Steven J. Friesen
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131536
- eISBN:
- 9780199834198
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195131533.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and ...
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Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and imperial cult institutions were in direct contradiction regarding cosmology and eschatology. The exaggerated cosmology of imperial cult institutions resulted in an absurd eschatology – their emphasis on Roman imperial order was so strong that they could not envision an end to Roman rule. Revelation, on the other hand, denigrated all temporal authority and focused attention on the throne of God in heaven and the eschatological inauguration of the New Jerusalem. In this way, the author of Revelation produced one of humanity's great religious critiques of hegemony, a critique that attempted to establish and maintain a just community in the face of imperial oppression.Less
Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and imperial cult institutions were in direct contradiction regarding cosmology and eschatology. The exaggerated cosmology of imperial cult institutions resulted in an absurd eschatology – their emphasis on Roman imperial order was so strong that they could not envision an end to Roman rule. Revelation, on the other hand, denigrated all temporal authority and focused attention on the throne of God in heaven and the eschatological inauguration of the New Jerusalem. In this way, the author of Revelation produced one of humanity's great religious critiques of hegemony, a critique that attempted to establish and maintain a just community in the face of imperial oppression.
John Reumann
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198262015
- eISBN:
- 9780191682285
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198262015.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The blend of variety and unity apparent in the thought of the New Testament has been a subject for theological debate through the ages. Certain themes, teachings, and characterizations are clearly ...
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The blend of variety and unity apparent in the thought of the New Testament has been a subject for theological debate through the ages. Certain themes, teachings, and characterizations are clearly consistent, but others are perplexing in their diversity. This distinction was acknowledged by the New Testament writers themselves. For example, the author of 2 Peter looking back at the letters of ‘our beloved brother Paul’ confesses that they contain ‘some things hard to understand’. This book explores in detail the different aspects of variety and unity in the entire New Testament. The book gives special attention to the sixteen books which fall outside the central Gospels and Pauline epistles and which offer the greatest challenge to the defence of unity. These include such important writings as Revelation, 1 Peter, Hebrews, and James. The discussion shows that, despite contemporary emphasis on the pluralism of the writings, there remains a central unifying focus: faith in Jesus as the Christ. Emphases on social setting, rhetoric, and narrative are shown to enrich traditional historical criticism and to open up the New Testament for readers today.Less
The blend of variety and unity apparent in the thought of the New Testament has been a subject for theological debate through the ages. Certain themes, teachings, and characterizations are clearly consistent, but others are perplexing in their diversity. This distinction was acknowledged by the New Testament writers themselves. For example, the author of 2 Peter looking back at the letters of ‘our beloved brother Paul’ confesses that they contain ‘some things hard to understand’. This book explores in detail the different aspects of variety and unity in the entire New Testament. The book gives special attention to the sixteen books which fall outside the central Gospels and Pauline epistles and which offer the greatest challenge to the defence of unity. These include such important writings as Revelation, 1 Peter, Hebrews, and James. The discussion shows that, despite contemporary emphasis on the pluralism of the writings, there remains a central unifying focus: faith in Jesus as the Christ. Emphases on social setting, rhetoric, and narrative are shown to enrich traditional historical criticism and to open up the New Testament for readers today.
Steven L. McKenzie
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195161496
- eISBN:
- 9780199850419
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195161496.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
More people read the Bible than any other book. Indeed, many try to live their lives according to its words. The question is, do they understand what they're reading? As this book shows, quite often ...
