Jonathan Owens
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199290826
- eISBN:
- 9780191710469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199290826.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter recapitulates the main findings of the book. It is emphasized that interpreting Arabic language history requires many more detailed, case studies, models of which are presented in the ...
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This chapter recapitulates the main findings of the book. It is emphasized that interpreting Arabic language history requires many more detailed, case studies, models of which are presented in the preceding chapters. It is suggested that taken as a whole, contemporary Arabic, the dialects, are historically conservative in the sense that they exhibit relatively little change from a reconstructed pre-diasporic Arabic. This implicates a major re-thinking not only of Arabic language history, but also of Semitic in general, which has conventionally assumed the Old Arabic, Neo-Arabic dichotomy. It is further noted that besides a linguistic history, a sociolinguistic history of Arabic is needed to describe and explain the emergence of Classical Arabic.Less
This chapter recapitulates the main findings of the book. It is emphasized that interpreting Arabic language history requires many more detailed, case studies, models of which are presented in the preceding chapters. It is suggested that taken as a whole, contemporary Arabic, the dialects, are historically conservative in the sense that they exhibit relatively little change from a reconstructed pre-diasporic Arabic. This implicates a major re-thinking not only of Arabic language history, but also of Semitic in general, which has conventionally assumed the Old Arabic, Neo-Arabic dichotomy. It is further noted that besides a linguistic history, a sociolinguistic history of Arabic is needed to describe and explain the emergence of Classical Arabic.
Keith Ward
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269618
- eISBN:
- 9780191683718
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269618.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, World Religions
Continuing the author's series on comparative religion, this book deals with religious views of human nature and destiny. The beliefs of six major traditions are presented: the view of Advaita ...
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Continuing the author's series on comparative religion, this book deals with religious views of human nature and destiny. The beliefs of six major traditions are presented: the view of Advaita Vedanta that there is one Supreme Self, unfolding into the illusion of individual existence; the Vaishnava belief that there is an infinite number of souls, whose destiny is to be released from material embodiment; the Buddhist view that there is no eternal Self; the Abrahamic belief that persons are essentially embodied souls; and the materialistic position that persons are complex material organisms. Indian ideas of rebirth, karma, and liberation from samsara are critically analysed and compared with Semitic belief in the intermediate state of Sheol, Purgatory or Paradise, the Final Judgement and the resurrection of the body. The impact of scientific theories of cosmic and biological evolution on religious beliefs is assessed, and a form of ‘soft emergent materialism’ is defended, with regard to the soul. In this context, a Christian doctrine of original sin and atonement is presented, stressing the idea of soterial, as opposed to forensic, justice. Finally, a Christian view of personal immortality and the ‘end of all things’ is developed in conversation with Jewish and Muslim beliefs about judgement and resurrection.Less
Continuing the author's series on comparative religion, this book deals with religious views of human nature and destiny. The beliefs of six major traditions are presented: the view of Advaita Vedanta that there is one Supreme Self, unfolding into the illusion of individual existence; the Vaishnava belief that there is an infinite number of souls, whose destiny is to be released from material embodiment; the Buddhist view that there is no eternal Self; the Abrahamic belief that persons are essentially embodied souls; and the materialistic position that persons are complex material organisms. Indian ideas of rebirth, karma, and liberation from samsara are critically analysed and compared with Semitic belief in the intermediate state of Sheol, Purgatory or Paradise, the Final Judgement and the resurrection of the body. The impact of scientific theories of cosmic and biological evolution on religious beliefs is assessed, and a form of ‘soft emergent materialism’ is defended, with regard to the soul. In this context, a Christian doctrine of original sin and atonement is presented, stressing the idea of soterial, as opposed to forensic, justice. Finally, a Christian view of personal immortality and the ‘end of all things’ is developed in conversation with Jewish and Muslim beliefs about judgement and resurrection.
Helena Waddy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195371277
- eISBN:
- 9780199777341
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371277.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In August 1934 Adolf Hitler attended the world-famous Oberammergau Passion Play, falsely branding the villagers as Nazi ideologues. In fact, the drama reflected traditional interpretations of the ...
