Download or read book Divine Presence and Absence in Exilic and Post exilic Judaism written by Nathan MacDonald and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "How did Jerusalem's defeat lead to a rethinking of God's presence by Judean elites? This collection of essays examines the changing ideas of divine presence and absence in the Hebrew Bible, and the conceptual models used to describe them."--Back cover.
Download or read book Between Heaven and Earth written by John F. Kutsko and published by Eisenbrauns. This book was released on 2000 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How is Yahweh to be differentiated from other deities? What is Yahweh's relationship to Israel in exile?".
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible written by Samuel E. Balentine and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-16 with total page 574 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ritual has a primal connection to the idea that a transcendent order - numinous and mysterious, supranatural and elusive, divine and wholly other - gives meaning and purpose to life. The construction of rites and rituals enables humans to conceive and apprehend this transcendent order, to symbolize it and interact with it, to postulate its truths in the face of contradicting realities and to repair them when they have been breached or diminished. This Handbook provides a compendium of the information essential for constructing a comprehensive and integrated account of ritual and worship in the ancient world. Its focus on ritual and worship from the perspective of biblical studies, as opposed to religious studies, highlights that the world of ritual and worship was a topic of central concern for the people of the Ancient Near East, including the world of the Bible. Given the scarcity of the material in the Bible itself, the authors in this collection use materials from the ancient Near East to provide a larger context for the practices of the biblical world, giving due attention to historical, anthropological, and social scientific methods that inform the context of biblical worship. The specifics of ritual and worship life-the sacred spaces, times, and actors in worship-are examined in detail, with essays covering both the divine and human aspects of the sacred dimension. The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible considers several underlying concepts of ritual practice and closes with a theological outlook on worship and ritual from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating a fruitful exchange between biblical studies, ritual theory, and social science research.
Download or read book What s in a Divine Name written by Alaya Palamidis and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2024-03-18 with total page 896 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Divine Names are a key component in the communication between humans and gods in Antiquity. Their complexity derives not only from the impressive number of onomastic elements available to describe and target specific divine powers, but also from their capacity to be combined within distinctive configurations of gods. The volume collects 36 essays pertaining to many different contexts - Egypt, Anatolia, Levant, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome - which address the multiple functions and wide scope of divine onomastics. Scrutinized in a diachronic and comparative perspective, divine names shed light on how polytheisms and monotheisms work as complex systems of divine and human agents embedded in an historical framework. Names imply knowledge and play a decisive role in rituals; they move between cities and regions, and can be translated; they interact with images and reflect the intrinsic plurality of divine beings. This vivid exploration of divine names pays attention to the balance between tradition and innovation, flexibility and constraints, to the material and conceptual parameters of onomastic practices, to cross-cultural contexts and local idiosyncrasies, in a word to human strategies for shaping the gods through their names.
Download or read book Ezekiel 38 48 written by Stephen L. Cook and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh interpretation of the final major sections of the Hebrew book of Ezekiel, chapters 38-48 Stephen L. Cook offers an accessible translation and interpretation of the final sections of Ezekiel. These chapters, the most challenging texts of scripture, describe the end-time assault of Gog of Magog on Israel and provide an incredible visionary tour of God's utopian temple. Following the approach of Moshe Greenberg, the author of the preceding Anchor Yale Bible commentaries on Ezekiel, this volume grounds interpretation of the book in an intimate acquaintance with Ezekiel's source materials, its particular patterns of composition and rhetoric, and the general learned, priestly workings of the Ezekiel school. The commentary honors Greenberg's legacy by including insights from traditional Jewish commentators, such as Rashi, Kimhi, and Eliezer of Beaugency. In contrast to preceding commentaries, the book devotes special attention to the Zadokite idea of an indwelling, anthropomorphic "body" of God, and the enlivening effect on people and land of that indwelling.
