Alan Mittleman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199297153
- eISBN:
- 9780191700835
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297153.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Society
How and why should hope play a key role in a 21st-century democratic politics? This book offers a philosophical exploration of the theme, contending that a modern construction of hope as an emotion ...
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How and why should hope play a key role in a 21st-century democratic politics? This book offers a philosophical exploration of the theme, contending that a modern construction of hope as an emotion is deficient. It revives the medieval understanding of hope as a virtue, reconstructing this in a contemporary philosophical idiom. In this framework, hope is less a spontaneous reaction than it is a choice against despair; a decision to live with confidence and expectation, based on a rational assessment of possibility and a faith in the underlying goodness of life. In cultures shaped by biblical teaching, hope is thought praiseworthy. The book explores the religious origins of the concept of hope in the Hebrew Scriptures, New Testament, rabbinic literature, and Augustine. It traces the roots of both the praise of hope, in Jewish and Christian thought, and the criticism of hope in Greco-Roman thought and in the tradition of philosophical pessimism. Arguing on behalf of a straightened, sober form of hope, it relates hope-as-a-virtue to the tasks of democratic citizenship. Without diminishing the wisdom found in tragedy, a strong argument emerges in favour of hope as a way of taking responsibility for the world. Drawing on insights from scriptural and classical texts, philosophers, and theologians — ancient and modern, the book builds a compelling case for placing hope at the centre of democratic political systems.Less
How and why should hope play a key role in a 21st-century democratic politics? This book offers a philosophical exploration of the theme, contending that a modern construction of hope as an emotion is deficient. It revives the medieval understanding of hope as a virtue, reconstructing this in a contemporary philosophical idiom. In this framework, hope is less a spontaneous reaction than it is a choice against despair; a decision to live with confidence and expectation, based on a rational assessment of possibility and a faith in the underlying goodness of life. In cultures shaped by biblical teaching, hope is thought praiseworthy. The book explores the religious origins of the concept of hope in the Hebrew Scriptures, New Testament, rabbinic literature, and Augustine. It traces the roots of both the praise of hope, in Jewish and Christian thought, and the criticism of hope in Greco-Roman thought and in the tradition of philosophical pessimism. Arguing on behalf of a straightened, sober form of hope, it relates hope-as-a-virtue to the tasks of democratic citizenship. Without diminishing the wisdom found in tragedy, a strong argument emerges in favour of hope as a way of taking responsibility for the world. Drawing on insights from scriptural and classical texts, philosophers, and theologians — ancient and modern, the book builds a compelling case for placing hope at the centre of democratic political systems.
Alan Mittleman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199297153
- eISBN:
- 9780191700835
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297153.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Society
For both Thomas Aquinas and Joseph Albo, hope becomes a response to an outpouring of divine presence. This chapter considers the Jewish and Christian traditions from which Aquinas and Albo drew, and ...
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For both Thomas Aquinas and Joseph Albo, hope becomes a response to an outpouring of divine presence. This chapter considers the Jewish and Christian traditions from which Aquinas and Albo drew, and against which Benedict Spinoza, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche fought, on their own merits. It looks first at hope in the Hebrew Scriptures and in rabbinic Judaism and then in the New Testament and in Saint Augustine. Jewish hope, articulated in the Torah, prophets, and writings, and refracted through the rabbinic literature, is a complex and variegated concept. Jewish hope and biblical hope have to do both with what is termed ‘conserving hope’ as well as with emancipatory hope. This chapter also analyses the shape of hope in early Christianity, the balance between conservation and emancipation, endurance and transformation, private and public, mundane and extra-mundane, and contrasts this with Jewish formulations. It concludes that despite the differences, the underlying structure — the structure of hope as a virtue — is the same for both traditions.Less
For both Thomas Aquinas and Joseph Albo, hope becomes a response to an outpouring of divine presence. This chapter considers the Jewish and Christian traditions from which Aquinas and Albo drew, and against which Benedict Spinoza, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche fought, on their own merits. It looks first at hope in the Hebrew Scriptures and in rabbinic Judaism and then in the New Testament and in Saint Augustine. Jewish hope, articulated in the Torah, prophets, and writings, and refracted through the rabbinic literature, is a complex and variegated concept. Jewish hope and biblical hope have to do both with what is termed ‘conserving hope’ as well as with emancipatory hope. This chapter also analyses the shape of hope in early Christianity, the balance between conservation and emancipation, endurance and transformation, private and public, mundane and extra-mundane, and contrasts this with Jewish formulations. It concludes that despite the differences, the underlying structure — the structure of hope as a virtue — is the same for both traditions.