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In August 1934 Adolf Hitler attended the world-famous Oberammergau Passion Play, falsely branding the villagers as Nazi ideologues. In fact, the drama reflected traditional interpretations of the biblical narrative, pitting Jewish leaders and crowds against Jesus and his loyal followers. Yet elite Europeans and Americans flocked to Oberammergau each decade after 1850 to witness the play because actors and audience shared the anti-Semitic messages they read into the Gospel story. Oberammergau’s population was split between Hitler’s supporters and opponents because some villagers were true believers and others tolerated the Nazi regime’s extreme cultural restructuring, while Catholic loyalists resisted efforts to replace their customary practices with Nazified alternatives. All sides united in defending their centuries-old tradition of dramatizing the Passion. Villagers appeared on stage as children and grew up hoping to perform major roles as adults, so their entire lives revolved around the play seasons. This commitment nurtured a powerful communal identity in Oberammergau, carving out maneuvering room for dissent at the margins of Nazi tyranny even by party members who defied superiors threatening Oberammergau’s special interests. Their actions represented an extreme example of the maxim: “All politics is local.” Drawing on a huge array of records, the book tells the up-close and personal story of a community in crisis, illuminating heart-wrenching decisions made by villagers alternatively wooed and threatened by their Nazi leaders. Biographies bring these everyday Germans to life as complex human beings struggling with the extreme challenges of the Nazi Era.Less
In August 1934 Adolf Hitler attended the world-famous Oberammergau Passion Play, falsely branding the villagers as Nazi ideologues. In fact, the drama reflected traditional interpretations of the biblical narrative, pitting Jewish leaders and crowds against Jesus and his loyal followers. Yet elite Europeans and Americans flocked to Oberammergau each decade after 1850 to witness the play because actors and audience shared the anti-Semitic messages they read into the Gospel story. Oberammergau’s population was split between Hitler’s supporters and opponents because some villagers were true believers and others tolerated the Nazi regime’s extreme cultural restructuring, while Catholic loyalists resisted efforts to replace their customary practices with Nazified alternatives. All sides united in defending their centuries-old tradition of dramatizing the Passion. Villagers appeared on stage as children and grew up hoping to perform major roles as adults, so their entire lives revolved around the play seasons. This commitment nurtured a powerful communal identity in Oberammergau, carving out maneuvering room for dissent at the margins of Nazi tyranny even by party members who defied superiors threatening Oberammergau’s special interests. Their actions represented an extreme example of the maxim: “All politics is local.” Drawing on a huge array of records, the book tells the up-close and personal story of a community in crisis, illuminating heart-wrenching decisions made by villagers alternatively wooed and threatened by their Nazi leaders. Biographies bring these everyday Germans to life as complex human beings struggling with the extreme challenges of the Nazi Era.
S. Talmon
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263913
- eISBN:
- 9780191601187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263910.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This is the first of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It focuses on textual criticism of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, pointing out that no other ancient or modern text ...
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This is the first of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It focuses on textual criticism of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, pointing out that no other ancient or modern text seems to be witnessed by so many diverse sources in a variety of languages, and has a transmission history so difficult to elucidate as the text of the Hebrew Bible. The essay offers a necessarily restricted survey of the early transmission history of the biblical text in manuscript form up to the crystallization of an incipient unified Hebrew text and the appearance of translations of the Hebrew original into other Semitic and non‐Semitic languages between c.200 bce and 300 ce; invariably, later secondary translations are not considered. Attention focuses on the early stages of the written transmission of the consonantal text with emphasis on a concise review of the information on its history, which can be obtained from two quite dissimilar groups of manuscript remains in respect to chronology and socio‐religious provenance: (a) the assemblage of biblical scrolls and scroll fragments (the Dead Sea Scrolls) brought to light since 1947 that the dissident ‘Community of the Renewed Covenant’ had deposited in caves near a site known by the modern Arabic name of Qumran; and (b) fragments found since the 1950s at other sites in the Judaean Desert—Masada, Wadi Murabba’at, Naḥal Ṣe‚elim (Wadi Seiyāl) , and Naḥal Ḥever, which represent the textual tradition of normative Judaism.Less
This is the first of five chapters on the text of the Old Testament. It focuses on textual criticism of the ancient versions of the Old Testament, pointing out that no other ancient or modern text seems to be witnessed by so many diverse sources in a variety of languages, and has a transmission history so difficult to elucidate as the text of the Hebrew Bible. The essay offers a necessarily restricted survey of the early transmission history of the biblical text in manuscript form up to the crystallization of an incipient unified Hebrew text and the appearance of translations of the Hebrew original into other Semitic and non‐Semitic languages between c.200 bce and 300 ce; invariably, later secondary translations are not considered. Attention focuses on the early stages of the written transmission of the consonantal text with emphasis on a concise review of the information on its history, which can be obtained from two quite dissimilar groups of manuscript remains in respect to chronology and socio‐religious provenance: (a) the assemblage of biblical scrolls and scroll fragments (the Dead Sea Scrolls) brought to light since 1947 that the dissident ‘Community of the Renewed Covenant’ had deposited in caves near a site known by the modern Arabic name of Qumran; and (b) fragments found since the 1950s at other sites in the Judaean Desert—Masada, Wadi Murabba’at, Naḥal Ṣe‚elim (Wadi Seiyāl) , and Naḥal Ḥever, which represent the textual tradition of normative Judaism.