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More people read the Bible than any other book. Indeed, many try to live their lives according to its words. The question is, do they understand what they're reading? As this book shows, quite often the answer is, “No.” This book argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves—what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their intended audience. In short, we must recognize the genres to which these texts belong. The book examines several genres that are typically misunderstood, offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises, and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading. The book of Jonah, for example, offers many clues that it is meant as a humorous satire, not a straight-faced historical account of a man who was swallowed by a fish. Likewise, the book explains that the very names “Adam” and “Eve” tell us that these are not historical characters, but figures who symbolize human origins (“Adam” means man, “Eve” is related to the word for life). Similarly, the authors of apocalyptic texts—including the Book of Revelation—were writing allegories of events that were happening in their own time. Not for a moment could they imagine that centuries afterwards, readers would be poring over their works for clues to the date of the Second Coming of Christ, or when and how the world would end.Less
More people read the Bible than any other book. Indeed, many try to live their lives according to its words. The question is, do they understand what they're reading? As this book shows, quite often the answer is, “No.” This book argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves—what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their intended audience. In short, we must recognize the genres to which these texts belong. The book examines several genres that are typically misunderstood, offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises, and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading. The book of Jonah, for example, offers many clues that it is meant as a humorous satire, not a straight-faced historical account of a man who was swallowed by a fish. Likewise, the book explains that the very names “Adam” and “Eve” tell us that these are not historical characters, but figures who symbolize human origins (“Adam” means man, “Eve” is related to the word for life). Similarly, the authors of apocalyptic texts—including the Book of Revelation—were writing allegories of events that were happening in their own time. Not for a moment could they imagine that centuries afterwards, readers would be poring over their works for clues to the date of the Second Coming of Christ, or when and how the world would end.
Geoffrey Mark Hahneman
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263418
- eISBN:
- 9780191682537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263418.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies
There is clearly a strong case for proposing that the Fragment is an Eastern list of New Testament works originating from the fourth century. This provenance is supported by many details. Eusebius ...
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There is clearly a strong case for proposing that the Fragment is an Eastern list of New Testament works originating from the fourth century. This provenance is supported by many details. Eusebius appears to be the individual within the history of the Canon who developed and prompted New Testament catalogues, and thus the Fragment most probably derives from some time after Eusebius. Several remarkable parallels with Epiphanius would seem to confirm a Syrian/Palestinian provenance around 375 for the Fragment, specifically the inclusion of the Wisdom of Solomon in a New Testament catalogue, the mention of a Marcionite Laodiceans and the presence of Revelation without comment. These, combined with the public reading of the Revelation of Peter noted in the Fragment and Sozomen, and various similarities with Jerome (392), seem to confirm that the Muratorian Fragment is not a Western late second-century document, but is instead a late fourth-century Eastern catalogue.Less
There is clearly a strong case for proposing that the Fragment is an Eastern list of New Testament works originating from the fourth century. This provenance is supported by many details. Eusebius appears to be the individual within the history of the Canon who developed and prompted New Testament catalogues, and thus the Fragment most probably derives from some time after Eusebius. Several remarkable parallels with Epiphanius would seem to confirm a Syrian/Palestinian provenance around 375 for the Fragment, specifically the inclusion of the Wisdom of Solomon in a New Testament catalogue, the mention of a Marcionite Laodiceans and the presence of Revelation without comment. These, combined with the public reading of the Revelation of Peter noted in the Fragment and Sozomen, and various similarities with Jerome (392), seem to confirm that the Muratorian Fragment is not a Western late second-century document, but is instead a late fourth-century Eastern catalogue.
Jonathan Klawans
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195162639
- eISBN:
- 9780199785254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162639.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter reexamines New Testament traditions concerning the Last Supper and Jesus’ overturning the tables in the Jerusalem temple. It argues that the last supper can be understood as a symbolic ...
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This chapter reexamines New Testament traditions concerning the Last Supper and Jesus’ overturning the tables in the Jerusalem temple. It argues that the last supper can be understood as a symbolic act seeking to emulate the temple, affirming its efficacy and meaning. The temple incident is understood as a development of earlier prophetic notions concerning the rejection of stolen sacrifices. In his concern for the poor — and in line with his communitarian social message — Jesus overturned the tables in the temple because he rejected the idea that the poor should be charged at all for their sacrifices. The differing rabbinic perspective on this question is also explored. The chapter concludes with brief survey of anti-temple polemics found in Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation.Less
This chapter reexamines New Testament traditions concerning the Last Supper and Jesus’ overturning the tables in the Jerusalem temple. It argues that the last supper can be understood as a symbolic act seeking to emulate the temple, affirming its efficacy and meaning. The temple incident is understood as a development of earlier prophetic notions concerning the rejection of stolen sacrifices. In his concern for the poor — and in line with his communitarian social message — Jesus overturned the tables in the temple because he rejected the idea that the poor should be charged at all for their sacrifices. The differing rabbinic perspective on this question is also explored. The chapter concludes with brief survey of anti-temple polemics found in Acts, Hebrews, and Revelation.
