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Reading Second Peter with New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of Second Peter (The Library of New Testament Studies #382)
by Robert L. Webb Duane F. WatsonThe letters of James, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude are among the most neglected letters of the NT. Thus, methodological advances in NT study tend to arise among the Gospels or Pauline letters. But these letters are beginning to receive increased attention in the scholarly community. Reading Second Peter With New Eyes is the third of four volumes that incorporate research in this area. The essays collected here examine the impact of recent methodological developments in New Testament studies to Second Peter, including, for example, rhetorical, social-scientific, socio-rhetorical, ideological and hermeneutical methods, as they contribute to understanding this letter and its social context.
Reading Spiritualities: Constructing and Representing the Sacred
by Dawn LlewellynThe phenomenon of 'sacred text' has undergone radical deconstruction in recent times, reflecting how religion has broken out of its traditional definitions and practices, and how current literary theories have influenced texts inside the religious domain and beyond. Reading Spiritualities presents both commentary and vivid examples of this evolution, engaging with a variety of reading practices that work with traditional texts and those that extend the notion of 'text' itself. The contributors draw on a range of textual sites such as an interview, Caribbean literature, drama and jazz, women's writings, emerging church blogs, Neopagan websites, the reading practices of Buddhist nuns, empirical studies on the reading experiences of Gujarati, Christian and post-Christian women, Chicana short stories, the mosque, cinema, modern art and literature. These examples open up understandings of where and how 'sacred texts' are emerging and being reassessed within contemporary religious and spiritual contexts; and make room for readings where the spiritual resides not only in the textual, but in other unexpected places. Reading Spiritualities includes contributions from Graham Holderness, Ursula King, Michael N. Jagessar, David Jasper, Anthony G. Reddie, Michèle Roberts, and Heather Walton to reflect and encourage the interdisciplinary study of sacred text in the broad arena of the arts and social sciences. It offers a unique and well-focused 'snapshot' of the textual constructions and representations of the sacred within the contemporary religious climate - accessible to the general reader, as well as more specialist interests of students and researchers working in the crossover fields of religious, theological, cultural and literary studies.
Reading Spiritualities: Constructing and Representing the Sacred
by Dawn LlewellynThe phenomenon of 'sacred text' has undergone radical deconstruction in recent times, reflecting how religion has broken out of its traditional definitions and practices, and how current literary theories have influenced texts inside the religious domain and beyond. Reading Spiritualities presents both commentary and vivid examples of this evolution, engaging with a variety of reading practices that work with traditional texts and those that extend the notion of 'text' itself. The contributors draw on a range of textual sites such as an interview, Caribbean literature, drama and jazz, women's writings, emerging church blogs, Neopagan websites, the reading practices of Buddhist nuns, empirical studies on the reading experiences of Gujarati, Christian and post-Christian women, Chicana short stories, the mosque, cinema, modern art and literature. These examples open up understandings of where and how 'sacred texts' are emerging and being reassessed within contemporary religious and spiritual contexts; and make room for readings where the spiritual resides not only in the textual, but in other unexpected places. Reading Spiritualities includes contributions from Graham Holderness, Ursula King, Michael N. Jagessar, David Jasper, Anthony G. Reddie, Michèle Roberts, and Heather Walton to reflect and encourage the interdisciplinary study of sacred text in the broad arena of the arts and social sciences. It offers a unique and well-focused 'snapshot' of the textual constructions and representations of the sacred within the contemporary religious climate - accessible to the general reader, as well as more specialist interests of students and researchers working in the crossover fields of religious, theological, cultural and literary studies.
Reading the Abrahamic Faiths: Rethinking Religion and Literature
by Emma MasonRethinking religion and literature in a series of chapters by leading international scholars, Reading the Abrahamic Faiths opens up a dialogue between Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Post-Secular literary cultures.Literary studies has absorbed religion as another interdisciplinary mode of inquiry without always attending to its multifacted potential to question ideologically neutral readings of culture, belief, emotion, politics and inequality. In response, Reading the Abrahamic Faiths contributes to a reevaluation of the nexus between religion and literature that is socially, affectively and materially determined in its sensitivity to the expression of belief.Each section – Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Post-Secularism – is introduced by a specialist in these respective areas to introduce the critical readings of the texts and discourses that follow.