Helena Waddy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195371277
- eISBN:
- 9780199777341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371277.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Chapter One introduces master potter Anton Lang, the most famous player of Christ and an exemplary Catholic whose lifestyle helped to promote the Bavarian People’s Party (BVP) and whose success as a ...
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Chapter One introduces master potter Anton Lang, the most famous player of Christ and an exemplary Catholic whose lifestyle helped to promote the Bavarian People’s Party (BVP) and whose success as a hotelier contributed to Oberammergau’s growth as a tourism center. In Lang’s Alpine village, families survived as wood carvers marketing Catholic devotionalia to an international clientele. Locals joined pilgrimages and Corpus Christi processions, a statement of Catholic loyalism, developed charities, and venerated “charity” saints. Oberammergau’s Passion Play drew a growing audience, including English speakers, to stay with ethnically intriguing villagers and, later, in hotels and upgraded homes. The play’s text highlighted antagonism between “Jews” and “Christians” in the Crucifixion story, but elite visitors validated its anti-Semitic message. The community’s subsequent evolution as a tourism center created diverse social and political groups, while village insiders acquired an exclusive mentality as Passion players, creating a deep social rift with newcomers in Oberammergau.Less
Chapter One introduces master potter Anton Lang, the most famous player of Christ and an exemplary Catholic whose lifestyle helped to promote the Bavarian People’s Party (BVP) and whose success as a hotelier contributed to Oberammergau’s growth as a tourism center. In Lang’s Alpine village, families survived as wood carvers marketing Catholic devotionalia to an international clientele. Locals joined pilgrimages and Corpus Christi processions, a statement of Catholic loyalism, developed charities, and venerated “charity” saints. Oberammergau’s Passion Play drew a growing audience, including English speakers, to stay with ethnically intriguing villagers and, later, in hotels and upgraded homes. The play’s text highlighted antagonism between “Jews” and “Christians” in the Crucifixion story, but elite visitors validated its anti-Semitic message. The community’s subsequent evolution as a tourism center created diverse social and political groups, while village insiders acquired an exclusive mentality as Passion players, creating a deep social rift with newcomers in Oberammergau.
ANDRÉ LEMAIRE
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264010
- eISBN:
- 9780191734946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264010.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in ...
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Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.Less
Together with material archaeology and the literary tradition of the Hebrew Bible, epigraphy is one of the main sources for the history of ancient Israel in the ninth century BCE. Although limited in number, West Semitic inscriptions throw some light on the history of this period. This chapter examines ninth-century West Semitic inscriptions and the historical information they contain regarding the history of ninth-century Israel. It starts with the Hebrew inscriptions, followed by inscriptions in the neighbouring southern Levant countries as well as Aramaic inscriptions from Upper Mesopotamia. The chapter deals first with inscriptions in ‘Canaanite’ dialects before analysing inscriptions written in Aramaic dialects. The Mesha and Tel Dan steles are the main West Semitic inscriptions that help us understand the history of Israel and Judah during the ninth century BCE.
James Barr
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263051
- eISBN:
- 9780191734090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263051.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter discusses and presents a survey of the Old Testament, beginning with the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and its ancient versions. It examines the rise of traditional biblical criticism ...
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This chapter discusses and presents a survey of the Old Testament, beginning with the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and its ancient versions. It examines the rise of traditional biblical criticism and considers a study of the Hebrew language and its cognate Semitic languages. Finally, a survey of various topics and their historical perspectives is provided, along with some recent developments. The main focus of the chapter is to describe the dominant position of the mid-twentieth century.Less
This chapter discusses and presents a survey of the Old Testament, beginning with the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and its ancient versions. It examines the rise of traditional biblical criticism and considers a study of the Hebrew language and its cognate Semitic languages. Finally, a survey of various topics and their historical perspectives is provided, along with some recent developments. The main focus of the chapter is to describe the dominant position of the mid-twentieth century.