Paul B. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138351
- eISBN:
- 9780199834150
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513835X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Owing to its powerful anti‐Roman polemic, the book of Revelation was traditionally thought to have been written to encourage believers to stand fast in the face of the Roman persecution. Recent ...
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Owing to its powerful anti‐Roman polemic, the book of Revelation was traditionally thought to have been written to encourage believers to stand fast in the face of the Roman persecution. Recent scholarship, however, has undermined the scenario of Roman persecution. This book examines the social situation that gave rise to the production of the book of Revelation. Duff suggests that the book did not arise from persecution or harassment but rather it was written in response to an internal crisis of leadership. The book's anti‐Roman polemic was intended to manufacture a crisis in the minds of its readers. The creation of this crisis – a technique observed in other charismatic groups – served the function of uniting the churches behind the author and against his prophetic rival. In addition, the book's polemic, although aimed directly at Rome, was, at the same time, focused indirectly at the author's rival “Jezebel” who, John argues, was in league with Rome.Less
Owing to its powerful anti‐Roman polemic, the book of Revelation was traditionally thought to have been written to encourage believers to stand fast in the face of the Roman persecution. Recent scholarship, however, has undermined the scenario of Roman persecution. This book examines the social situation that gave rise to the production of the book of Revelation. Duff suggests that the book did not arise from persecution or harassment but rather it was written in response to an internal crisis of leadership. The book's anti‐Roman polemic was intended to manufacture a crisis in the minds of its readers. The creation of this crisis – a technique observed in other charismatic groups – served the function of uniting the churches behind the author and against his prophetic rival. In addition, the book's polemic, although aimed directly at Rome, was, at the same time, focused indirectly at the author's rival “Jezebel” who, John argues, was in league with Rome.
Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where the voice of God at Mount Sinai renders Maimonides speechless.
Where the voice of God at Mount Sinai renders Maimonides speechless.
Paul B. Duff
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138351
- eISBN:
- 9780199834150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513835X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sets out the problem that gives rise to the rest of the book, the observation that the narrative world of the book of Revelation does not match what we know about the real world that Christians in ...
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Sets out the problem that gives rise to the rest of the book, the observation that the narrative world of the book of Revelation does not match what we know about the real world that Christians in western Asia Minor inhabited. The narrative world of Revelation suggests a crisis involving persecution of the churches by Rome, but historical evidence does not support this scenario. The chapter surveys recent attempts to solve this problem, including attempts to reevaluate the date of Revelation, the suggestion that the crisis was a perceived crisis, and the suggestion that the norms of apocalyptic rhetoric can account for the “crisis” depicted in the narrative. The chapter concludes by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of these various proposals.Less
Sets out the problem that gives rise to the rest of the book, the observation that the narrative world of the book of Revelation does not match what we know about the real world that Christians in western Asia Minor inhabited. The narrative world of Revelation suggests a crisis involving persecution of the churches by Rome, but historical evidence does not support this scenario. The chapter surveys recent attempts to solve this problem, including attempts to reevaluate the date of Revelation, the suggestion that the crisis was a perceived crisis, and the suggestion that the norms of apocalyptic rhetoric can account for the “crisis” depicted in the narrative. The chapter concludes by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of these various proposals.
Gwynn Kessler
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380040
- eISBN:
- 9780199869077
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380040.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, World Religions
This chapter examines rabbinic narratives about fetuses recorded in compilations dating from the third through the tenth centuries CE. Instead of placing these traditions within the context of ...
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This chapter examines rabbinic narratives about fetuses recorded in compilations dating from the third through the tenth centuries CE. Instead of placing these traditions within the context of contemporary questions about abortion, this chapter illustrates the ways that rabbinic narratives about fetuses and traditions about the creation of the embryo provide insights into rabbinic constructions of Israel. Particular attention is paid to rabbinic traditions about prenatal Jacob and Esau, which demonstrate that the rabbis often construct Jewishness in oppositional relation to non-Jewishness.Less
This chapter examines rabbinic narratives about fetuses recorded in compilations dating from the third through the tenth centuries CE. Instead of placing these traditions within the context of contemporary questions about abortion, this chapter illustrates the ways that rabbinic narratives about fetuses and traditions about the creation of the embryo provide insights into rabbinic constructions of Israel. Particular attention is paid to rabbinic traditions about prenatal Jacob and Esau, which demonstrate that the rabbis often construct Jewishness in oppositional relation to non-Jewishness.
