Aaron P. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712302
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296132.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The task of the early Christian apologists was fundamentally one of constructing, maintaining, and manipulating the identities of Christianity and its rivals — Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others. ...
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The task of the early Christian apologists was fundamentally one of constructing, maintaining, and manipulating the identities of Christianity and its rivals — Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Praeparatio Evangelica, written in the early part of the 4th century, is the most comprehensive and sustained attempt in early apologetic literature to represent Christian, Greek, and Jewish ethnic identity as the basis for its defence of Christianity. This book traces the manipulations of ethnicity in Eusebius’ Praeparatio and highlights the implications of such ethnic argumentation for the understanding of Christian-Jewish and Christian-Greek relations, as well as the limits of modern notions of ‘religion’ to early Christian identity. Christianity is seen as a new nation (ethnos) — and at the same time a restoration of the oldest nation, that of the Hebrews — and is distinguished from the other nations of the Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Jews, and Romans who are all shown to possess inferior ethnic identities. Eusebius’ apologetic argument rests not on a defence of Christian doctrine or belief, but upon a vision of the ancient ethnic landscape, which manipulates national histories and boundaries so as to elevate Christians (as Hebrews) to a level of superiority in their national character and antiquity.Less
The task of the early Christian apologists was fundamentally one of constructing, maintaining, and manipulating the identities of Christianity and its rivals — Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Praeparatio Evangelica, written in the early part of the 4th century, is the most comprehensive and sustained attempt in early apologetic literature to represent Christian, Greek, and Jewish ethnic identity as the basis for its defence of Christianity. This book traces the manipulations of ethnicity in Eusebius’ Praeparatio and highlights the implications of such ethnic argumentation for the understanding of Christian-Jewish and Christian-Greek relations, as well as the limits of modern notions of ‘religion’ to early Christian identity. Christianity is seen as a new nation (ethnos) — and at the same time a restoration of the oldest nation, that of the Hebrews — and is distinguished from the other nations of the Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Jews, and Romans who are all shown to possess inferior ethnic identities. Eusebius’ apologetic argument rests not on a defence of Christian doctrine or belief, but upon a vision of the ancient ethnic landscape, which manipulates national histories and boundaries so as to elevate Christians (as Hebrews) to a level of superiority in their national character and antiquity.
Phillip Cary
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336481
- eISBN:
- 9780199868438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336481.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Aspects of Augustine's doctrine of grace that are worth being critical of include his belief in the human capacity for intellectual vision; his belief that intellectual vision sees more deeply than ...
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Aspects of Augustine's doctrine of grace that are worth being critical of include his belief in the human capacity for intellectual vision; his belief that intellectual vision sees more deeply than faith in the Gospel of Christ; his belief in a psychological order of salvation that begins at a particular moment of conversion to faith; his location of the power of prevenient grace within the soul rather than in external signs such as word and sacrament; his notion that we can find God by looking within the self; and his failure to see that God is other and external to the self because he is the God of the Jews, and that this is a blessing for all nations.Less
Aspects of Augustine's doctrine of grace that are worth being critical of include his belief in the human capacity for intellectual vision; his belief that intellectual vision sees more deeply than faith in the Gospel of Christ; his belief in a psychological order of salvation that begins at a particular moment of conversion to faith; his location of the power of prevenient grace within the soul rather than in external signs such as word and sacrament; his notion that we can find God by looking within the self; and his failure to see that God is other and external to the self because he is the God of the Jews, and that this is a blessing for all nations.
J. Warren Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195369939
- eISBN:
- 9780199893362
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369939.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Though understandably overshadowed by Augustine’s preeminence in the West, Ambrose is a doctor of the Catholic Church and an important patristic authority for the Middle Ages and Reformation, ...
