Steven Heine
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195135862
- eISBN:
- 9780199834297
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195135865.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Opening a Mountain is a translation with a commentary of 60 koan cases that feature an important supernatural or ritual element selected from a variety of the major and minor Zen ...
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Opening a Mountain is a translation with a commentary of 60 koan cases that feature an important supernatural or ritual element selected from a variety of the major and minor Zen Buddhist koan collections compiled in Sung China and Kamakura Japan. The koan is a brief, enigmatic anecdote or dialog between two contesting parties that defines the heart. The book demonstrates that the main theme underlying much of the koan literature deals with how Zen masters opened or transformed mountains. The transforming of spiritual forces that had been closing off the mountains into manifestations of sacred space in Zen was referred to as kuai‐shan in Chinese (or kaizan in Japanese). The mountains harbored spirits, demons, and bodhisattvas, as well as hermits, recluses, ascetics, and other irregular practitioners, and were opened using the symbols and rituals of spiritual purification. In contrast with conventional interpretations that view koans as psychological exercises with a purely iconoclastic intention, the approach here highlights the rich component of mythological and marvelous elements that pervade this genre of literature in a way that complements, rather than contradicts, the demythological or iconoclastic perspective. This approach to interpreting Zen literature is distinctive and innovative in several respects. Opening a Mountain includes the selection of koan cases emphasizing supernatural symbols, such as mountains, animals, and other natural imagery, based on a scholarly standard of translation and citation of source materials. The main topics include “Surveying Mountain Landscapes,” “Contesting with Irregular Rivals,” “Encountering Supernatural Forces,” “Wielding Symbols of Authority,” and “Giving Life and Controlling Death as Confessional Experiences.”Less
Opening a Mountain is a translation with a commentary of 60 koan cases that feature an important supernatural or ritual element selected from a variety of the major and minor Zen Buddhist koan collections compiled in Sung China and Kamakura Japan. The koan is a brief, enigmatic anecdote or dialog between two contesting parties that defines the heart. The book demonstrates that the main theme underlying much of the koan literature deals with how Zen masters opened or transformed mountains. The transforming of spiritual forces that had been closing off the mountains into manifestations of sacred space in Zen was referred to as kuai‐shan in Chinese (or kaizan in Japanese). The mountains harbored spirits, demons, and bodhisattvas, as well as hermits, recluses, ascetics, and other irregular practitioners, and were opened using the symbols and rituals of spiritual purification. In contrast with conventional interpretations that view koans as psychological exercises with a purely iconoclastic intention, the approach here highlights the rich component of mythological and marvelous elements that pervade this genre of literature in a way that complements, rather than contradicts, the demythological or iconoclastic perspective. This approach to interpreting Zen literature is distinctive and innovative in several respects. Opening a Mountain includes the selection of koan cases emphasizing supernatural symbols, such as mountains, animals, and other natural imagery, based on a scholarly standard of translation and citation of source materials. The main topics include “Surveying Mountain Landscapes,” “Contesting with Irregular Rivals,” “Encountering Supernatural Forces,” “Wielding Symbols of Authority,” and “Giving Life and Controlling Death as Confessional Experiences.”
Michael Ostling
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199587902
- eISBN:
- 9780191731228
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587902.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Social History
Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story ...
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Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, the book also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of diabolical sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self‐imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft the book attempts to explore the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.Less
Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, the book also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of diabolical sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self‐imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft the book attempts to explore the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.
Carl Sagan
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Carl Sagan is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human ...
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Carl Sagan is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and many other books. His science fiction novel, Contact, was made into a popular, major motion picture in 1997. Sagan is well known for his interests in extra-terrestrial life and is closely linked to the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). As a scientist, Sagan educated the public about “Nuclear Winter”, the idea that a nuclear war could precipitate an unprecedented ice age that might render the Earth largely uninhabitable. Sagan became notorious in certain circles for his forays into religion, which he viewed with skepticism.Less
Carl Sagan is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, and many other books. His science fiction novel, Contact, was made into a popular, major motion picture in 1997. Sagan is well known for his interests in extra-terrestrial life and is closely linked to the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). As a scientist, Sagan educated the public about “Nuclear Winter”, the idea that a nuclear war could precipitate an unprecedented ice age that might render the Earth largely uninhabitable. Sagan became notorious in certain circles for his forays into religion, which he viewed with skepticism.
Troels Engberg‐Pedersen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558568
- eISBN:
- 9780191720970
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558568.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter addresses the philosophical question of the relationship between the different types of superhuman entities that people Paul's world. In addition to the material pneuma, Christ, and God, ...
