conference at Ghent University, January 2014 /
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The Ethics and Religious Philosophy of Etty Hillesum contains the proceedings of the second international Etty Hillesum Congress at Ghent University in January 2014 and is a joint effort by fifteen Hillesum experts to shed new light on the life, works and vision of the Dutch Jewish writer Etty Hillesum (1914-1943), one of the victims of the Nazi-regime. Hillesum's diaries and letters illustrate her heroic struggle to come to terms with her personal life in the context of the Holocaust. This volume revives Hillesum research with a comprehensive rereading of her texts. With the current rise of interest in peace studies, Judaism, the Holocaust, inter-religious dialogue, gender studies and mysticism, it is evident that this book will be invaluable to students and scholars in various disciplines.
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1 online resource (xvii, 383 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004341340 :
1873-9008 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Self, Soul and Body in Religious Experience /
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The papers in this volume were delivered at the first international colloquium by the Jacob Taubes Minerva Center for Religious Anthropology at Bar Ilan University, held in February 1995. Concepts of Self, Soul and Body are so close to the physiological layers of life that we may imagine them to be biological as well; but in fact, they are social constructs, and a source of fundamental metaphors for the classification of experience. They thus help organize the world, at the same time as they express basic human identity. They vary from culture to culture and can productively be compared and contrasted from one setting to another. We intend these papers to be a test case of the benefit to be gained from attention to Religious Anthropology.
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Papers presented at the first international colloquium sponsored by the Jacob Taubes Minerva Center for Religious Anthropology at Bar Ilan University, held in Feb. 1995. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004379008 :
0169-8834 ;
Empsychoi logoi--religious innovations in antiquity : studies in honour of Pieter Willem van der Horst /
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The fact that religions show internal variation and develop over time is not only a problem for believers, but has also long engaged scholars. This is especially true for the religions of the ancient world, where the mere idea of innovation in religious matters evoked notions of revolution and destruction. With the emergence of new religious identities from the first century onwards, we begin to find traces of an entirely new vision of religion. The question was not whether a particular belief was new, but whether it was true and the two were no longer felt to be mutually exclusive. The present volume brings together articles that study this transformation, ranging from broad overviews to detailed case-studies.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047433224 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts : Bridging Discourses in the World of the Early Roman Empire /
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How to read Plutarch in the context of New Testament studies? Almost 50 years after the seminal project on the topic led by Hans Dieter Betz, this volume elevates once again the issue's priority. Bridging discourses is a fitting description both of the religio-philosophical spirit of Plutarch, the Platonist philosopher and priest of Apollo at Delphi, and the task of bringing his writings into fruitful dialogue with the writings of the New Testament, Hellenistic Judaism, and Early Christianity. Taken together, these authors constitute the religious Platonism of the early imperial era. Contributions from the fields of New Testament, classics, philosophy, religious studies, and patristics explore various ways of how to establish these bridges.
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"Three meetings of the CHNT-group at annual meetings of the SBL from 2014-2016 were devoted to the topic of this volume.... A selection of the papers delivered at these meetings are being published in this volume, together with additional contributions." :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004505070
9789004505063
Plutarch in the religious and philosophical discourse of late antiquity /
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The works of Plutarch, notably his Moralia , provide us with exceptional evidence to reconstruct the spiritual and intellectual atmosphere of the first centuries CE. As a priest of Apollo at Delphi, Plutarch was a first range witness of ancient religious experience; as a Middle Platonist, he was also actively involved in the developments of the philosophical school. Besides, he also provided a more detached point of view both regarding numerous religious practices and currents that were permeating the building of ancient pagan religion and the philosophical views of other schools. His combining the insider and the sensitive observer's perspectives make Plutarch a crucial starting point for the understanding of the religious and philosophical discourse of Late Antiquity.
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Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 3, 2012).
Papers from the XI Congress of the International Plutarch Society held June 2010. :
1 online resource (xv, 304 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004236851 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Aspects of Apuleius' Golden Ass : Volume III: The Isis Book. a Collection of Original Papers.