Ted A. Campbell
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195370638
- eISBN:
- 9780199870738
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195370638.003.007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Chapter 6 offers a conclusion to the book as a whole. The chapter discusses three “clusters of meaning” associated consistently with the gospel message: the basic narrative of the life, death and ...
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Chapter 6 offers a conclusion to the book as a whole. The chapter discusses three “clusters of meaning” associated consistently with the gospel message: the basic narrative of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the claim that God has brought about salvation through the work of Jesus Christ; and the claim that this narrative is consistent with the work of God expressed in the Hebrew scriptures that Christians call the Old Testament. The chapter also shows how the material presented in the book helps resolve or clarify the four issues laid out in the book’s introduction.Less
Chapter 6 offers a conclusion to the book as a whole. The chapter discusses three “clusters of meaning” associated consistently with the gospel message: the basic narrative of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the claim that God has brought about salvation through the work of Jesus Christ; and the claim that this narrative is consistent with the work of God expressed in the Hebrew scriptures that Christians call the Old Testament. The chapter also shows how the material presented in the book helps resolve or clarify the four issues laid out in the book’s introduction.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, ...
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Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, Beginning, as well as the other words of Mark 1, have enriched meanings in a Jewish context, and how the Seed Parables of Ch. 4 (i.e., the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed), if read in relation to one another as a midrashic lexicon, open up different insights about the meaning of God's kingdom than those derived from the reading‐frames of the church fathers or modern critics.Less
Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, Beginning, as well as the other words of Mark 1, have enriched meanings in a Jewish context, and how the Seed Parables of Ch. 4 (i.e., the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed), if read in relation to one another as a midrashic lexicon, open up different insights about the meaning of God's kingdom than those derived from the reading‐frames of the church fathers or modern critics.
MARK JANSE
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199245062
- eISBN:
- 9780191715129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245062.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter contrasts two historical Greek varieties from the perspective of language contact, one ancient and one modern. The two varieties are complete opposites in almost every respect. The ...
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This chapter contrasts two historical Greek varieties from the perspective of language contact, one ancient and one modern. The two varieties are complete opposites in almost every respect. The ancient one is the Septuagint (LXX), the collection of Jewish writings mainly translated from the Hebrew (and in some cases Aramaic) Scriptures, which also includes some original Greek pieces. The modern variety is the Cappadocian Greek dialect which used to be spoken in central Asia Minor until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Hebrew interference in the LXX is due to a translation technique, typical of religious translations, which is at once calqued and word-for-word to produce a mimetic text. As a result, interference is almost limited to lexical and syntactic extension.Less
This chapter contrasts two historical Greek varieties from the perspective of language contact, one ancient and one modern. The two varieties are complete opposites in almost every respect. The ancient one is the Septuagint (LXX), the collection of Jewish writings mainly translated from the Hebrew (and in some cases Aramaic) Scriptures, which also includes some original Greek pieces. The modern variety is the Cappadocian Greek dialect which used to be spoken in central Asia Minor until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Hebrew interference in the LXX is due to a translation technique, typical of religious translations, which is at once calqued and word-for-word to produce a mimetic text. As a result, interference is almost limited to lexical and syntactic extension.
David M. Carr
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780300204568
- eISBN:
- 9780300210248
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300204568.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter discusses the traumatic crystallization of Hebrew scriptures. It reviews the motive of the Hasmoneans on supporting scriptural standardization and addresses the effect of communal trauma ...
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This chapter discusses the traumatic crystallization of Hebrew scriptures. It reviews the motive of the Hasmoneans on supporting scriptural standardization and addresses the effect of communal trauma on scripture. It illustrates that the Jewish kings' preliminary development of standardized Hebrew scriptures was a precursor to the Christian Bible, Muslim Koran, and the Jewish Tanach.Less
This chapter discusses the traumatic crystallization of Hebrew scriptures. It reviews the motive of the Hasmoneans on supporting scriptural standardization and addresses the effect of communal trauma on scripture. It illustrates that the Jewish kings' preliminary development of standardized Hebrew scriptures was a precursor to the Christian Bible, Muslim Koran, and the Jewish Tanach.
CATHERINE OSBORNE
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198267669
- eISBN:
- 9780191683336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198267669.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religion in the Ancient World
In the Patristic period, the education and background of the writers are reflected in their writings. The same is also true of the New Testament, which was not written in a vacuum. The New Testament ...