Elaine Matthews (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264126
- eISBN:
- 9780191734632
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264126.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book provides an interpretative guide to using a fundamental resource for the study of the ancient Greek world. Personal names are a statement of identity, a personal choice by parents for their ...
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This book provides an interpretative guide to using a fundamental resource for the study of the ancient Greek world. Personal names are a statement of identity, a personal choice by parents for their child, reflecting their own ancestry and family traditions, and the religious and political values of the society to which they belong. The names of the ancient Greeks, surviving in their tens of thousands in manuscripts and documents, offer a valuable insight into ancient Greek society. The chapters collected here examine how the Greeks responded to new environments. They draw out issues of identity as expressed through the choice, formation, and adaptation of personal names, not only by Greeks when they came into contact with non-Greeks, but of others in relation to Greeks, for example Egyptians, Persians, Thracians, and Semitic peoples, including the Jewish communities in the diaspora. Grounded in the ‘old’ world of Greece (in particular, Euboia and Thessaly), the book also reaches out to the many parts of the ancient world where Greeks travelled, traded, and settled, and where the dominant culture before the arrival of the Greeks was not Greek. Reflecting upon the progress of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names project, which has already published the names of over a quarter of a million ancient Greeks, it will be of interest to scholars and students of the language, literature, history, religion, and archaeology of the ancient Greek world.Less
This book provides an interpretative guide to using a fundamental resource for the study of the ancient Greek world. Personal names are a statement of identity, a personal choice by parents for their child, reflecting their own ancestry and family traditions, and the religious and political values of the society to which they belong. The names of the ancient Greeks, surviving in their tens of thousands in manuscripts and documents, offer a valuable insight into ancient Greek society. The chapters collected here examine how the Greeks responded to new environments. They draw out issues of identity as expressed through the choice, formation, and adaptation of personal names, not only by Greeks when they came into contact with non-Greeks, but of others in relation to Greeks, for example Egyptians, Persians, Thracians, and Semitic peoples, including the Jewish communities in the diaspora. Grounded in the ‘old’ world of Greece (in particular, Euboia and Thessaly), the book also reaches out to the many parts of the ancient world where Greeks travelled, traded, and settled, and where the dominant culture before the arrival of the Greeks was not Greek. Reflecting upon the progress of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names project, which has already published the names of over a quarter of a million ancient Greeks, it will be of interest to scholars and students of the language, literature, history, religion, and archaeology of the ancient Greek world.
Niall Finneran
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264782
- eISBN:
- 9780191754012
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264782.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
Any archaeological study of slavery in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) must take two factors into account: first, the paucity of archaeological evidence for this system, which is ...
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Any archaeological study of slavery in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) must take two factors into account: first, the paucity of archaeological evidence for this system, which is historically attested as being of immense economic importance in the Aksumite and post-Aksumite period; and second, that the ‘social memory’of slavery within the modern Ethiopian psyche has fuelled an ethnohistorical — potentially racist — dichotomy between the ‘Semitic’ highlands and the ‘Cushitic’ lowlands. This dichotomy also broadly mirrors a religious Christian/Muslim separation. This chapter argues that although apparently archaeologically invisible, the long history of slavery within this region of Africa has left a profound and legible cultural imprint upon its peoples and landscapes.Less
Any archaeological study of slavery in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) must take two factors into account: first, the paucity of archaeological evidence for this system, which is historically attested as being of immense economic importance in the Aksumite and post-Aksumite period; and second, that the ‘social memory’of slavery within the modern Ethiopian psyche has fuelled an ethnohistorical — potentially racist — dichotomy between the ‘Semitic’ highlands and the ‘Cushitic’ lowlands. This dichotomy also broadly mirrors a religious Christian/Muslim separation. This chapter argues that although apparently archaeologically invisible, the long history of slavery within this region of Africa has left a profound and legible cultural imprint upon its peoples and landscapes.
Jonathan Owens
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199290826
- eISBN:
- 9780191710469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199290826.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter examines in detail one of the key features which has been assumed to differentiate a putative Old Arabic from Neo-Arabic, the presence vs. absence of a three-valued case system, ...