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This new monograph on Apuleius' Isis Book not only brings together the striking diversity of opinions that continues to enliven the discussion about Book Eleven, but also sets new trends in reading the narrative in its literary, religious, archaeological and cultural context. Through a variety of approaches, including religious studies (ancient mystery cult), textual criticism, literary analysis, Greek philosophy, and archaeology, the volume sheds new light on important aspects of Book XI, such as the relation with Plutarch's De Iside et Osiride ; aspects of Lucius' multifarious physical self-presentation as an Isiac convert; aspects of style and language (wordplay), textual problems in relation to problems of interpretation; the role of Providence and Platonic philosophy, and numerous metaliterary and intertextual aspects.
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1 online resource (272 pages) :
9789004224551 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The question of theological truth : philosophical and interreligious perspectives /
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In today's world, the boundaries within which Christian theologians operate are becoming ever more permeable, and Christian theology is increasingly influenced and challenged by multiple "outside" factors. In Western Europe, two such factors stand out in particular: the so-called "turn to religion" in continental philosophy and religious diversity. Theologians working with contemporary continental philosophers and theologians engaging the multireligious world tend to work quite separately from one another. The aim of the present book is therefore to initiate a conversation between these two groups of theologians. The question of truth was chosen because it is both a key issue in contemporary-philosophical debates (in the continental and analytic traditions) and one that arises in complex and problematic ways in the praxis of, and theoretical reflection on, interreligious dialogue. Some of the pressing questions that are addressed by the contributors to this volume are: What is truth? What is theological truth? How does the issue of truth arise from interreligious encounter? To what extent can or should the nature of truth be discussed explicitly during interreligious dialogue? Or should the question of truth be rather postponed in the interest of successful interreligious encounter? Is there a hermeneutical concept of truth and, if so, how can it be of help for theological reflection on the question of truth and on the role and place of truth in the context of dialogue between religions?
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International conference proceedings. :
1 online resource (319 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401208284 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Method and theory in the study of religion : working papers from Hannover /
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Since the downfall of the phenomenology of religion as the leading paradigm in the study of religion in the 1960s, theoretical and methodological discussions surrounding the nature and identity of the study of religion as an academic discipline have proliferated. The essays included in this volume approach these debates from a variety of angles. Based on a series of talks held at the University of Hannover over the last few years, the essays are intended to be understood as diagnostic works in progress and thus as working papers, all of which strive to point out important problems and perspectives in the field of theories and methodology and to draw attention to the future of the discipline. Using developments in Hanover as a launch pad, the volume forms the basis for further insights into the direction of the study of religion as a discipline at large.
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1 online resource (ix, 276 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347878 :
2214-3270 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Speaking for Islam : religious authorities in Muslim societies /
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Who speaks for Islam? To whom do Muslims turn when they look for guidance? To what extent do individual scholars and preachers exert religious authority, and how can it be assessed? The upsurge of Islamism has lent new urgency to these questions, but they have deeper roots and a much longer history, and they certainly should not be considered in the light of present concerns only. The present volume - grown out of an international symposium at the Free University, Berlin in 2002 - is not so much concerned with religious authority , but with religious authorities , men and women claiming, projecting and exerting religious authority within a given context. It addresses issues such as the relationship of knowledge, conduct and charisma, the social functions of the schools of law and theology, and the efforts on the part of governments and rulers to organize religious scholars and to implement state-centred hierarchies. The volume focuses on Middle Eastern Muslim majority societies in the period from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, and the individual papers offer case studies elucidating important aspects of the wider phenomenon. Individually and collectively, they highlight the scope and variety of religious authorities in past and present Muslim societies. This book is also available in paperback .