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Though understandably overshadowed by Augustine’s preeminence in the West, Ambrose is a doctor of the Catholic Church and an important patristic authority for the Middle Ages and Reformation, especially in moral theology. Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue argues that Ambrose of Milan’s theological commitments, particularly his understanding of the Christian’s participation in God’s saving economy through baptism, are foundational for his virtue theory laid out in his catechetical and other pastoral writings. While he holds a high regard for classical and Hellenistic views of virtue, Ambrose insists that the Christian is able to attain the highest ideal of virtue taught by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. This is possible because the Christian has received the transformative grace of baptism that allows the Christian to participate in the new creation inaugurated by Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection. This book explores Ambrose’s understanding of this grace and how it frees the Christian to live the virtuous life. The argument is laid out in two parts. In Part I, the book examines Ambrose’s understanding of human nature and the effects of sin upon that nature. Central to this Part is the question of Ambrose’s understanding of the right relationship of soul and body as presented in Ambrose’s repeated appeal to Paul’s words, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). Part II lays out Ambrose’s account of baptism as the sacrament of justification and regeneration (sacramental and proleptic participation in the renewal of human nature in the resurrection). Ultimately, Ambrose’s account of the efficacy of baptism rests upon his Christology and pneumatology. The final chapters explain how Ambrose’s accounts of Christ and the Holy Spirit are foundational to his view of the grace that liberates the soul from the corruption of concupiscence.Less
Though understandably overshadowed by Augustine’s preeminence in the West, Ambrose is a doctor of the Catholic Church and an important patristic authority for the Middle Ages and Reformation, especially in moral theology. Christian Grace and Pagan Virtue argues that Ambrose of Milan’s theological commitments, particularly his understanding of the Christian’s participation in God’s saving economy through baptism, are foundational for his virtue theory laid out in his catechetical and other pastoral writings. While he holds a high regard for classical and Hellenistic views of virtue, Ambrose insists that the Christian is able to attain the highest ideal of virtue taught by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. This is possible because the Christian has received the transformative grace of baptism that allows the Christian to participate in the new creation inaugurated by Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection. This book explores Ambrose’s understanding of this grace and how it frees the Christian to live the virtuous life. The argument is laid out in two parts. In Part I, the book examines Ambrose’s understanding of human nature and the effects of sin upon that nature. Central to this Part is the question of Ambrose’s understanding of the right relationship of soul and body as presented in Ambrose’s repeated appeal to Paul’s words, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). Part II lays out Ambrose’s account of baptism as the sacrament of justification and regeneration (sacramental and proleptic participation in the renewal of human nature in the resurrection). Ultimately, Ambrose’s account of the efficacy of baptism rests upon his Christology and pneumatology. The final chapters explain how Ambrose’s accounts of Christ and the Holy Spirit are foundational to his view of the grace that liberates the soul from the corruption of concupiscence.
Ariel Colonomos and Andrea Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199291922
- eISBN:
- 9780191603716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199291926.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The post-world war II German-Israeli reparations program is the largest, most comprehensive reparations program ever implemented. Traditionally, reparations were supported by the vanquished and were ...
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The post-world war II German-Israeli reparations program is the largest, most comprehensive reparations program ever implemented. Traditionally, reparations were supported by the vanquished and were designed to compensate the victor for the damages caused during the war. The Wiedergutmachung (literally “making the good again”) program as it is called in Germany, or Shilumim (the payments) as Israelis usually prefer to refer to it, innovates in many areas and goes beyond this interstate framework. Jewish leaders participated in the Luxembourg negotiations that led to the signature of the 1952 treaty, and community networks played a crucial role in the distribution of the money to the victims. Civil society groups played an instrumental role in the United States as plans for reparations were being discussed during the war. Neither the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) nor Israel existed during the war. Reparations have been paid to the state of Israel and were paid to Jewish Holocaust survivors regardless of their nationality. The FRG benefited politically and economically from this treaty. It was able to enter the international arena and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, whose economy greatly benefited from the money it received.Less
The post-world war II German-Israeli reparations program is the largest, most comprehensive reparations program ever implemented. Traditionally, reparations were supported by the vanquished and were designed to compensate the victor for the damages caused during the war. The Wiedergutmachung (literally “making the good again”) program as it is called in Germany, or Shilumim (the payments) as Israelis usually prefer to refer to it, innovates in many areas and goes beyond this interstate framework. Jewish leaders participated in the Luxembourg negotiations that led to the signature of the 1952 treaty, and community networks played a crucial role in the distribution of the money to the victims. Civil society groups played an instrumental role in the United States as plans for reparations were being discussed during the war. Neither the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) nor Israel existed during the war. Reparations have been paid to the state of Israel and were paid to Jewish Holocaust survivors regardless of their nationality. The FRG benefited politically and economically from this treaty. It was able to enter the international arena and establish diplomatic relations with Israel, whose economy greatly benefited from the money it received.
Naomi Koltun-Fromm
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199736485
- eISBN:
- 9780199866427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736485.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Religion and Society
This book set out to demonstrate how sexuality became central to Jewish and Christian notions of holiness and holy community in the postbiblical period. In particular, this study was motivated to ...