Reading the Abrahamic Faiths: Rethinking Religion and Literature
by Emma MasonRethinking religion and literature in a series of chapters by leading international scholars, Reading the Abrahamic Faiths opens up a dialogue between Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Post-Secular literary cultures.Literary studies has absorbed religion as another interdisciplinary mode of inquiry without always attending to its multifacted potential to question ideologically neutral readings of culture, belief, emotion, politics and inequality. In response, Reading the Abrahamic Faiths contributes to a reevaluation of the nexus between religion and literature that is socially, affectively and materially determined in its sensitivity to the expression of belief.Each section – Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Post-Secularism – is introduced by a specialist in these respective areas to introduce the critical readings of the texts and discourses that follow.
Reading the Bible in Islamic Context: Qur'anic Conversations (Routledge Reading the Bible in Islamic Context Series)
by Shirin Shafaie Shabbir Akhtar Ida Glaser Daniel J. CrowtherIn the current political and social climate, there is increasing demand for a deeper understanding of Muslims, the Qur’an and Islam, as well as a keen demand among Muslim scholars to explore ways of engaging with Christians theologically, culturally, and socially. This book explores the ways in which an awareness of Islam and the Qur’an can change the way in which the Bible is read. The contributors come from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds, bring various levels of commitment to the Qur’an and the Bible as Scripture, and often have significantly different perspectives. The first section of the book contains chapters that compare the report of an event in the Bible with a report of the same event in the Qur’an. The second section addresses Muslim readings of the Bible and biblical tradition and looks at how Muslims might regard the Bible - Can they recognise it as Scripture? If so, what does that mean, and how does it relate to the Qur’an as Scripture? Similarly, how might Christian readers regard the Qur’an? The final section explores different analogies for understanding the Bible in relation to the Qur’an. The book concludes with a reflection upon the particular challenges that await Muslim scholars who seek to respond to Jewish and Christian understandings of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. A pioneering venture into intertextual reading, this book has important implications for relationships between Christians and Muslims. It will be of significant value to scholars of both Biblical and Qur’anic Studies, as well as any Muslim seeking to deepen their understanding of the Bible, and any Christian looking to transform the way in which they read the Bible.
Reading the Bible in Islamic Context: Qur'anic Conversations (Routledge Reading the Bible in Islamic Context Series)
by Shirin Shafaie Shabbir Akhtar Ida Glaser Daniel J. CrowtherIn the current political and social climate, there is increasing demand for a deeper understanding of Muslims, the Qur’an and Islam, as well as a keen demand among Muslim scholars to explore ways of engaging with Christians theologically, culturally, and socially. This book explores the ways in which an awareness of Islam and the Qur’an can change the way in which the Bible is read. The contributors come from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds, bring various levels of commitment to the Qur’an and the Bible as Scripture, and often have significantly different perspectives. The first section of the book contains chapters that compare the report of an event in the Bible with a report of the same event in the Qur’an. The second section addresses Muslim readings of the Bible and biblical tradition and looks at how Muslims might regard the Bible - Can they recognise it as Scripture? If so, what does that mean, and how does it relate to the Qur’an as Scripture? Similarly, how might Christian readers regard the Qur’an? The final section explores different analogies for understanding the Bible in relation to the Qur’an. The book concludes with a reflection upon the particular challenges that await Muslim scholars who seek to respond to Jewish and Christian understandings of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. A pioneering venture into intertextual reading, this book has important implications for relationships between Christians and Muslims. It will be of significant value to scholars of both Biblical and Qur’anic Studies, as well as any Muslim seeking to deepen their understanding of the Bible, and any Christian looking to transform the way in which they read the Bible.