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047408864 :
1385-3376 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sacred words orality, literacy, and religion /
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A prevalent view in the current scholarship on ancient religions holds that state religion was primarily performed and transmitted in oral forms, whereas writing came to be associated with secret, private and marginal cults, especially in the Greek world. In Roman times, religions would have become more and more bookish, starting with the Sibylline books and the Annales Maximi of the Roman priests and culminating in the canonical gospels of the Christians. It is the aim of this volume to modify this view or, at least, to challenge it. Surveying the variety of ways in which different types of texts and oral discourse were involved in ancient Greek and Roman religions, the contributions to this volume show that oral and written forms were in use for both Greek and Roman state and private religions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004214217 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Egypt and empire : the formation of religious identity after Rome /
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Across Eurasia and North Africa in the First Millennium AD, empires rose and fell, each adopting a universalizing faith which distinguished it broadly from its neighbours. In Egypt, our sources are particularly rich, owing to the land's arid climate and the unparalleled survival not only of stone, ceramic and metalwork, but also of organic material such as textiles, wood and manuscripts found on papyrus, parchment and paper. This volume brings together over a dozen of the world's leading specialists to explore the dialectical interplay between empire and religious identity through a series of case studies from Egypt. Evidence from Egypt suggests that it was precisely in the context of empire that 'religious identity' emerged as a distinctive marker. Using the unrivalled abundance and variety of surviving material culture, this volume explores the formation, renegotiation and reconstitution of religious identities from the Roman period forward. Whereas Egypt's 'pharaonic' millennia (c. 3000-30 BC) have been studied as a coherent whole, later eras are often studied as fragments. 'Egypt and Empire' offers a different approach by covering together periods that are usually treated separately in different academic disciplines.
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xii, 368 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 31 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789042940314
904294031X
Reaching for the sky : religious education from Christian and Islamic perspectives /
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Young people have to make their own way in the world; they have to give meaning to and find meaning in their lives. This is the field of religious education, which is provided by parents, religious leaders, or teachers of religion and worldviews. One of the most important challenges is to educate children in their own religion, emphasizing that religion's tolerant and peaceful side and to teach children about the beliefs of other traditions. An even more important challenge is to teach them to live together in peace and justice. This volume deals with religious education in Christianity and Islam in specific countries. Scholars in religious education need to know more about the ways in which Muslims and Christians perceive and practice their respective forms of religious education and explore methods that help young people develop their religious identity in accordance with their tradition-and also meet with comrades from other traditions, as the two young Gambian and Dutch women shown on the cover do. This volume explores the field of Christian and Islamic education. Muslim and Christian scholars from Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands describe various aspects of religious education at school, at home, in the mosque and church, via the media and in peer groups. The papers were presented and discussed at an authors' conference at VU University Amsterdam, organized in close collaboration between the staff of its Centre of Islamic Theology and other scholars in religious education, and the Islamic Universities League in Cairo. The authors describe actual processes of education, reflect on religious identity formation and respect for other people and the influences from home, school, mosque, and church, the media and "the street."
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1 online resource (281 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401207584 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religious practices and Christianization of the late antique city (4th-7th century) /
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In Religious Practices and Christianization of the Late Antique City , historians, archaeologists and historians of religion provide studies of the phenomenon of the Christianization of the Roman Empire within the context of the transformations and eventual decline of the Greco-Roman city. The eleven papers brought together here aim to describe the possible links between religious, but also political, economic and social mutations engendered by Christianity and the evolution of the antique city. Combining a multiplicity of sources and analytical approaches, this book seeks to measure the impact on the city of the progressive abandonment of traditional cults to the advantage of new Christian religious practices.
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1 online resource (vii, 243 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004299047 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Sapiential perspectives : wisdom literature in light of the Dead Sea scrolls : proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Sc...
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The papers in this volume were originally read at the Sixth International Orion Symposium. The primary focus of the volume is on the wisdom texts from Qumran that have been fully edited only in recent years, especially 1Q/4QMysteries and 4QInstruction. Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, our knowledge of wisdom literature in the Second Temple period was limited to contemporary biblical books, apocryphal works, and pseudepigraphical writings. These recently published compositions now allow for a more nuanced picture of wisdom literature and its impact on and interaction with other genres. In addition to shedding light on the world of their authors, these texts illustrate how biblical wisdom was reused in new contexts, and provide a missing link between earlier and later sapiential compositions.
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1 online resource (x, 210 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047412755 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.