Download or read book Phoenician Aniconism in Its Mediterranean and Ancient Near Eastern Contexts written by Brian R. Doak and published by SBL Press. This book was released on 2015-11-05 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A close look at Phoenician religion The Hebrew Bible contains a prohibition against divine images (Exod 20:2-5a). Explanations for this command are legion, usually focusing on the unique status of Israel's deity within the context of the broader Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds. Doak explores whether or not Israel was truly alone in its severe stance against idols. This book focuses on one particular aspect of this iconographic context in Israel's Iron Age world: that of the Phoenicians. The question of whether Phoenicians employed aniconic (as opposed to iconic) representational techniques has significance not only for the many poorly understood aspects of Phoenician religion generally, but also for the question of whether aniconism can be considered a broader trend among the Semitic populations of the ancient Near East. Features: More than fifty images and illustrations Examination of textual and archaeological evidence Application of art historical methods
Download or read book The Baptismal Episode as Trinitarian Narrative written by Hallur Mortensen and published by Mohr Siebeck. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hallur Mortensen examines the concept of God in Mark's Gospel, with particular emphasis on the baptismal scene of 1:9-11. This he closely relates to the beginning and end of the prologue (1:2-3 and 1:14-15) concerning the coming of the Lord, the gospel, and the kingdom of God. The allusions of the divine voice to Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42 reveal the function and identity of Jesus as the Son of God and thus also of God as the father of Jesus. The identity and descent of the Spirit at the baptism as an anointing is discussed in detail, and has a critical function in the coming of the kingdom and the defeat of Satan. These aspects are examined in the context of Jewish monotheism and what Hans W. Frei calls the "intention-action description" of identity - that 'being' is constituted by 'action' - and Mortensen thus argues that Mark's Gospel portrays a proto- and narrative trinitarian conception of God.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Christology written by Francesca Aran Murphy and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2015-09-24 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Christology brings together 40 authoritative essays considering the theological study of the nature and role of Jesus Christ. This collection offers dynamic perspectives within the study of Christology and provides rigorous discussion of inter-confessional theology, which would not have been possible even 60 years ago. The first of the seven parts considers Jesus Christ in the Bible. Rather than focusing solely on the New Testament, this section begins with discussion of the modes of God's self-communication to us and suggests that Christ's most original incarnation is in the language of the Hebrew Bible. The second section considers Patristics Christology. These essays explore the formation of the doctrines of the person of Christ and the atonement between the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and the eve of the Second Council of Nicaea. The next section looks at Mediaeval theology and tackles the development of the understanding of who Christ was and of his atoning work. The section on 'Reformation and Christology' traces the path of the Reformation from Luther to Bultmann. The fifth section tackles the new developments in thinking about Christ which have emerged in the modern and the postmodern eras, and the sixth section explains how beliefs about Jesus have affected music, poetry, and the arts. The final part concludes by locating Christology within systematic theology, asking how it relates to Christian belief as a whole. This comprehensive volume provides an invaluable resource and reference for scholars, students, and general readers interested in the study of Christology.
Download or read book Other Gods and Idols written by Thomas A. Judge and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-02-21 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study questions why the relationship between the worship of other gods and the worship of idols within the Old Testament is difficult to define, acknowledging how various traditions have seen these two issues as synonymous and others have viewed them as separate commandments. Judge argues that there are four factors at play in this diversity. He introduces the first three through an examination of the relationship between the prohibitions listed in the biblical text, and the fourth through a study of the biblical depiction of the war against idols before and after the fall of the Northern Kingdom. Judge argues that texts depicting the era before the fall provide a context in which there are strong grounds to distinguishing the worship of the “wrong gods” and the worship of the right God in the wrong way. However, texts depicting the era after the fall provide a context in which the issues appear to have been fused.
Download or read book Paul Among the Apocalypses written by J. P. Davies and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vibrant and growing field of discussion in contemporary New Testament studies is the question of 'apocalyptic' thought in Paul. What is often lacking in this discussion, however, is a close comparison of Paul's would-be apocalyptic theology with the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature of his time, and the worldview that literature expresses. This book addresses that challenge. Covering four key theological themes (epistemology, eschatology, cosmology and soteriology), J. P. Davies places Paul 'among the apocalypses' in order to evaluate recent attempts at outlining an 'apocalyptic' approach to his letters. While affirming much of what those approaches have argued, and agreeing that 'apocalyptic' is a crucial category for an understanding of the apostle, Davies also raises some important questions about the dichotomies which lie at the heart of the 'apocalyptic Paul' movement.
Download or read book The Spirit within Me written by Carol A. Newsom and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full-length study of the evolution of self and agency in ancient Israelite anthropology Conceptions of “the self” have received significant recent attention in philosophy, anthropology, and cultural history. Scholars argue that the introspective self of the modern West is a distinctive phenomenon that cannot be projected back onto the cultures of antiquity. While acknowledging such difference is vital, it can lead to an inaccurate flattening of the ancient self. In this study, Carol A. Newsom explores the assumptions that govern ancient Israelite views of the self and its moral agency before the fall of Judah, as well as striking developments during the Second Temple period. She demonstrates how the collective trauma of the destruction of the Temple catalyzed changes in the experience of the self in Israelite literature, including first‑person-singular prayers, notions of self‑alienation, and emerging understandings of a defective heart and will. Examining novel forms of spirituality as well as sectarian texts, Newsom chronicles the evolving inward gaze in ancient Israelite literature, unveiling how introspection in Second Temple Judaism both parallels and differs from forms of introspective selfhood in Greco‑Roman cultures.