Michael Patrick Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195333527
- eISBN:
- 9780199868896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333527.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Chapter 3 focuses on Balthasar's theological aesthetics as a well‐articulated critical methodology. Balthasar's fusion of aesthetics with history forges both a Christology and an analogy of being ...
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Chapter 3 focuses on Balthasar's theological aesthetics as a well‐articulated critical methodology. Balthasar's fusion of aesthetics with history forges both a Christology and an analogy of being that is developed in light of that Christology. Balthasar urges us to “see the form [of Christ]” in all manner of being and experience—human activities, natural phenomena, and especially human works of art. “Seeing the form” becomes a central critical and theological hermeneutic; and the chapter cultivates a parallel between “seeing the form” and interpreting, broadly, the “word(s)” of narrative art. The first three sections of the chapter develop an aesthetics of a representative word (in this case, the term “hierarchy”); the last section is an application of what is gleaned from the first three upon Flannery O'Connor's “Revelation.” While a close reading of O'Connor's text serves as a literary exemplum of a Catholic imagination, other poets and authors who demonstrate a similar theological aesthetic are considered in order round out the discussion.Less
Chapter 3 focuses on Balthasar's theological aesthetics as a well‐articulated critical methodology. Balthasar's fusion of aesthetics with history forges both a Christology and an analogy of being that is developed in light of that Christology. Balthasar urges us to “see the form [of Christ]” in all manner of being and experience—human activities, natural phenomena, and especially human works of art. “Seeing the form” becomes a central critical and theological hermeneutic; and the chapter cultivates a parallel between “seeing the form” and interpreting, broadly, the “word(s)” of narrative art. The first three sections of the chapter develop an aesthetics of a representative word (in this case, the term “hierarchy”); the last section is an application of what is gleaned from the first three upon Flannery O'Connor's “Revelation.” While a close reading of O'Connor's text serves as a literary exemplum of a Catholic imagination, other poets and authors who demonstrate a similar theological aesthetic are considered in order round out the discussion.
Michael S. Kogan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195112597
- eISBN:
- 9780199872275
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195112597.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter argues that the construction of a Jewish theology of Christianity can only be undertaken by those willing to move beyond the notion that religious truth is restricted to only one faith ...
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This chapter argues that the construction of a Jewish theology of Christianity can only be undertaken by those willing to move beyond the notion that religious truth is restricted to only one faith tradition. But the openness to a wider truth that underlies that move must eventually — and sooner rather than later — lead us beyond the Jewish-Christian dialogue to a consideration of other religions: to Islam, the third of the Abrahamic faiths, and beyond, to religions outside this tripartite tradition. Thus, the underlying assumptions of the Jewish-Christian dialogue must open the participants to a full multifaith pluralism. This chapter outlines the structure of a possible pluralist theology of Judaism, hinting at the great promise of universal religious understanding and the hope for human fellowship that lies before us.Less
This chapter argues that the construction of a Jewish theology of Christianity can only be undertaken by those willing to move beyond the notion that religious truth is restricted to only one faith tradition. But the openness to a wider truth that underlies that move must eventually — and sooner rather than later — lead us beyond the Jewish-Christian dialogue to a consideration of other religions: to Islam, the third of the Abrahamic faiths, and beyond, to religions outside this tripartite tradition. Thus, the underlying assumptions of the Jewish-Christian dialogue must open the participants to a full multifaith pluralism. This chapter outlines the structure of a possible pluralist theology of Judaism, hinting at the great promise of universal religious understanding and the hope for human fellowship that lies before us.
Charles B. Strozier
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379655
- eISBN:
- 9780199777334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379655.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The Book of Revelation poses unique challenges for anyone interested in fundamentalism. It is the paradigmatic text for endist Christians and indirectly stirs apocalyptic passions in countless ...