Reading the Bible in the Middle Ages (Studies in Early Medieval History)
by Jinty Nelson Damien KempfFor earlier medieval Christians, the Bible was the book of guidance above all others, and the route to religious knowledge, used for all kinds of practical purposes, from divination to models of government in kingdom or household. This book's focus is on how medieval people accessed Scripture by reading, but also by hearing and memorizing sound-bites from the liturgy, chants and hymns, or sermons explicating Scripture in various vernaculars. Time, place and social class determined access to these varied forms of Scripture. Throughout the earlier medieval period, the Psalms attracted most readers and searchers for meanings.This book's contributors probe readers' motivations, intellectual resources and religious concerns. They ask for whom the readers wrote, where they expected their readers to be located and in what institutional, social and political environments they belonged; why writers chose to write about, or draw on, certain parts of the Bible rather than others, and what real-life contexts or conjunctures inspired them; why the Old Testament so often loomed so large, and how its law-books, its histories, its prophetic books and its poetry were made intelligible to readers, hearers and memorizers. This book's contributors, in raising so many questions, do justice to both uniqueness and diversity.
Reading the Bible in the Middle Ages (Studies in Early Medieval History)
by Jinty Nelson Damien KempfFor earlier medieval Christians, the Bible was the book of guidance above all others, and the route to religious knowledge, used for all kinds of practical purposes, from divination to models of government in kingdom or household. This book's focus is on how medieval people accessed Scripture by reading, but also by hearing and memorizing sound-bites from the liturgy, chants and hymns, or sermons explicating Scripture in various vernaculars. Time, place and social class determined access to these varied forms of Scripture. Throughout the earlier medieval period, the Psalms attracted most readers and searchers for meanings.This book's contributors probe readers' motivations, intellectual resources and religious concerns. They ask for whom the readers wrote, where they expected their readers to be located and in what institutional, social and political environments they belonged; why writers chose to write about, or draw on, certain parts of the Bible rather than others, and what real-life contexts or conjunctures inspired them; why the Old Testament so often loomed so large, and how its law-books, its histories, its prophetic books and its poetry were made intelligible to readers, hearers and memorizers. This book's contributors, in raising so many questions, do justice to both uniqueness and diversity.
Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers
by Daniel L. DreisbachNo book was more accessible or familiar to the American founders than the Bible, and no book was more frequently alluded to or quoted from in the political discourse of the age. How and for what purposes did the founding generation use the Bible? How did the Bible influence their political culture? Shedding new light on some of the most familiar rhetoric of the founding era, Daniel Dreisbach analyzes the founders' diverse use of scripture, ranging from the literary to the theological. He shows that they looked to the Bible for insights on human nature, civic virtue, political authority, and the rights and duties of citizens, as well as for political and legal models to emulate. They quoted scripture to authorize civil resistance, to invoke divine blessings for righteous nations, and to provide the language of liberty that would be appropriated by patriotic Americans. Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers broaches the perennial question of whether the American founding was, to some extent, informed by religious--specifically Christian--ideas. In the sense that the founding generation were members of a biblically literate society that placed the Bible at the center of culture and discourse, the answer to that question is clearly "yes." Ignoring the Bible's influence on the founders, Dreisbach warns, produces a distorted image of the American political experiment, and of the concept of self-government on which America is built.
Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers
by Daniel L. DreisbachNo book was more accessible or familiar to the American founders than the Bible, and no book was more frequently alluded to or quoted from in the political discourse of the age. How and for what purposes did the founding generation use the Bible? How did the Bible influence their political culture? Shedding new light on some of the most familiar rhetoric of the founding era, Daniel Dreisbach analyzes the founders' diverse use of scripture, ranging from the literary to the theological. He shows that they looked to the Bible for insights on human nature, civic virtue, political authority, and the rights and duties of citizens, as well as for political and legal models to emulate. They quoted scripture to authorize civil resistance, to invoke divine blessings for righteous nations, and to provide the language of liberty that would be appropriated by patriotic Americans. Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers broaches the perennial question of whether the American founding was, to some extent, informed by religious--specifically Christian--ideas. In the sense that the founding generation were members of a biblically literate society that placed the Bible at the center of culture and discourse, the answer to that question is clearly "yes." Ignoring the Bible's influence on the founders, Dreisbach warns, produces a distorted image of the American political experiment, and of the concept of self-government on which America is built.
Reading the Book of Isaiah: Destruction and Lament in the Holy Cities
by R. HeskettRandall Heskett uses both historical criticism and a form-critical approach to analyze and assess Lamentation and Restoration of Destroyed Cities as oral traditions of ancient Israelite prophetic genres.