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This chapter examines in detail one of the key features which has been assumed to differentiate a putative Old Arabic from Neo-Arabic, the presence vs. absence of a three-valued case system, nominative, accusative genitive. The status of case is first examined in the context of Afro-Asiatic, where a system comparable to Arabic does not exist in sister branches of the phylum, then in the Semitic sub-family, where it is suggested that only Akkadian had a comparable, robust system. Case in Classical Arabic is argued to be innovative relative to proto-Semitic. The crucial arguments are that case is not found in the contemporary dialects, and more importantly, no traces of former case markers are found, inviting the conclusion that a caseless variety is the only ancestor of the dialects. Furthermore, in the early grammar of Sibawaih, the case suffixes are represented as having a great deal of free variation, indicating a system still in the making.Less
This chapter examines in detail one of the key features which has been assumed to differentiate a putative Old Arabic from Neo-Arabic, the presence vs. absence of a three-valued case system, nominative, accusative genitive. The status of case is first examined in the context of Afro-Asiatic, where a system comparable to Arabic does not exist in sister branches of the phylum, then in the Semitic sub-family, where it is suggested that only Akkadian had a comparable, robust system. Case in Classical Arabic is argued to be innovative relative to proto-Semitic. The crucial arguments are that case is not found in the contemporary dialects, and more importantly, no traces of former case markers are found, inviting the conclusion that a caseless variety is the only ancestor of the dialects. Furthermore, in the early grammar of Sibawaih, the case suffixes are represented as having a great deal of free variation, indicating a system still in the making.
Margaret H. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264126
- eISBN:
- 9780191734632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264126.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines the dating of the aphrodisias stele inscriptions and the Semitic name-use by Jews in Roman Asia Minor. It investigates the progressive Hebraization of the Jewish onomasticon in ...
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This chapter examines the dating of the aphrodisias stele inscriptions and the Semitic name-use by Jews in Roman Asia Minor. It investigates the progressive Hebraization of the Jewish onomasticon in western Anatolia between the second and sixth centuries AD and suggests that the Hebraizing trend became increasingly strong in the second half of this period. The chapter asserts that onomastic change during this period reflects changes in society as a whole.Less
This chapter examines the dating of the aphrodisias stele inscriptions and the Semitic name-use by Jews in Roman Asia Minor. It investigates the progressive Hebraization of the Jewish onomasticon in western Anatolia between the second and sixth centuries AD and suggests that the Hebraizing trend became increasingly strong in the second half of this period. The chapter asserts that onomastic change during this period reflects changes in society as a whole.
Jeffrey C. Alexander
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195162509
- eISBN:
- 9780199943364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162509.003.0035
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This chapter examines the extraordinary difficulties encountered by the project to incorporate Jewish out-groups into Western civil societies. The discussion covers Jews and the dilemmas of ...
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This chapter examines the extraordinary difficulties encountered by the project to incorporate Jewish out-groups into Western civil societies. The discussion covers Jews and the dilemmas of assimilative incorporation; anti-Semitic arguments for Jewish incorporation; initial Jewish arguments for self-change; religious and secular modes of Jewish adaptation to the dilemmas of assimilation; new forms of symbolic reflection and social response in the fin de siècle; and the crisis of anti-Semitic assimilation in the interwar period.Less
This chapter examines the extraordinary difficulties encountered by the project to incorporate Jewish out-groups into Western civil societies. The discussion covers Jews and the dilemmas of assimilative incorporation; anti-Semitic arguments for Jewish incorporation; initial Jewish arguments for self-change; religious and secular modes of Jewish adaptation to the dilemmas of assimilation; new forms of symbolic reflection and social response in the fin de siècle; and the crisis of anti-Semitic assimilation in the interwar period.
Marcus Plested
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199267798
- eISBN:
- 9780191602139
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199267790.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
A re-evaluation of the opposition commonly assumed to obtain between the teaching and respective legacies of Macarius and Evagrius of Pontus – an opposition often put in terms of the contrast between ...
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A re-evaluation of the opposition commonly assumed to obtain between the teaching and respective legacies of Macarius and Evagrius of Pontus – an opposition often put in terms of the contrast between Semitic and Hellenic Christianity, between intellective and affective mysticisms, between ‘head’ and ‘heart’. Both authors are shown to be ill served by such simplistic contrasts, both far broader in scope and vision than these would imply. The two are, however, legitimately to be distinguished in terms of emphasis and balance – Macarius emerging as the more subtle and holistic of the two.Less
A re-evaluation of the opposition commonly assumed to obtain between the teaching and respective legacies of Macarius and Evagrius of Pontus – an opposition often put in terms of the contrast between Semitic and Hellenic Christianity, between intellective and affective mysticisms, between ‘head’ and ‘heart’. Both authors are shown to be ill served by such simplistic contrasts, both far broader in scope and vision than these would imply. The two are, however, legitimately to be distinguished in terms of emphasis and balance – Macarius emerging as the more subtle and holistic of the two.