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This book set out to demonstrate how sexuality became central to Jewish and Christian notions of holiness and holy community in the postbiblical period. In particular, this study was motivated to determine why sexuality, especially sexual restraint, became a primary demarcation of sacred community boundaries among Jews and Christians in fourth-century Persian-Mesopotamia. To accomplish this task, the book focused on the exegetical underpinnings that link holiness to sexuality in these communities’ emerging hermeneutics of holiness and sexuality. In the fourth-century Mesopotamian context, ascetic practitioners found biblical textual support as compelling as any other outside cultural norm. Sexual asceticism thus finds its rightful place in the formative periods of both religious traditions through the lens of comparative biblical exegesis, social constructs, and the study of the theological developments of the Hebrew biblical notions of holiness.Less
This book set out to demonstrate how sexuality became central to Jewish and Christian notions of holiness and holy community in the postbiblical period. In particular, this study was motivated to determine why sexuality, especially sexual restraint, became a primary demarcation of sacred community boundaries among Jews and Christians in fourth-century Persian-Mesopotamia. To accomplish this task, the book focused on the exegetical underpinnings that link holiness to sexuality in these communities’ emerging hermeneutics of holiness and sexuality. In the fourth-century Mesopotamian context, ascetic practitioners found biblical textual support as compelling as any other outside cultural norm. Sexual asceticism thus finds its rightful place in the formative periods of both religious traditions through the lens of comparative biblical exegesis, social constructs, and the study of the theological developments of the Hebrew biblical notions of holiness.
Marc Gopin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146509
- eISBN:
- 9780199834235
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146506.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In 1993, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sealed the Oslo peace agreement, it was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the Middle East peace process. Instead, violence on both sides has ...
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In 1993, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sealed the Oslo peace agreement, it was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the Middle East peace process. Instead, violence on both sides has continued to plague the region. The brutal facts on the ground have called into question the style of diplomacy that saw its greatest triumph with the Oslo Accords. This book asserts that the failure of the peace process stems in large part from its complete neglect of cultural and religious factors; attempted solutions have ignored the basic needs and values of average people. The author argues for a far greater integration of the religious communities of the region into peace‐building efforts. Drawing on his own personal experience with religion‐based peace initiatives in Israel and Palestine, he writes of the individuals and groups that are already attempting such reconciliations. He offers a detailed prescription for future negotiations using methods specifically designed to undermine the appeal of religious extremists by subtly incorporating religious values and symbols into the procedures of official and unofficial diplomacy, believing that a combination of secular and religious methods of peacemaking will yield a rich and creative model for conflict resolution. Any effort at peacemaking that fails to take into account the deep religious feelings of Muslims, Jews, and Christians is destined to fail. Only by including religion in the peace process can we move past fragile and superficial agreements and toward a deep and lasting solution. The book is arranged in two parts – Analysis, and Practical applications.Less
In 1993, when Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sealed the Oslo peace agreement, it was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the Middle East peace process. Instead, violence on both sides has continued to plague the region. The brutal facts on the ground have called into question the style of diplomacy that saw its greatest triumph with the Oslo Accords. This book asserts that the failure of the peace process stems in large part from its complete neglect of cultural and religious factors; attempted solutions have ignored the basic needs and values of average people. The author argues for a far greater integration of the religious communities of the region into peace‐building efforts. Drawing on his own personal experience with religion‐based peace initiatives in Israel and Palestine, he writes of the individuals and groups that are already attempting such reconciliations. He offers a detailed prescription for future negotiations using methods specifically designed to undermine the appeal of religious extremists by subtly incorporating religious values and symbols into the procedures of official and unofficial diplomacy, believing that a combination of secular and religious methods of peacemaking will yield a rich and creative model for conflict resolution. Any effort at peacemaking that fails to take into account the deep religious feelings of Muslims, Jews, and Christians is destined to fail. Only by including religion in the peace process can we move past fragile and superficial agreements and toward a deep and lasting solution. The book is arranged in two parts – Analysis, and Practical applications.
Ellen M. Umansky
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195044003
- eISBN:
- 9780199835485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195044002.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This introductory chapter presents the author’s explanation of the rationale behind this volume. Specifically, he sought to understand the growing Jewish attraction to Christian Science. He discusses ...
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This introductory chapter presents the author’s explanation of the rationale behind this volume. Specifically, he sought to understand the growing Jewish attraction to Christian Science. He discusses the subsequent responses by the Jewish communal leaders, and the attempts of several individuals to combat the inroads made by Christian Science against the counter movement of Jewish Science.Less
This introductory chapter presents the author’s explanation of the rationale behind this volume. Specifically, he sought to understand the growing Jewish attraction to Christian Science. He discusses the subsequent responses by the Jewish communal leaders, and the attempts of several individuals to combat the inroads made by Christian Science against the counter movement of Jewish Science.
Richard Kalmin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195306194
- eISBN:
- 9780199784998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195306198.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter attempts to exemplify the contention first presented in the introduction that significant aspects of the history of the Jews of late antiquity will have to be rewritten once the latest ...