Reading the Book of Nature: How Eight Best Sellers Reconnected Christianity and the Sciences on the Eve of the Victorian Age
by Jonathan R. TophamA powerful reimagining of the world in which a young Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. When Charles Darwin returned to Britain from the Beagle voyage in 1836, the most talked-about scientific books of the day were the Bridgewater Treatises. This series of eight works was funded by a bequest of the last Earl of Bridgewater and written by leading men of science appointed by the president of the Royal Society to explore "the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation." Securing public attention beyond all expectations, the series offered Darwin’s generation a range of approaches to one of the great questions of the age: how to incorporate the newly emerging disciplinary sciences into Britain’s overwhelmingly Christian culture. Drawing on a wealth of archival and published sources, including many unexplored by historians, Jonathan R. Topham examines how and to what extent the series contributed to a sense of congruence between Christianity and the sciences in the generation before the fabled Victorian conflict between science and religion. Building on the distinctive insights of book history and paying close attention to the production, circulation, and use of the books, Topham offers new perspectives on early Victorian science and the subject of science and religion as a whole.
Reading the Church Fathers
by Morwenna Ludlow Scot DouglassReading the corpus of texts written by the Fathers of the Church has always been a core area in Christian theology. However, scholars and academics are by no means united in the question how these important but difficult authors should be read and interpreted. Many of them are divided by implicit (but often unquestioned) assumptions about the best way to approach the texts or by underlying hermeneutical questions about the norms, limits and opportunities of reading Ancient Christian writers. This book will raise profound hermeneutical questions surrounding the reading of the Fathers with greater clarity than it has been done before. The contributors to this volume are theologians and historians who have used contemporary post-modern approaches to illuminate the Ancien corpus of texts. The chapters discuss issues such as What makes a 'good' reading of a church Father? What constitutes a 'responsible' reading? Is the reading of the Fathers limited to a specialist audience? What can modern thinkers contribute to our reading of the Fathers?
Reading the Church Fathers: Society And Identity
by Morwenna Ludlow Scot DouglassReading the corpus of texts written by the Fathers of the Church has always been a core area in Christian theology. However, scholars and academics are by no means united in the question how these important but difficult authors should be read and interpreted. Many of them are divided by implicit (but often unquestioned) assumptions about the best way to approach the texts or by underlying hermeneutical questions about the norms, limits and opportunities of reading Ancient Christian writers. This book will raise profound hermeneutical questions surrounding the reading of the Fathers with greater clarity than it has been done before. The contributors to this volume are theologians and historians who have used contemporary post-modern approaches to illuminate the Ancien corpus of texts. The chapters discuss issues such as What makes a 'good' reading of a church Father? What constitutes a 'responsible' reading? Is the reading of the Fathers limited to a specialist audience? What can modern thinkers contribute to our reading of the Fathers?
Reading the Decree: Exegesis, Election and Christology in Calvin and Barth (T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology)
by David GibsonWhat role does the interpretation of Scripture play in theological construction? In Reading the Decree David Gibson examines the exegesis of election in John Calvin and Karl Barth, and considers the relationship between election and Christology in their thought. He argues that for both Calvin and Barth their doctrine of election and its exegetical moorings are christologically shaped, but in significantly different ways. Building on Richard A. Muller's conceptual distinction between Calvin's soteriological christocentrism and Barth's principial christocentrism, Gibson carefully explores their exegesis of the topics of Christ and election, and the election of Israel and the church. This distinction is then further developed by showing how it has a corresponding hermeneutical form: extensive christocentrism (Calvin) and intensive christocentrism (Barth). By focussing on the reception of biblical texts Reading the Decree draws attention to the neglected exegetical foundations of Calvin's doctrine of election, and makes a fresh contribution to current debates over election in Barth's thought.The result is a study which will be of interest to biblical scholars, as well as historical and systematic theologians alike.Â
Reading the Decree: Exegesis, Election and Christology in Calvin and Barth (T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology)
by David GibsonWhat role does the interpretation of Scripture play in theological construction? In Reading the Decree David Gibson examines the exegesis of election in John Calvin and Karl Barth, and considers the relationship between election and Christology in their thought. He argues that for both Calvin and Barth their doctrine of election and its exegetical moorings are christologically shaped, but in significantly different ways. Building on Richard A. Muller's conceptual distinction between Calvin's soteriological christocentrism and Barth's principial christocentrism, Gibson carefully explores their exegesis of the topics of Christ and election, and the election of Israel and the church. This distinction is then further developed by showing how it has a corresponding hermeneutical form: extensive christocentrism (Calvin) and intensive christocentrism (Barth). By focussing on the reception of biblical texts Reading the Decree draws attention to the neglected exegetical foundations of Calvin's doctrine of election, and makes a fresh contribution to current debates over election in Barth's thought.The result is a study which will be of interest to biblical scholars, as well as historical and systematic theologians alike.