Mary Douglas
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199265237
- eISBN:
- 9780191602054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199265232.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The introduction to this chapter highlights the high culture of the priestly editors of Leviticus and Numbers and the fact that they were writing for each other in a once fashionable style that used ...
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The introduction to this chapter highlights the high culture of the priestly editors of Leviticus and Numbers and the fact that they were writing for each other in a once fashionable style that used structural devices such as verbal and thematic parallelism and ambiguity, but was fast becoming esoteric, obscure, and archaic; in other words, there was a vast gulf between the editor‐priests and their congregations. The author's interpretation of Leviticus and Numbers has been attacked as improbable on the grounds that if it was correct it would have been anticipated before: structural clues would have been noticed. The argument advanced here is that the two books have not before been searched for clues to their structure – such a search was not the approach of the early rabbis, nor was it possible in the period after the priestly editors had gone by the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, for the Levites who had succeeded to their role were less learned. The various sections of the chapter first look at the characteristics of the Levite interpretation of the Pentateuch, Bishop Lowth's eighteenth‐century discovery of biblical parallelism, parallelism as a typical convention of Semitic literature, and Mishnaic parallelism. The remaining sections present a detailed analysis of the structure of the Book of Leviticus: the prominent role of impurity in relation to the protection of the tabernacle from contamination but the concomitant inclusion of the poor and the stranger; the altar as focus of religion in the form, represented in Leviticus by the use of the desert tabernacle as an architectural model of the Book itself; and features of the style of Leviticus – the two violent events in Chs 10 and 24 (which divide the Book into three parts), the designation of the Book as one of three parts with three centres (Chs 8–10, 18–20 and 25–27), and its mid‐turn, which is centred at Ch. 19.Less
The introduction to this chapter highlights the high culture of the priestly editors of Leviticus and Numbers and the fact that they were writing for each other in a once fashionable style that used structural devices such as verbal and thematic parallelism and ambiguity, but was fast becoming esoteric, obscure, and archaic; in other words, there was a vast gulf between the editor‐priests and their congregations. The author's interpretation of Leviticus and Numbers has been attacked as improbable on the grounds that if it was correct it would have been anticipated before: structural clues would have been noticed. The argument advanced here is that the two books have not before been searched for clues to their structure – such a search was not the approach of the early rabbis, nor was it possible in the period after the priestly editors had gone by the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, for the Levites who had succeeded to their role were less learned. The various sections of the chapter first look at the characteristics of the Levite interpretation of the Pentateuch, Bishop Lowth's eighteenth‐century discovery of biblical parallelism, parallelism as a typical convention of Semitic literature, and Mishnaic parallelism. The remaining sections present a detailed analysis of the structure of the Book of Leviticus: the prominent role of impurity in relation to the protection of the tabernacle from contamination but the concomitant inclusion of the poor and the stranger; the altar as focus of religion in the form, represented in Leviticus by the use of the desert tabernacle as an architectural model of the Book itself; and features of the style of Leviticus – the two violent events in Chs 10 and 24 (which divide the Book into three parts), the designation of the Book as one of three parts with three centres (Chs 8–10, 18–20 and 25–27), and its mid‐turn, which is centred at Ch. 19.
Stephen Wilson
- Published in print:
- 1984
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197100523
- eISBN:
- 9781800340992
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780197100523.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this analysis of racism in late nineteenth-century France, anti-Semitism is studied in its social context as an indicator and symptom of social change. The author provides a more general analysis ...
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In this analysis of racism in late nineteenth-century France, anti-Semitism is studied in its social context as an indicator and symptom of social change. The author provides a more general analysis of anti-Semitic ideology in France, and the book concludes with a study of the Jewish response to this challenge. The book focuses on antisemitism in France at the time of the Dreyfus Affair. This upsurge of antisemitism occurred in a country which had a very small Jewish community, by Central and East European standards, and the “autonomous” aspect of antisemitism, its general social function as an ideology, is thus more evident.Less
In this analysis of racism in late nineteenth-century France, anti-Semitism is studied in its social context as an indicator and symptom of social change. The author provides a more general analysis of anti-Semitic ideology in France, and the book concludes with a study of the Jewish response to this challenge. The book focuses on antisemitism in France at the time of the Dreyfus Affair. This upsurge of antisemitism occurred in a country which had a very small Jewish community, by Central and East European standards, and the “autonomous” aspect of antisemitism, its general social function as an ideology, is thus more evident.