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The Book of Revelation poses unique challenges for anyone interested in fundamentalism. It is the paradigmatic text for endist Christians and indirectly stirs apocalyptic passions in countless millions of others, even those in faiths far removed from Christianity. This chapter discusses how the Book of Revelation has had such profound influence for nearly two millennia, and allows access to the inner workings of the fundamentalist mindset.Less
The Book of Revelation poses unique challenges for anyone interested in fundamentalism. It is the paradigmatic text for endist Christians and indirectly stirs apocalyptic passions in countless millions of others, even those in faiths far removed from Christianity. This chapter discusses how the Book of Revelation has had such profound influence for nearly two millennia, and allows access to the inner workings of the fundamentalist mindset.
Peter Schäfer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153902
- eISBN:
- 9781400842285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153902.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter deals with an exegesis of Daniel 7:9, found only in the Babylonian Talmud, which boldly assigns the Messiah–King David a throne in heaven, next to that of God. This presents a clear ...
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This chapter deals with an exegesis of Daniel 7:9, found only in the Babylonian Talmud, which boldly assigns the Messiah–King David a throne in heaven, next to that of God. This presents a clear evidence that certain rabbis felt attracted to the idea of a second divine figure, enjoying equal rights with God. The angry rejection of this idea by other rabbis demonstrates that such “heretical” ideas gained a foothold within the rabbinic fold of Babylonian Jewry. The Bavli's Daniel exegesis finds its counterpart in the David Apocalypse, which gives an elaborate description of the elevated David and his worship in heaven. This unique piece is structurally similar to the elevation of the Lamb (that is, Jesus Christ) in the New Testament Book of Revelation and can be interpreted as a response to the New Testament.Less
This chapter deals with an exegesis of Daniel 7:9, found only in the Babylonian Talmud, which boldly assigns the Messiah–King David a throne in heaven, next to that of God. This presents a clear evidence that certain rabbis felt attracted to the idea of a second divine figure, enjoying equal rights with God. The angry rejection of this idea by other rabbis demonstrates that such “heretical” ideas gained a foothold within the rabbinic fold of Babylonian Jewry. The Bavli's Daniel exegesis finds its counterpart in the David Apocalypse, which gives an elaborate description of the elevated David and his worship in heaven. This unique piece is structurally similar to the elevation of the Lamb (that is, Jesus Christ) in the New Testament Book of Revelation and can be interpreted as a response to the New Testament.
David P. Wright
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195304756
- eISBN:
- 9780199866830
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304756.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, ...
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Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740–640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. The study offers significant new evidence demonstrating that a model of literary dependence is the only viable explanation for the work. It further examines the compositional logic used in transforming the source text to produce the Covenant Code, thus providing a commentary to the biblical composition from the new theoretical perspective. This analysis shows that the Covenant Code is primarily a creative academic work by scribes rather than a repository of laws practiced by Israelites or Judeans over the course of their history. The Covenant Code, too, is an ideological work, which transformed a paradigmatic and prestigious legal text of Israel's and Judah's imperial overlords into a statement symbolically countering foreign hegemony. The study goes further to study the relationship of the Covenant Code to the narrative of the book of Exodus and explores how this may relate to the development of the Pentateuch as a whole.Less
Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23–23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740–640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. The study offers significant new evidence demonstrating that a model of literary dependence is the only viable explanation for the work. It further examines the compositional logic used in transforming the source text to produce the Covenant Code, thus providing a commentary to the biblical composition from the new theoretical perspective. This analysis shows that the Covenant Code is primarily a creative academic work by scribes rather than a repository of laws practiced by Israelites or Judeans over the course of their history. The Covenant Code, too, is an ideological work, which transformed a paradigmatic and prestigious legal text of Israel's and Judah's imperial overlords into a statement symbolically countering foreign hegemony. The study goes further to study the relationship of the Covenant Code to the narrative of the book of Exodus and explores how this may relate to the development of the Pentateuch as a whole.
Thomas O Beebee
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195339383
- eISBN:
- 9780199867097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339383.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
The term “eschatechnology” condenses “technology” with the Greek to eschaton, an adjectival noun meaning “the last,” or “ultimate,” meaning here the last stages of a particular race, culture, or ...