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In the Patristic period, the education and background of the writers are reflected in their writings. The same is also true of the New Testament, which was not written in a vacuum. The New Testament writers were writing in Greek and clearly inherited with their Greek language a certain amount of the prevailing Greek culture; but they also came from a background more or less strongly influenced by Semitic languages and styles of thought. Our immediate concern now is not with the overall style or characteristics of the New Testament, but with one particular feature that has been considered significant; that is, the prominence of the noun agape (love). It might seem more plausible to argue that agape appeared in the New Testament because the writers were familiar with the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. However, this also is insufficient to account for the facts.Less
In the Patristic period, the education and background of the writers are reflected in their writings. The same is also true of the New Testament, which was not written in a vacuum. The New Testament writers were writing in Greek and clearly inherited with their Greek language a certain amount of the prevailing Greek culture; but they also came from a background more or less strongly influenced by Semitic languages and styles of thought. Our immediate concern now is not with the overall style or characteristics of the New Testament, but with one particular feature that has been considered significant; that is, the prominence of the noun agape (love). It might seem more plausible to argue that agape appeared in the New Testament because the writers were familiar with the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. However, this also is insufficient to account for the facts.
Hilary Marlow
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199569052
- eISBN:
- 9780191723230
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199569052.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter explores the changes in human perception of the natural world that came about with the rise of modern science from the 16th century onwards, before narrowing its focus to the academic ...
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This chapter explores the changes in human perception of the natural world that came about with the rise of modern science from the 16th century onwards, before narrowing its focus to the academic study of the Hebrew scriptures from the late 19th century onwards. It contrasts the marginalization of creation that emerged from early biblical scholars in this period with the alternative, more positive perspectives that began to emerge at the end of the 20th century, including contemporary theological responses to environmental issues such as the development of eco-theology and eco-feminism.Less
This chapter explores the changes in human perception of the natural world that came about with the rise of modern science from the 16th century onwards, before narrowing its focus to the academic study of the Hebrew scriptures from the late 19th century onwards. It contrasts the marginalization of creation that emerged from early biblical scholars in this period with the alternative, more positive perspectives that began to emerge at the end of the 20th century, including contemporary theological responses to environmental issues such as the development of eco-theology and eco-feminism.
John Coffey
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199334223
- eISBN:
- 9780199369393
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199334223.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion, Political History
In one of his first publications, a 1988 essay on community organizing, Barack Obama praised the black church for maintaining “biblical traditions that call for liberation.” This book aims to locate ...
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In one of his first publications, a 1988 essay on community organizing, Barack Obama praised the black church for maintaining “biblical traditions that call for liberation.” This book aims to locate black Exodus politics within the broader history of Protestant “deliverance politics.” Although Christians have read Exodus politically since Eusebius, Reformed Protestants proved especially keen on the Israelite paradigm. This chapter introduces the key biblical texts (including those related to the Year of Jubilee), and engages with two distinct bodies of scholarship inspired by Michael Walzer’s Exodus and Revolution (1985) and the work of liberation theologians. It previews the book’s major themes, including providentialism, and highlights a number of major transitions in the Protestant reception of the Bible’s liberationist texts.Less
In one of his first publications, a 1988 essay on community organizing, Barack Obama praised the black church for maintaining “biblical traditions that call for liberation.” This book aims to locate black Exodus politics within the broader history of Protestant “deliverance politics.” Although Christians have read Exodus politically since Eusebius, Reformed Protestants proved especially keen on the Israelite paradigm. This chapter introduces the key biblical texts (including those related to the Year of Jubilee), and engages with two distinct bodies of scholarship inspired by Michael Walzer’s Exodus and Revolution (1985) and the work of liberation theologians. It previews the book’s major themes, including providentialism, and highlights a number of major transitions in the Protestant reception of the Bible’s liberationist texts.
O. Ernesto Valiente
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780823268528
- eISBN:
- 9780823272549
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823268528.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The first chapter examines reconciliation from a Christian perspective in order to establish the necessary theoretical framework for a topic that is studied from the intersection of various academic ...
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The first chapter examines reconciliation from a Christian perspective in order to establish the necessary theoretical framework for a topic that is studied from the intersection of various academic disciplines. This analysis identifies the central theological questions and arguments in the field of reconciliation, as well as the main assumptions that ground them. The chapter goes on to offer an initial approach to reconciliation from a distinct liberationist perspective. It explores the relationship between reconciliation and liberation, addresses the main criticisms leveled against liberation theology, and describes how this theological perspective can be used to structure a reconciling Christian praxis that meets the demands of truth, justice, and forgiveness.Less
The first chapter examines reconciliation from a Christian perspective in order to establish the necessary theoretical framework for a topic that is studied from the intersection of various academic disciplines. This analysis identifies the central theological questions and arguments in the field of reconciliation, as well as the main assumptions that ground them. The chapter goes on to offer an initial approach to reconciliation from a distinct liberationist perspective. It explores the relationship between reconciliation and liberation, addresses the main criticisms leveled against liberation theology, and describes how this theological perspective can be used to structure a reconciling Christian praxis that meets the demands of truth, justice, and forgiveness.