Julie Fette
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450211
- eISBN:
- 9780801463990
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450211.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
In the 1930s, the French Third Republic banned naturalized citizens from careers in law and medicine for up to ten years after they had obtained French nationality. In 1940, the Vichy regime ...
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In the 1930s, the French Third Republic banned naturalized citizens from careers in law and medicine for up to ten years after they had obtained French nationality. In 1940, the Vichy regime permanently expelled all lawyers and physicians born of foreign fathers and imposed a two percent quota on Jews in both professions. On the basis of extensive archival research, this book finds that doctors and lawyers themselves, despite their claims to embody republican virtues, persuaded the French state to enact this exclusionary legislation. At the crossroads of knowledge and power, lawyers and doctors had long been dominant forces in French society: they ran hospitals and courts, doubled as university professors, held posts in parliament and government, and administered justice and public health for the nation. Their social and political influence was crucial in spreading xenophobic attitudes and rendering them more socially acceptable in France. The book traces the origins of this professional protectionism to the late nineteenth century, when the democratization of higher education sparked efforts by doctors and lawyers to close ranks against women and the lower classes in addition to foreigners. The legislatively imposed delays on the right to practice law and medicine remained in force until the 1970s, and only in 1997 did French lawyers and doctors formally recognize their complicity in the anti-Semitic policies of the Vichy regime.Less
In the 1930s, the French Third Republic banned naturalized citizens from careers in law and medicine for up to ten years after they had obtained French nationality. In 1940, the Vichy regime permanently expelled all lawyers and physicians born of foreign fathers and imposed a two percent quota on Jews in both professions. On the basis of extensive archival research, this book finds that doctors and lawyers themselves, despite their claims to embody republican virtues, persuaded the French state to enact this exclusionary legislation. At the crossroads of knowledge and power, lawyers and doctors had long been dominant forces in French society: they ran hospitals and courts, doubled as university professors, held posts in parliament and government, and administered justice and public health for the nation. Their social and political influence was crucial in spreading xenophobic attitudes and rendering them more socially acceptable in France. The book traces the origins of this professional protectionism to the late nineteenth century, when the democratization of higher education sparked efforts by doctors and lawyers to close ranks against women and the lower classes in addition to foreigners. The legislatively imposed delays on the right to practice law and medicine remained in force until the 1970s, and only in 1997 did French lawyers and doctors formally recognize their complicity in the anti-Semitic policies of the Vichy regime.
Robert Gellately
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198228691
- eISBN:
- 9780191678806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198228691.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
During the Nazi regime, the Jews were subject to massive governmental racial policy. Anti-Semitism was directed towards the Jews particularly to those in small communities around Würzburg and Lower ...
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During the Nazi regime, the Jews were subject to massive governmental racial policy. Anti-Semitism was directed towards the Jews particularly to those in small communities around Würzburg and Lower Franconia who were left defenceless to the fanaticism of Nazi followers and Nazi leaders. Nazi leaders in the provinces persecuted Jews even before orders came from above. They carried periodic beatings, confiscated Jew properties especially their motor vehicles, and involved themselves in other forms of harassment and persecution. This chapter discusses the non-compliance and anti-Jewish actions in Lower Franconia with the Nazi teachings of contempt, and the Nazi anti-Semitic laws and regulations. Although little criticism is directed against the Gestapo, against the background of silence, indifference and passive complicity, a minority but significant group took anti-Semitism seriously as did some of the Nazi leaders.Less
During the Nazi regime, the Jews were subject to massive governmental racial policy. Anti-Semitism was directed towards the Jews particularly to those in small communities around Würzburg and Lower Franconia who were left defenceless to the fanaticism of Nazi followers and Nazi leaders. Nazi leaders in the provinces persecuted Jews even before orders came from above. They carried periodic beatings, confiscated Jew properties especially their motor vehicles, and involved themselves in other forms of harassment and persecution. This chapter discusses the non-compliance and anti-Jewish actions in Lower Franconia with the Nazi teachings of contempt, and the Nazi anti-Semitic laws and regulations. Although little criticism is directed against the Gestapo, against the background of silence, indifference and passive complicity, a minority but significant group took anti-Semitism seriously as did some of the Nazi leaders.