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The term “eschatechnology” condenses “technology” with the Greek to eschaton, an adjectival noun meaning “the last,” or “ultimate,” meaning here the last stages of a particular race, culture, or social system, where the existing conditions are swept away by miraculous intervention and a new community of freedom, justice, and dignity is established in their place. A common term for this new creation is “millennium,” from a passage in Revelation 20 that describes the binding of Satan and a reign of Christ for one thousand years. This introductory chapter defines millennial thinking as a particular strategy for revitalization movements worldwide, traces the background of the millennial literatures brought by Europeans to the Americas as technologies of conquest and control, and notes the role “hard” technology has played in visions of the end of the world at least since the wheel of Ezekiel. Since the end of the world has always been a fiction, literature plays a key role in its promulgation. Some of the key texts to be analyzed in the study are ranged on a continuum, from those that seek to induce belief, such as Revelation, to those that use millennial themes to encourage skepticism and reflective dissonance, such as Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale.Less
The term “eschatechnology” condenses “technology” with the Greek to eschaton, an adjectival noun meaning “the last,” or “ultimate,” meaning here the last stages of a particular race, culture, or social system, where the existing conditions are swept away by miraculous intervention and a new community of freedom, justice, and dignity is established in their place. A common term for this new creation is “millennium,” from a passage in Revelation 20 that describes the binding of Satan and a reign of Christ for one thousand years. This introductory chapter defines millennial thinking as a particular strategy for revitalization movements worldwide, traces the background of the millennial literatures brought by Europeans to the Americas as technologies of conquest and control, and notes the role “hard” technology has played in visions of the end of the world at least since the wheel of Ezekiel. Since the end of the world has always been a fiction, literature plays a key role in its promulgation. Some of the key texts to be analyzed in the study are ranged on a continuum, from those that seek to induce belief, such as Revelation, to those that use millennial themes to encourage skepticism and reflective dissonance, such as Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale.
Thomas O Beebee
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195339383
- eISBN:
- 9780199867097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339383.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
This chapters examines literary texts that specifically construct their end-time scenarios around racial conflict or racial coming-together. DNA is the technologized term for “blood” in these ...
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This chapters examines literary texts that specifically construct their end-time scenarios around racial conflict or racial coming-together. DNA is the technologized term for “blood” in these racialized millennial fictions. Racialized apocalypses depict three different kinds of possible worlds: in one, Tribulation is the beginning of openly racial warfare; in another, it is the end of race war, with the last race(s) becoming first; finally, the inhabitants of the third type take an ecumenical approach, providing images of a rainbow coalition departing from Babylon and constructing the New Jerusalem. Authors of works in the first category are generally members of the dominant race, and their fictions indulge in “blaming the victim” on a cosmic scale. Authors of works in the second two categories have a variety of origins. Of course, some works are ambiguous or self-contradictory, but in general, one can delineate the natural and social laws of these three racial landscapes, and the fictions that take place in them are virtually interchangeable with each other, from Caesar’s Column of the 19th century to the Left Behind series of the 21st.Less
This chapters examines literary texts that specifically construct their end-time scenarios around racial conflict or racial coming-together. DNA is the technologized term for “blood” in these racialized millennial fictions. Racialized apocalypses depict three different kinds of possible worlds: in one, Tribulation is the beginning of openly racial warfare; in another, it is the end of race war, with the last race(s) becoming first; finally, the inhabitants of the third type take an ecumenical approach, providing images of a rainbow coalition departing from Babylon and constructing the New Jerusalem. Authors of works in the first category are generally members of the dominant race, and their fictions indulge in “blaming the victim” on a cosmic scale. Authors of works in the second two categories have a variety of origins. Of course, some works are ambiguous or self-contradictory, but in general, one can delineate the natural and social laws of these three racial landscapes, and the fictions that take place in them are virtually interchangeable with each other, from Caesar’s Column of the 19th century to the Left Behind series of the 21st.
Norman Wirzba
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195157161
- eISBN:
- 9780199835270
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195157168.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The moral and spiritual character of creation is developed through a reading of five different biblical motifs: (1) the Yahwist account of creation in Genesis, (2) the Sabbath code, (3) Job’s ...
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The moral and spiritual character of creation is developed through a reading of five different biblical motifs: (1) the Yahwist account of creation in Genesis, (2) the Sabbath code, (3) Job’s experience of suffering in a sublime universe, (4) new creation in Christ, and (5) the New Heaven and the New Earth in John’s Apocalypse. This chapter shows scripture to be of considerable ecological significance while not addressing specific contemporary environmental problems.Less
The moral and spiritual character of creation is developed through a reading of five different biblical motifs: (1) the Yahwist account of creation in Genesis, (2) the Sabbath code, (3) Job’s experience of suffering in a sublime universe, (4) new creation in Christ, and (5) the New Heaven and the New Earth in John’s Apocalypse. This chapter shows scripture to be of considerable ecological significance while not addressing specific contemporary environmental problems.