Download or read book Formation for Knowing God written by F Gerald Downing and published by James Clarke & Company. This book was released on 2015-09-24 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this challenging and engaging discussion, F. Gerald Downing draws on evidence from Ancient Jewish and New Testament scriptures to analyse the changing history of the concept of 'revelation' within Christianity. Through the discussion of central concepts in the philosophy of language, such as reference and identity, Downing provides a comprehensive analysis of our notion of the concept of knowledge through revelation and self-revelation. Formation for Knowing God contains an overview of the history of the debate regarding the methods and extent of God's revelation, specifically his self-revelation. Downing argues that the conviction that God is selfrevealed stems from eighteenth-century Enlightenment debates, and has no roots in the early Christian tradition, from which we learn that God is incomprehensible. Downing rejects the view that it was the primary purpose of Christ's death to show God's love, claiming that this is unsupported by the scriptural evidence. The positive thesis argued by Downing isthat what has been revealed to us is not a matter of knowledge but a matter of faith. Downing's Formation for Knowing God will challenge the assumptions of its readers, providing an alternative and thought provoking approach to the nature of knowledge and certainty within Christianity.
Download or read book Themes in Igwebuike Philosophy and Theology written by Ikechukwu Anthony KANU and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2022-07-18 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Igwebuike began as a methodology and philosophy. Gradually, its philosophical elements began to have serious implications for theological discourse, especially with the increasing need to do theology that arises from the philosophy of the African people. The present piece affirms the reality of the link between philosophy and theology, especially regarding the links between the great philosophical questions and the mysteries of salvation which are studied in theology under the guidance of the higher light of faith.
Download or read book Providence written by Mark W. Elliott and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addressing a topic of perennial interest in Christian theology, this volume offers a constructive account of the doctrine of providence. Mark Elliott shows that, contrary to received opinion, the Bible has a lot to say about providence as a distinct doctrine within the wider scope of God's acts of salvation. This book by a leading scholar of Christian theology and exegesis is a capstone of years of research on the history and theology of the doctrine of providence.
Download or read book The Divine Image written by Jill Middlemas and published by Mohr Siebeck. This book was released on 2015-01-09 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although attempts to understand the growth of aniconism focus on the Pentateuchal legal material, scholars increasingly make reference to the prophetic literature to illuminate the debate. Jill Middlemas provides the first comprehensive analysis of the prophets with attention to rhetorical strategies that reflect anti-iconic thought and promote iconoclasm. After illuminating the idol polemics, which is the rhetoric most often associated with aniconism, she draws out how prophecy also exposes a reticence towards cultic symbols and mental images of Yahweh. At the same time the theme of incomparability as well as the use of metaphor and multiple imaging, paradoxically, reveal additional ways to express aniconic belief or the destabilization of a single divine image. Middlemas' analysis of prophetic aniconism sheds new light on interpretations of the most iconic expression in the Old Testament, the imago dei passages in Genesis, where God is said to create humanity in the divine image.
Download or read book Experiencing the Shepherd of Hermas written by Angela Kim Harkins and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-06-06 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shepherd of Hermas is one of the oldest and most well-attested Christian works. Its popularity arguably exceeded that of the canonical Gospels. Many early Christian thinkers regarded the Shepherd as authoritative and cited it in their own writings, even though its status as Scripture was controversial. The far-reaching influence of the Shepherd during the first few centuries is attested in part by the many languages in which it was copied: Latin, Ethiopic, Coptic, Middle Persian, and Georgian. The early dating and wide dissemination of the Shepherd of Hermas offers us access to a period when canonical boundaries were elastic. This volume treats religious experience in the Shepherd, a topic that has received little scholarly attention. It complements a growing body of literature that explores the text from social-historical perspectives. Leading scholars approach it from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives, including critical literary theory, anthropology, cognitive science, affect theory, gender studies, intersectionality, and text reception. In doing so, they pose fresh questions to one of the most widely read texts in the early church, offering new insights to scholars and students alike.
Download or read book The Spirit Says written by Ronald Herms and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Spirit Says offers a stunning collection of articles by an influential assemblage of scholars, all of whom lend considerable insight to the relationship between inspiration and interpretation. They address this otherwise intractable question with deft and occasionally daring readings of a variety of texts from the ancient world, including—but not limited to—the scriptures of early Judaism and Christianity. The thrust of this book can be summed up not so much in one question as in four: o What is the role of revelation in the interpretation of Scripture? o What might it look like for an author to be inspired? o What motivates a claim to the inspired interpretation of Scripture? o Who is inspired to interpret Scripture? More often than not, these questions are submerged in this volume under the tame rubrics of exegesis and hermeneutics, but they rise in swells and surges too to the surface, not just occasionally but often. Combining an assortment of prominent voices, this book does not merely offer signposts along the way. It charts a pioneering path toward a model of interpretation that is at once intellectually robust and unmistakably inspired.