David H. Price
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195394214
- eISBN:
- 9780199894734
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394214.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter describes the tumultuous conclusion to the Johannes Reuchlin controversy, which unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened political instability. Leo X's verdict against Reuchlin, the papal ...
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This chapter describes the tumultuous conclusion to the Johannes Reuchlin controversy, which unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened political instability. Leo X's verdict against Reuchlin, the papal condemnation of his pamphlet for expressing views “impermissibly favorable to Judaism,” was issued in conjunction with Rome's initial condemnation of Martin Luther and his Reformation movement. The chapter documents important connections between Reuchlinists and early Lutherans, including Reuchlin's influence on Luther's biblical exegesis, despite his personal repudiation of the Protestant revolt. In fact, the Reuchlin controversy was a key setting for the formation of Martin Luther's anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic ideology. Moreover, the papal verdict against Reuchlin prefigured the harsh paradigm of the Catholic-Protestant-Jewish dynamic that would soon emerge. As counter-reformation policies hardened, tolerance of Jewish life plummeted in the Papal States.Less
This chapter describes the tumultuous conclusion to the Johannes Reuchlin controversy, which unfolded in an atmosphere of heightened political instability. Leo X's verdict against Reuchlin, the papal condemnation of his pamphlet for expressing views “impermissibly favorable to Judaism,” was issued in conjunction with Rome's initial condemnation of Martin Luther and his Reformation movement. The chapter documents important connections between Reuchlinists and early Lutherans, including Reuchlin's influence on Luther's biblical exegesis, despite his personal repudiation of the Protestant revolt. In fact, the Reuchlin controversy was a key setting for the formation of Martin Luther's anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic ideology. Moreover, the papal verdict against Reuchlin prefigured the harsh paradigm of the Catholic-Protestant-Jewish dynamic that would soon emerge. As counter-reformation policies hardened, tolerance of Jewish life plummeted in the Papal States.
Edward Ullendorff and Sebastian Brock
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263501
- eISBN:
- 9780191734212
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263501.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Judah Benzion Segal (1912–2003), a Fellow of the British Academy, had a long career as a teacher of Semitic languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. Segal’s ...
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Judah Benzion Segal (1912–2003), a Fellow of the British Academy, had a long career as a teacher of Semitic languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. Segal’s principal interest was in Aramaic and Syriac, in addition to Hebrew and the other main Semitic tongues. Before his teaching career, he was employed in the Sudan Civil Service and, during World War II, his service was frequently behind the enemy lines in North Africa. He was educated at Magdalen College School, University of Oxford, and at St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge. One of Segal’s other abiding interests concerned the Jews of Cochin whose history he published in 1993. But it will probably be in the area of Aramaic studies that Segal will be best remembered in the academic world.Less
Judah Benzion Segal (1912–2003), a Fellow of the British Academy, had a long career as a teacher of Semitic languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. Segal’s principal interest was in Aramaic and Syriac, in addition to Hebrew and the other main Semitic tongues. Before his teaching career, he was employed in the Sudan Civil Service and, during World War II, his service was frequently behind the enemy lines in North Africa. He was educated at Magdalen College School, University of Oxford, and at St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge. One of Segal’s other abiding interests concerned the Jews of Cochin whose history he published in 1993. But it will probably be in the area of Aramaic studies that Segal will be best remembered in the academic world.
Owen Chadwick
- Published in print:
- 1983
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198264453
- eISBN:
- 9780191682711
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198264453.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter examines the retirement of Hensley Henson as Bishop of Durham. It explains that Henson gave away most of his prized possessions when he left Durham. It discusses Prime Minister Winston ...
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This chapter examines the retirement of Hensley Henson as Bishop of Durham. It explains that Henson gave away most of his prized possessions when he left Durham. It discusses Prime Minister Winston Churchill's nomination of Henson to become canon of Westminster Abbey and to do a piece of war work, knowing the bishop's negative opinion of Nazi Germany's anti-Semitic policies. Henson served for the second time as canon of Westminster from September 1940 to April 1941.Less
This chapter examines the retirement of Hensley Henson as Bishop of Durham. It explains that Henson gave away most of his prized possessions when he left Durham. It discusses Prime Minister Winston Churchill's nomination of Henson to become canon of Westminster Abbey and to do a piece of war work, knowing the bishop's negative opinion of Nazi Germany's anti-Semitic policies. Henson served for the second time as canon of Westminster from September 1940 to April 1941.