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This chapter addresses the philosophical question of the relationship between the different types of superhuman entities that people Paul's world. In addition to the material pneuma, Christ, and God, there also were demons of various sorts, including Satan. The chapter considers three different ways in which Paul may speak of these entities: in physical terms, in cognitive terms, and in personal terms. Is it possible to hold these superficially very different ways of speaking together within a single, coherent world view? The chapter argues that some of the problems perceived by scholars in this area are self-created, but also that Paul focuses on cognition in a manner that allows for both the physical and the personal ways of speaking while also giving pride of place to the cognitive relationship of human beings with the superhuman figures.Less
This chapter addresses the philosophical question of the relationship between the different types of superhuman entities that people Paul's world. In addition to the material pneuma, Christ, and God, there also were demons of various sorts, including Satan. The chapter considers three different ways in which Paul may speak of these entities: in physical terms, in cognitive terms, and in personal terms. Is it possible to hold these superficially very different ways of speaking together within a single, coherent world view? The chapter argues that some of the problems perceived by scholars in this area are self-created, but also that Paul focuses on cognition in a manner that allows for both the physical and the personal ways of speaking while also giving pride of place to the cognitive relationship of human beings with the superhuman figures.
Gyula Klima
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195176223
- eISBN:
- 9780199871957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176223.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter provides a brief survey of Buridan’s reliabilist epistemology, contrasting it with skeptical challenges of his time, and comparing it with modern responses to similar skeptical ...
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This chapter provides a brief survey of Buridan’s reliabilist epistemology, contrasting it with skeptical challenges of his time, and comparing it with modern responses to similar skeptical challenges in modern philosophy, arguably stemming from the controversies of Buridan’s time. In particular, the chapter argues that the sort of “Demon-skepticism” modern readers are familiar with from Descartes was made conceptually possible precisely by the emergence of late-medieval nominalist semantics, and that the modern strategies responding to the skeptical challenge, exemplified by the works of Thomas Reid and most recently John Greco, originate in the epistemic principles of Buridan.Less
This chapter provides a brief survey of Buridan’s reliabilist epistemology, contrasting it with skeptical challenges of his time, and comparing it with modern responses to similar skeptical challenges in modern philosophy, arguably stemming from the controversies of Buridan’s time. In particular, the chapter argues that the sort of “Demon-skepticism” modern readers are familiar with from Descartes was made conceptually possible precisely by the emergence of late-medieval nominalist semantics, and that the modern strategies responding to the skeptical challenge, exemplified by the works of Thomas Reid and most recently John Greco, originate in the epistemic principles of Buridan.
Gyula Klima
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195176223
- eISBN:
- 9780199871957
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176223.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter compares the modern reliabilist strategies, including Buridan’s antiskepticism, considered in the previous chapter with a premodern form of antiskepticism, exemplified by Aquinas’s ...
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This chapter compares the modern reliabilist strategies, including Buridan’s antiskepticism, considered in the previous chapter with a premodern form of antiskepticism, exemplified by Aquinas’s doctrine of “the formal unity of the knower and the known”, which, as the chapter argues, simply does not allow the emergence of “Demon-skepticism.” In fact, the chapter further argues that the emergence of “Demon-skepticism“ in its most extreme form, allowing an impossibility to appear as a possibility, indicates a serious flaw in the nominalist conception of mental representation. Nevertheless, the chapter further argues that this flaw is easily masked by the apparent success of Buridan’s reliabilist strategy, not requiring the elimination of Demon-skepticism, but rather presenting reasonable ways for us to learn to live with it.Less
This chapter compares the modern reliabilist strategies, including Buridan’s antiskepticism, considered in the previous chapter with a premodern form of antiskepticism, exemplified by Aquinas’s doctrine of “the formal unity of the knower and the known”, which, as the chapter argues, simply does not allow the emergence of “Demon-skepticism.” In fact, the chapter further argues that the emergence of “Demon-skepticism“ in its most extreme form, allowing an impossibility to appear as a possibility, indicates a serious flaw in the nominalist conception of mental representation. Nevertheless, the chapter further argues that this flaw is easily masked by the apparent success of Buridan’s reliabilist strategy, not requiring the elimination of Demon-skepticism, but rather presenting reasonable ways for us to learn to live with it.
Mary Orr
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199258581
- eISBN:
- 9780191718083
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199258581.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Devil's rides into space are a well‐worked topos in literature, but this chapter points out for the first time their literal realities in the Montgolfier balloons and Garnarin's parachute that ...
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Devil's rides into space are a well‐worked topos in literature, but this chapter points out for the first time their literal realities in the Montgolfier balloons and Garnarin's parachute that constitute the 19th‐century ‘transports’ of Antoine's literary‐scientific imagination. The chapter then offers further appraisal of what the Devil ‘shows’ Antoine in space, namely (1) the (19th‐century) heliocentric solar system with the new planets, Uranus and Neptune discovered through understanding of gravitational pull, and (2) the huge literary‐scientific joke behind the Devil's transformations as the Norman mathematician Laplace's famous ‘demon’. The chapter ends by rethinking the genesis of the Tentation through the modern mystères of Le Poittevin's Bélial and Byron's Cain as among Flaubert's personal demons.Less
Devil's rides into space are a well‐worked topos in literature, but this chapter points out for the first time their literal realities in the Montgolfier balloons and Garnarin's parachute that constitute the 19th‐century ‘transports’ of Antoine's literary‐scientific imagination. The chapter then offers further appraisal of what the Devil ‘shows’ Antoine in space, namely (1) the (19th‐century) heliocentric solar system with the new planets, Uranus and Neptune discovered through understanding of gravitational pull, and (2) the huge literary‐scientific joke behind the Devil's transformations as the Norman mathematician Laplace's famous ‘demon’. The chapter ends by rethinking the genesis of the Tentation through the modern mystères of Le Poittevin's Bélial and Byron's Cain as among Flaubert's personal demons.