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This chapter attempts to exemplify the contention first presented in the introduction that significant aspects of the history of the Jews of late antiquity will have to be rewritten once the latest developments in Talmud text criticism are taken into account. Although these developments greatly complicate the historian's task, they add depth and subtlety to the historian's arguments and ensure that conclusions rest on a firmer literary foundation. Among the more significant findings will be the discovery that there is less reason than earlier scholars thought to view early Babylonian rabbis as important players in the Jewish community's interactions with the Persian government. The chapter strengthens and adds subtlety to one of the central arguments of this book: that the Babylonian Talmud tends to portray Babylonian rabbis as inward-looking, with the study house to a significant extent the sum total of their experience, even in situations where it had been the consensus of earlier scholarship that they served as the pre-eminent leaders of the Jewish community.Less
This chapter attempts to exemplify the contention first presented in the introduction that significant aspects of the history of the Jews of late antiquity will have to be rewritten once the latest developments in Talmud text criticism are taken into account. Although these developments greatly complicate the historian's task, they add depth and subtlety to the historian's arguments and ensure that conclusions rest on a firmer literary foundation. Among the more significant findings will be the discovery that there is less reason than earlier scholars thought to view early Babylonian rabbis as important players in the Jewish community's interactions with the Persian government. The chapter strengthens and adds subtlety to one of the central arguments of this book: that the Babylonian Talmud tends to portray Babylonian rabbis as inward-looking, with the study house to a significant extent the sum total of their experience, even in situations where it had been the consensus of earlier scholarship that they served as the pre-eminent leaders of the Jewish community.
David Vital
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199246816
- eISBN:
- 9780191697623
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199246816.003.0420
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Three-fifths of the civilian population of Jews of continental Europe were done to death in the course of World War II by Germany and its allies. It was to be the solution for all time of what was ...
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Three-fifths of the civilian population of Jews of continental Europe were done to death in the course of World War II by Germany and its allies. It was to be the solution for all time of what was conceived in Berlin as the Jewish Problem. Most victims were killed by firing squads or in gas chambers installed in camps dedicated to the purpose. The rest were finished off by massive ill treatment and starvation in the ghettos and concentration camps into which they had been corralled, or by subjection to homicidally intense slave labour and forced marches. The military defeat of Germany occurred before the programme could be completed, but National Socialist hegemony over Europe lasted long enough for the result to fall very little short of the intention – which was to deal the Jewish people, notably in its great east European heartland, a blow from which recovery would be impossible.Less
Three-fifths of the civilian population of Jews of continental Europe were done to death in the course of World War II by Germany and its allies. It was to be the solution for all time of what was conceived in Berlin as the Jewish Problem. Most victims were killed by firing squads or in gas chambers installed in camps dedicated to the purpose. The rest were finished off by massive ill treatment and starvation in the ghettos and concentration camps into which they had been corralled, or by subjection to homicidally intense slave labour and forced marches. The military defeat of Germany occurred before the programme could be completed, but National Socialist hegemony over Europe lasted long enough for the result to fall very little short of the intention – which was to deal the Jewish people, notably in its great east European heartland, a blow from which recovery would be impossible.
Bruce Zuckerman
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195058963
- eISBN:
- 9780199853342
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195058963.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This book offers an original reading of the book of Job, one of the great classics of biblical literature, and in the process develops a new formula for understanding how biblical texts evolve in the ...
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This book offers an original reading of the book of Job, one of the great classics of biblical literature, and in the process develops a new formula for understanding how biblical texts evolve in the process of transmission. The book presents the thesis that the book of Job was intended as a parody the stereotypical righteous sufferer. In this extended analogy, the book compares the book of Job and its fate to that of a famous Yiddish short story, “Bontshe Shvayg,” another covert parody whose protagonist has come to be revered as a paradigm of innocent Jewish suffering. The history of this story is used to show how a literary text becomes separated from the intention of its author, and comes to have a quite different meaning for a specific community of readers.Less
This book offers an original reading of the book of Job, one of the great classics of biblical literature, and in the process develops a new formula for understanding how biblical texts evolve in the process of transmission. The book presents the thesis that the book of Job was intended as a parody the stereotypical righteous sufferer. In this extended analogy, the book compares the book of Job and its fate to that of a famous Yiddish short story, “Bontshe Shvayg,” another covert parody whose protagonist has come to be revered as a paradigm of innocent Jewish suffering. The history of this story is used to show how a literary text becomes separated from the intention of its author, and comes to have a quite different meaning for a specific community of readers.
John Ashton
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269793
- eISBN:
- 9780191683817
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269793.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Is historical criticism of the New Testament dead? This collection of eight chapters on John's Gospel argues that this is very far from the case. Challenging the assumptions of methodologies which ...