Reading the Hebrew Bible with Animal Studies
by Ken StoneAnimal studies may be a recent academic development, but our fascination with animals is nothing new. Surviving cave paintings are of animal forms, and closer to us, as Ken Stone points out, animals populate biblical literature from beginning to end. This book explores the significance of animal studies for the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. The field has had relatively little impact on biblical interpretation to date, but combined with biblical scholarship, it sheds useful light on animals, animal symbolism, and the relations among animals, humans, and God—not only for those who study biblical literature and its ancient context, but for contemporary readers concerned with environmental, social, and animal ethics. Without the presence of domesticated and wild animals, neither biblical traditions nor the religions that make use of the Bible would exist in their current forms. Although parts of the Bible draw a clear line between humans and animals, other passages complicate that line in multiple ways and challenge our assumptions about the roles animals play therein. Engaging influential thinkers, including Jacques Derrida, Donna Haraway, and other experts in animal and ecological studies, Reading the Hebrew Bible with Animal Studies shows how prehumanist texts reveal unexpectedly relevant dynamics and themes for our posthumanist age.
Reading the Juggler of Notre Dame: Medieval Miracles and Modern Remakings
by Jan M. ZiolkowskiIn this two-part anthology, Jan M. Ziolkowski builds on themes uncovered in his earlier The Juggler of Notre Dame and the Medievalizing of Modernity. Here he focuses particularly on the performing arts. Part one contextualises Our Lady’s Tumbler, a French poem of the late 1230s, by comparing it with episodes in the Bible and miracles in a wide variety of medieval European sources. It relates this material to analogues and folklore across the ages from, among others, Persian, Jewish and Hungarian cultures. Part two scrutinizes the reception and impact of the poem with reference to modern European and American literature, including works by the Nobel prize-winner Anatole France, professor-poet Katharine Lee Bates, philosopher-historian Henry Adams and poet W.H. Auden. This innovative collection of sources introduces readers to many previously untranslated texts, and invites them to explore the journey of Our Lady’s Tumbler across both sides of the Atlantic. Reading the Juggler of Notre Dame: Medieval Miracles and Modern Remakings will benefit scholars and students alike. The short introductions and numerous annotations shed light on unusual beliefs and practices of the past, making the readings accessible to anyone with an interest in the arts and an openness to the Middle Ages.
Reading the Latter Prophets: Toward a New Canonical Criticism (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by Edgar W. ConradEdgar W. Conrad focuses on the prophetic books as composite collections and shows that (1) prophets are characters in the text, depicted as figures of the past whose words are significant for a later time; (2) reading and writing play a central role in the depiction of prophets; (3) prophetic books are presented as written words available to later generations through reading; (4) that read as a whole, the latter prophets depict the end of prophecy and the emergence of messengers of the Lord.Reading the Latter Prophets is an important contribution to the problems of both the formation and function of the prophetic literature.