Steven J. Friesen
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131536
- eISBN:
- 9780199834198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195131533.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Discusses the date and time when Revelation was written, and then considers the role of imperial cults in the generation of the text. The main argument concludes that Revelation was not written ...
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Discusses the date and time when Revelation was written, and then considers the role of imperial cults in the generation of the text. The main argument concludes that Revelation was not written against alleged imperial cult excesses under Nero or Domitian; the evidence for imperial cults from Asia shows that these were not aberrant periods. Rather, Revelation should be interpreted as a critique of the dominant imperial discourse for which mainstream imperial cults were a crucial manifestation.Less
Discusses the date and time when Revelation was written, and then considers the role of imperial cults in the generation of the text. The main argument concludes that Revelation was not written against alleged imperial cult excesses under Nero or Domitian; the evidence for imperial cults from Asia shows that these were not aberrant periods. Rather, Revelation should be interpreted as a critique of the dominant imperial discourse for which mainstream imperial cults were a crucial manifestation.
Amy Johnson Frykholm
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159837
- eISBN:
- 9780199835614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159837.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Focuses on ways that readers use the texts to make prophecy—what they saw as biblical truth—come alive for them. Readers repeatedly report that the novels make difficult or obscure biblical texts, ...
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Focuses on ways that readers use the texts to make prophecy—what they saw as biblical truth—come alive for them. Readers repeatedly report that the novels make difficult or obscure biblical texts, especially those in Revelation, come alive through mental pictures or visual images. Fiction opens up a road into truth because it frees the imagination to participate in the creation of truth. Readers vary greatly in how much fiction they allow into their making of the “truth,” but nearly all see fiction as a potential, but not absolute, vehicle of truth. Oddly, however, this securing of biblical truth through fiction is combined with an anxiety about individual salvation and whether or not the reader will be left behind. The story of the rapture provides readers with both tools and fears they use to construct religious meaning.Less
Focuses on ways that readers use the texts to make prophecy—what they saw as biblical truth—come alive for them. Readers repeatedly report that the novels make difficult or obscure biblical texts, especially those in Revelation, come alive through mental pictures or visual images. Fiction opens up a road into truth because it frees the imagination to participate in the creation of truth. Readers vary greatly in how much fiction they allow into their making of the “truth,” but nearly all see fiction as a potential, but not absolute, vehicle of truth. Oddly, however, this securing of biblical truth through fiction is combined with an anxiety about individual salvation and whether or not the reader will be left behind. The story of the rapture provides readers with both tools and fears they use to construct religious meaning.
Steven J. Friesen
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195131536
- eISBN:
- 9780199834198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195131533.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The cosmogony of Revelation manifests two strategies similar to those employed in imperial cults for the emperor. In both cases, the human is connected to a high God(s) of the tradition and the human ...
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The cosmogony of Revelation manifests two strategies similar to those employed in imperial cults for the emperor. In both cases, the human is connected to a high God(s) of the tradition and the human is portrayed as the founder of a new reality. Revelation claimed legitimacy, however, by describing imperial authority as a deceptive, demonic imitation. The imperial cosmology is castigated as an exploitative economy in which the wealthy and powerful live a life of arrogance and affluence that is based on violence. The kingdom of God and his Christ, on the other hand, was a community of suffering and endurance that would be vindicated in the end if they remained faithful.Less
The cosmogony of Revelation manifests two strategies similar to those employed in imperial cults for the emperor. In both cases, the human is connected to a high God(s) of the tradition and the human is portrayed as the founder of a new reality. Revelation claimed legitimacy, however, by describing imperial authority as a deceptive, demonic imitation. The imperial cosmology is castigated as an exploitative economy in which the wealthy and powerful live a life of arrogance and affluence that is based on violence. The kingdom of God and his Christ, on the other hand, was a community of suffering and endurance that would be vindicated in the end if they remained faithful.