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Is historical criticism of the New Testament dead? This collection of eight chapters on John's Gospel argues that this is very far from the case. Challenging the assumptions of methodologies which ignore the historical context in which the Gospel was composed, the book offers a spirited defence of historical criticism and provides practical demonstration of the many new insights which it has still to yield. The first two chapters treat in greater depth two key themes, the Prologue of John and the Jews, which appeared in Understanding the Fourth Gospel. A third chapter is intended to supplement and correct this larger work. The rest of the book explores some of the serious theoretical weaknesses in much recent writing on the Gospel and makes some alternative proposals.Less
Is historical criticism of the New Testament dead? This collection of eight chapters on John's Gospel argues that this is very far from the case. Challenging the assumptions of methodologies which ignore the historical context in which the Gospel was composed, the book offers a spirited defence of historical criticism and provides practical demonstration of the many new insights which it has still to yield. The first two chapters treat in greater depth two key themes, the Prologue of John and the Jews, which appeared in Understanding the Fourth Gospel. A third chapter is intended to supplement and correct this larger work. The rest of the book explores some of the serious theoretical weaknesses in much recent writing on the Gospel and makes some alternative proposals.
Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691144870
- eISBN:
- 9781400842483
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691144870.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492, the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing ...
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In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492, the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? This book presents a new answer to this question by applying the lens of economic analysis to the key facts of fifteen formative centuries of Jewish history. The book offers a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights into the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.Less
In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492, the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? This book presents a new answer to this question by applying the lens of economic analysis to the key facts of fifteen formative centuries of Jewish history. The book offers a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights into the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.
Yaacob Dweck
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145082
- eISBN:
- 9781400840007
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145082.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This is the first book about the origins of a culture war that began in early modern Europe and continues to this day: the debate between kabbalists and their critics on the nature of Judaism and the ...
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This is the first book about the origins of a culture war that began in early modern Europe and continues to this day: the debate between kabbalists and their critics on the nature of Judaism and the meaning of religious tradition. From its medieval beginnings as an esoteric form of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah spread throughout the early modern world and became a central feature of Jewish life. Scholars have long studied the revolutionary impact of Kabbalah, but, as this book argues, they have misunderstood the character and timing of opposition to it. Drawing on a range of previously unexamined sources, this book tells the story of the first criticism of Kabbalah, Ari Nohem, written by Leon Modena in Venice in 1639. In this scathing indictment of Venetian Jews who had embraced Kabbalah as an authentic form of ancient esotericism, Modena proved the recent origins of Kabbalah and sought to convince his readers to return to the spiritualized rationalism of Maimonides. This book examines the hallmarks of Jewish modernity displayed by Modena's attack—a critical analysis of sacred texts, skepticism about religious truths, and self-consciousness about the past—and shows how these qualities and the later history of his polemic challenge conventional understandings of the relationship between Kabbalah and modernity. The book argues that Kabbalah was the subject of critical inquiry in the very period it came to dominate Jewish life rather than centuries later as most scholars have thought.Less
This is the first book about the origins of a culture war that began in early modern Europe and continues to this day: the debate between kabbalists and their critics on the nature of Judaism and the meaning of religious tradition. From its medieval beginnings as an esoteric form of Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah spread throughout the early modern world and became a central feature of Jewish life. Scholars have long studied the revolutionary impact of Kabbalah, but, as this book argues, they have misunderstood the character and timing of opposition to it. Drawing on a range of previously unexamined sources, this book tells the story of the first criticism of Kabbalah, Ari Nohem, written by Leon Modena in Venice in 1639. In this scathing indictment of Venetian Jews who had embraced Kabbalah as an authentic form of ancient esotericism, Modena proved the recent origins of Kabbalah and sought to convince his readers to return to the spiritualized rationalism of Maimonides. This book examines the hallmarks of Jewish modernity displayed by Modena's attack—a critical analysis of sacred texts, skepticism about religious truths, and self-consciousness about the past—and shows how these qualities and the later history of his polemic challenge conventional understandings of the relationship between Kabbalah and modernity. The book argues that Kabbalah was the subject of critical inquiry in the very period it came to dominate Jewish life rather than centuries later as most scholars have thought.
Glenn Dynner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175226
- eISBN:
- 9780199785148
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. This book illuminates Hasidism's dramatic ...