Reading the Law: Studies in Honour of Gordon J. Wenham (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by Karl Möller J. G. McConvilleThe book is a Festschrift for Prof. Gordon Wenham. Its chosen theme is intended to reflect his central interests in his long career of writing on the Old Testament, in which he has exemplified the highest standards of scholarship, but also written for practitioners of biblical interpretation. The topic of 'reading the law' has three aspects which will be treated by the various contributions, namely: 1. Reading the Pentateuch: Pentateuchal criticism, narrative readings, rhetorical-critical readings; 2. Reading the Law: the law codes in historical and/or literary context, anthropological readings, the law in relation to prophets, wisdom, worship; 3. Reading the Bible ethically: e.g. ethics of marriage, war. Contributors Prof. John Barton (Oxford University) Prof. Hugh Williamson (Oxford University) Prof. Ronald Clements (London University) Prof. Robert Gordon (Cambridge University) Prof. John Rogerson (Sheffield University) Prof. Raymond Westbrook (Johns Hopkins University) Prof. Alan Millard (Liverpool University) Dr. Walter Moberly (Durham University) Prof. Richard Hess (Denver Seminary) Prof. Nobuyoshi Kiuchi (Tokyo Christian University) Prof. Craig Bartholomew (Redeemer University College) Dr. Desmond Alexander (Queen's University, Belfast) Dr. Thomas Renz (Oak Hill College) Dr. Robin Parry (Paternoster Press) Dr. Pekka PitkSnen (University of Gloucestershire) Dr. Paul Barker (Holy Trinity Church, Doncaster, Victoria)
Reading the Liturgy: An Exploration of Texts in Christian Worship
by Juliette J. DayThis is a unique contribution to discussions within churches about the provision of suitable words for liturgical worship and to debates among scholars about liturgical hermeneutics, as well as offering a new methodological paradigm for liturgical studies to inspire students and researchers. By combining insights from literary and linguistic studies with those from historical and contemporary liturgical studies, Juliette Day investigates the nature of a text in relation to unscripted speech; how authors and worshipers make use of genre, narrative and other texts; how the textuality of the liturgy as well as its ritual context affect the sort of language used in worship and what implicit meanings are conveyed in the way liturgical texts are printed in books. Day discusses the history of liturgical texts and their function, as well as liturgical genres and narratives. She examines the function of language in liturgical worship and emphasizes its meaning for readers, worshipers and speakers. Day applies insights from literary and linguistic studies to liturgical texts in a comprehensive fashion, making it accessible to a broad readership
Reading the Liturgy: An Exploration of Texts in Christian Worship
by Juliette J. DayThis is a unique contribution to discussions within churches about the provision of suitable words for liturgical worship and to debates among scholars about liturgical hermeneutics, as well as offering a new methodological paradigm for liturgical studies to inspire students and researchers. By combining insights from literary and linguistic studies with those from historical and contemporary liturgical studies, Juliette Day investigates the nature of a text in relation to unscripted speech; how authors and worshipers make use of genre, narrative and other texts; how the textuality of the liturgy as well as its ritual context affect the sort of language used in worship and what implicit meanings are conveyed in the way liturgical texts are printed in books. Day discusses the history of liturgical texts and their function, as well as liturgical genres and narratives. She examines the function of language in liturgical worship and emphasizes its meaning for readers, worshipers and speakers. Day applies insights from literary and linguistic studies to liturgical texts in a comprehensive fashion, making it accessible to a broad readership
Reading the New Testament (New Testament Readings)
by John CourtReading the New Testament is the lead volume to the successful New Testament Readings Series. It analyzes the many ways in which the New Testament can be read and interpreted.Rather than prescribing one 'correct' way of reading, this study offers an overview of and introduction to the most influential theories of recent scholarship, discussing the background against which such theories are developed. It shows the advantages of combining methods of reading, thus stimulating an interaction between various approaches, illustrated by the individual volumes in the series.This is an important addition to New Testament literature, offering the student of religion a comprehensive overview of the methods and approaches used by scholars in the field.
Reading the New Testament (New Testament Readings)
by John CourtReading the New Testament is the lead volume to the successful New Testament Readings Series. It analyzes the many ways in which the New Testament can be read and interpreted.Rather than prescribing one 'correct' way of reading, this study offers an overview of and introduction to the most influential theories of recent scholarship, discussing the background against which such theories are developed. It shows the advantages of combining methods of reading, thus stimulating an interaction between various approaches, illustrated by the individual volumes in the series.This is an important addition to New Testament literature, offering the student of religion a comprehensive overview of the methods and approaches used by scholars in the field.