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Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. This book illuminates Hasidism's dramatic ascendancy in the region of Central Poland during the early 19th century, presenting Hasidism as a socioreligious phenomenon that was shaped in crucial ways by its Polish context. Despite their folksy image, the movement's charismatic leaders are revealed as astute populists who proved remarkably adept at securing elite patronage, neutralizing powerful opponents, and methodically co-opting Jewish institutions. The book also reveals the full spectrum of Hasidic devotees, from humbleshtetldwellers to influential Warsaw entrepreneurs. The Hasidic concept of “worship through corporeality” (avodah be-gashmiyut), a notion that holiness may be derived from even mundane endeavors, enabled Hasidic leaders and adherents to immerse themselves in politics, business, and popular culture, and yet effectively remain mystics. Hasidism's transformation into a mass movement is thus attributable to a convergence of sociopolitical and theological innovations.Less
Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. This book illuminates Hasidism's dramatic ascendancy in the region of Central Poland during the early 19th century, presenting Hasidism as a socioreligious phenomenon that was shaped in crucial ways by its Polish context. Despite their folksy image, the movement's charismatic leaders are revealed as astute populists who proved remarkably adept at securing elite patronage, neutralizing powerful opponents, and methodically co-opting Jewish institutions. The book also reveals the full spectrum of Hasidic devotees, from humbleshtetldwellers to influential Warsaw entrepreneurs. The Hasidic concept of “worship through corporeality” (avodah be-gashmiyut), a notion that holiness may be derived from even mundane endeavors, enabled Hasidic leaders and adherents to immerse themselves in politics, business, and popular culture, and yet effectively remain mystics. Hasidism's transformation into a mass movement is thus attributable to a convergence of sociopolitical and theological innovations.
Elizabeth Boa
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198158196
- eISBN:
- 9780191673283
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198158196.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This study of Kafka centres on gender. The author's insights show how, in an age of reactionary hysteria, Kafka rejected patriarchy yet exploited women as literary raw material. Drawing on Kafka's ...
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This study of Kafka centres on gender. The author's insights show how, in an age of reactionary hysteria, Kafka rejected patriarchy yet exploited women as literary raw material. Drawing on Kafka's letters to his fiancée and to the Czech journalist Milena Jesenská, the author illuminates the transformation of details of everyday life into the strange yet uncannily familiar signs which are Kafka's stylistic hallmark. The book argues that gender cannot be isolated from other dimensions of identity, and relates Kafka's alienating images of the male body and fascinated disgust of female sexuality to the body-culture of the early twentieth century, and to interfusing militaristic, racist, gender, and class ideologies. This is the context also for the stereotypes of the New Woman, the massive Matriarch, the lower-class seductress, and the assimilating Jew. The book explores Kafka's exploitation yet subversion of such stereotypes through the brilliant literary devices which assure his place in the modernist canon.Less
This study of Kafka centres on gender. The author's insights show how, in an age of reactionary hysteria, Kafka rejected patriarchy yet exploited women as literary raw material. Drawing on Kafka's letters to his fiancée and to the Czech journalist Milena Jesenská, the author illuminates the transformation of details of everyday life into the strange yet uncannily familiar signs which are Kafka's stylistic hallmark. The book argues that gender cannot be isolated from other dimensions of identity, and relates Kafka's alienating images of the male body and fascinated disgust of female sexuality to the body-culture of the early twentieth century, and to interfusing militaristic, racist, gender, and class ideologies. This is the context also for the stereotypes of the New Woman, the massive Matriarch, the lower-class seductress, and the assimilating Jew. The book explores Kafka's exploitation yet subversion of such stereotypes through the brilliant literary devices which assure his place in the modernist canon.
Caroline Johnson Hodge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195182163
- eISBN:
- 9780199785612
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182163.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Christianity is understood to be a “universal” religion that transcends the particularities of history and culture, including differences related to kinship and ethnicity. This portrait of ...
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Christianity is understood to be a “universal” religion that transcends the particularities of history and culture, including differences related to kinship and ethnicity. This portrait of Christianity has been maintained by an interpretive tradition that claims that Paul eliminates ethnicity or at least separates it from what is important about Christianity. This study challenges that perception. Through an examination of kinship and ethnic language in Paul's letters, this book demonstrates that notions of peoplehood and lineage are not rejected or downplayed by Paul; instead they are central to his gospel. Paul's chief concern is the status of the gentile peoples who are alienated from the God of Israel. Ethnicity defines this theological problem, just as it shapes his own evangelizing of the ethnic and religious “other”. According to Paul, God has responded to the gentile predicament through Christ. Using the logic of patrilineal descent, Paul constructs a myth of origins for gentiles: through baptism into Christ the gentiles become descendants of Abraham, adopted sons of God and coheirs with Christ. Although Jews and gentiles now share a common ancestor, Paul does not collapse them into one group. They are separate but related lineages of Abraham. Kinship and ethnicity work well in Paul's arguments, for at the same time that they present themselves as natural and fixed, they are also open to negotiation and reworking. This paradox renders them effective tools in organizing people and power, shaping self-understanding and defining membership. This analysis demonstrates that Paul's thinking is immersed in the story of a specific people and their God. He speaks not as a Christian theologian, but as a 1st-century Jewish teacher of gentiles responding to concrete situations in the communities he founded.Less
Christianity is understood to be a “universal” religion that transcends the particularities of history and culture, including differences related to kinship and ethnicity. This portrait of Christianity has been maintained by an interpretive tradition that claims that Paul eliminates ethnicity or at least separates it from what is important about Christianity. This study challenges that perception. Through an examination of kinship and ethnic language in Paul's letters, this book demonstrates that notions of peoplehood and lineage are not rejected or downplayed by Paul; instead they are central to his gospel. Paul's chief concern is the status of the gentile peoples who are alienated from the God of Israel. Ethnicity defines this theological problem, just as it shapes his own evangelizing of the ethnic and religious “other”. According to Paul, God has responded to the gentile predicament through Christ. Using the logic of patrilineal descent, Paul constructs a myth of origins for gentiles: through baptism into Christ the gentiles become descendants of Abraham, adopted sons of God and coheirs with Christ. Although Jews and gentiles now share a common ancestor, Paul does not collapse them into one group. They are separate but related lineages of Abraham. Kinship and ethnicity work well in Paul's arguments, for at the same time that they present themselves as natural and fixed, they are also open to negotiation and reworking. This paradox renders them effective tools in organizing people and power, shaping self-understanding and defining membership. This analysis demonstrates that Paul's thinking is immersed in the story of a specific people and their God. He speaks not as a Christian theologian, but as a 1st-century Jewish teacher of gentiles responding to concrete situations in the communities he founded.
John G. Gager
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195150858
- eISBN:
- 9780199849307
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150858.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Throughout the Christian era, Paul has stood at the center of controversy, accused of being the father of Christian anti-Semitism. This book challenges this entrenched view of Paul, arguing ...
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Throughout the Christian era, Paul has stood at the center of controversy, accused of being the father of Christian anti-Semitism. This book challenges this entrenched view of Paul, arguing persuasively that Paul's words have been taken out of their original context, distorted, and generally misconstrued. Using Paul's own writings, the book sets forth a controversial interpretation of the apostle's teaching as he takes us in search of the “real” Paul. Through an analysis of Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans, he provides illuminating answers to the key questions: Did Paul repudiate the Law of Moses? Did he believe that Jews had been rejected by God and replaced as His chosen people by Gentiles? Did he consider circumcision to be necessary for salvation? And did he expect Jews to find salvation through Jesus? The book tells us that Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, not the Jews. His most vehement arguments were directed not against Judaism but against competing apostles in the Jesus movement who demanded that Gentiles be circumcised and conform to Jewish law in order to be saved. Moreover, Paul relied on rhetorical devices that were familiar to his intended audience but opaque to later readers of the letters. As a result, his message has been misunderstood by succeeding generations.Less
Throughout the Christian era, Paul has stood at the center of controversy, accused of being the father of Christian anti-Semitism. This book challenges this entrenched view of Paul, arguing persuasively that Paul's words have been taken out of their original context, distorted, and generally misconstrued. Using Paul's own writings, the book sets forth a controversial interpretation of the apostle's teaching as he takes us in search of the “real” Paul. Through an analysis of Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans, he provides illuminating answers to the key questions: Did Paul repudiate the Law of Moses? Did he believe that Jews had been rejected by God and replaced as His chosen people by Gentiles? Did he consider circumcision to be necessary for salvation? And did he expect Jews to find salvation through Jesus? The book tells us that Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, not the Jews. His most vehement arguments were directed not against Judaism but against competing apostles in the Jesus movement who demanded that Gentiles be circumcised and conform to Jewish law in order to be saved. Moreover, Paul relied on rhetorical devices that were familiar to his intended audience but opaque to later readers of the letters. As a result, his message has been misunderstood by succeeding generations.
Arie Morgenstern
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195305784
- eISBN:
- 9780199784820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195305787.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Beginning in the 1820s, a symbiotic relationship prevailed between the Perushim and the Protestant missionaries active in the Land of Israel such as Joseph Wolf and the London Society for the ...
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Beginning in the 1820s, a symbiotic relationship prevailed between the Perushim and the Protestant missionaries active in the Land of Israel such as Joseph Wolf and the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionaries saw the return of the Jews to the Promised Land as essential to the messianic process; the Perushim were happy to accept economic, medical, and other forms of material aid from the missionaries, and saw gentile involvement in the rebuilding of the land as part of the messianic process as they envisioned it. At the same time, there were tensions related to the missionaries’ efforts to convert the Jews. Matters grew more complex in the 1830s when the Perushim saw the enlightened, European (read: Christian)-style reign of Muhammad Ali as displacing to a degree the role of the Christian missionaries, and Jews and Christians throughout the world began to anticipate more intensely the fateful year of 1840. The atmosphere is vividly portrayed in Lehren’s correspondence. Ties between the Perushim’s leadership and the Christian missionaries were strengthened in the wake of the terrifying Damascus blood libel in March 1840, when the missionaries turned out to be the Jews’ only allies. At the same time, the missionaries increased their efforts to proselytize, taking steps as radical as the appointment of a Jewish convert as Anglican bishop in Jerusalem. The passing of 1840 without the Messiah’s appearance produced a crisis of faith, making many Jews more vulnerable to the missionaries’ efforts. Jewish writers (such as Aviezer of Ticktin) sought to play down the crisis, offering reasons for the Messiah’s delay.Less
Beginning in the 1820s, a symbiotic relationship prevailed between the Perushim and the Protestant missionaries active in the Land of Israel such as Joseph Wolf and the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews. The missionaries saw the return of the Jews to the Promised Land as essential to the messianic process; the Perushim were happy to accept economic, medical, and other forms of material aid from the missionaries, and saw gentile involvement in the rebuilding of the land as part of the messianic process as they envisioned it. At the same time, there were tensions related to the missionaries’ efforts to convert the Jews. Matters grew more complex in the 1830s when the Perushim saw the enlightened, European (read: Christian)-style reign of Muhammad Ali as displacing to a degree the role of the Christian missionaries, and Jews and Christians throughout the world began to anticipate more intensely the fateful year of 1840. The atmosphere is vividly portrayed in Lehren’s correspondence. Ties between the Perushim’s leadership and the Christian missionaries were strengthened in the wake of the terrifying Damascus blood libel in March 1840, when the missionaries turned out to be the Jews’ only allies. At the same time, the missionaries increased their efforts to proselytize, taking steps as radical as the appointment of a Jewish convert as Anglican bishop in Jerusalem. The passing of 1840 without the Messiah’s appearance produced a crisis of faith, making many Jews more vulnerable to the missionaries’ efforts. Jewish writers (such as Aviezer of Ticktin) sought to play down the crisis, offering reasons for the Messiah’s delay.
Glenn Dynner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175226
- eISBN:
- 9780199785148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175226.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of ...
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This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of Hasidism in other regions. But the impact of the unique Central Polish context is reflected in its more urban, cosmopolitan, and economically adept leaders and adherents, as well as in its meritocratic tendencies during leadership succession. In estimating the size of the Hasidic community in Central Poland by the early 19th century, we must account for the considerable proportion of women and adolescent men whose participation seldom registered in official estimates. The chapter concludes with a mapping of Hasidism's geographical spread in the region during this period.Less
This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of Hasidism in other regions. But the impact of the unique Central Polish context is reflected in its more urban, cosmopolitan, and economically adept leaders and adherents, as well as in its meritocratic tendencies during leadership succession. In estimating the size of the Hasidic community in Central Poland by the early 19th century, we must account for the considerable proportion of women and adolescent men whose participation seldom registered in official estimates. The chapter concludes with a mapping of Hasidism's geographical spread in the region during this period.
Glenn Dynner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175226
- eISBN:
- 9780199785148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175226.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter concerns the mechanics of Polish Hasidism's political ascendancy by reconstructing conquests of local institutions at various levels. In the nine case studies, the stages of Hasidic ...
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This chapter concerns the mechanics of Polish Hasidism's political ascendancy by reconstructing conquests of local institutions at various levels. In the nine case studies, the stages of Hasidic conquest range from the establishment of separate prayer houses, to domination of the communal study house (bet midrash) and/or synagogue, to control of rabbinical and other communal appointments. The chapter concludes with an assessment of governmental policy towards Hasidim that reveals, through a comparison with official treatment of Christian pilgrims and miracle sites, a surprising lack of overt discrimination against Hasidism on the part of Polish officialdom.Less
This chapter concerns the mechanics of Polish Hasidism's political ascendancy by reconstructing conquests of local institutions at various levels. In the nine case studies, the stages of Hasidic conquest range from the establishment of separate prayer houses, to domination of the communal study house (bet midrash) and/or synagogue, to control of rabbinical and other communal appointments. The chapter concludes with an assessment of governmental policy towards Hasidim that reveals, through a comparison with official treatment of Christian pilgrims and miracle sites, a surprising lack of overt discrimination against Hasidism on the part of Polish officialdom.