Jan Modersitzki
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198528418
- eISBN:
- 9780191713583
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198528418.003.0011
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Applied Mathematics
A gradient-based regularization for registration is introduced, and a fast and stable implementation is developed. In contrast to the physically motivated elastic and fluid registrations, the ...
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A gradient-based regularization for registration is introduced, and a fast and stable implementation is developed. In contrast to the physically motivated elastic and fluid registrations, the diffusion regularizer is motivated by smoothing properties of the displacement. Another important motivation is that a registration step can be performed in linear complexity of the number of given data. The main tool is the so-called additive operator splitting scheme (AOS). The idea is to split the original problem into a number of simpler problems which allow for a fast numerical solution. A new proof for the accuracy of AOS is given, which is based purely on matrix analysis. Thus, the result also applies to more general situations. Thirion's demons registration is discussed.Less
A gradient-based regularization for registration is introduced, and a fast and stable implementation is developed. In contrast to the physically motivated elastic and fluid registrations, the diffusion regularizer is motivated by smoothing properties of the displacement. Another important motivation is that a registration step can be performed in linear complexity of the number of given data. The main tool is the so-called additive operator splitting scheme (AOS). The idea is to split the original problem into a number of simpler problems which allow for a fast numerical solution. A new proof for the accuracy of AOS is given, which is based purely on matrix analysis. Thus, the result also applies to more general situations. Thirion's demons registration is discussed.
Richard Sorabji
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199256600
- eISBN:
- 9780191712609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256600.003.0024
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Evagrius (4th century CE Christian) found himself as desert hermit assailed by the eight involuntary bad thoughts of gluttony, lust, avarice, distress, anger boredom (akêdia), vanity (concern with ...
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Evagrius (4th century CE Christian) found himself as desert hermit assailed by the eight involuntary bad thoughts of gluttony, lust, avarice, distress, anger boredom (akêdia), vanity (concern with others' opinions), and pride (belief in self-sufficiency). These evolved into the seven cardinal sins, but they were not yet sins nor emotions, only temptations. It was up to us whether they turned into emotions or lingered. Like Origen, he pictures the bad thoughts sometimes being presented by crafty demons who know how innocent thoughts can be used to lead to bad ones. In the counter-attack, one must notice in what sequences thoughts come, the timings of the bad ones, and how thoughts of lust and vanity can repel each other, or conquest of gluttony defeat lust. We need to know which thought is helped, which inflamed, by leaving one's cell. Thus, we may progress towards the Stoic goal of apatheia.Less
Evagrius (4th century CE Christian) found himself as desert hermit assailed by the eight involuntary bad thoughts of gluttony, lust, avarice, distress, anger boredom (akêdia), vanity (concern with others' opinions), and pride (belief in self-sufficiency). These evolved into the seven cardinal sins, but they were not yet sins nor emotions, only temptations. It was up to us whether they turned into emotions or lingered. Like Origen, he pictures the bad thoughts sometimes being presented by crafty demons who know how innocent thoughts can be used to lead to bad ones. In the counter-attack, one must notice in what sequences thoughts come, the timings of the bad ones, and how thoughts of lust and vanity can repel each other, or conquest of gluttony defeat lust. We need to know which thought is helped, which inflamed, by leaving one's cell. Thus, we may progress towards the Stoic goal of apatheia.
Patrik Hagman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199593194
- eISBN:
- 9780191595677
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593194.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
After providing a short biography of Isaac of Nineveh, the chapter proceeds by discussing the most important influences on his thinking. Of particular importance is the tradition of the East Syrian ...
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After providing a short biography of Isaac of Nineveh, the chapter proceeds by discussing the most important influences on his thinking. Of particular importance is the tradition of the East Syrian Church and the theologies of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Evagrios of Pontos and John of Apamea, as well as the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. After this some aspects of Isaac's own theology is presented, i.e. his understanding of God as love, pedagogue and present in the world in the form of providence. Isaac's view of the devil and the demons is also discussed. The purpose of this discussion is to give the reader a sense of Isaac's particular theological worldview.Less
After providing a short biography of Isaac of Nineveh, the chapter proceeds by discussing the most important influences on his thinking. Of particular importance is the tradition of the East Syrian Church and the theologies of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Evagrios of Pontos and John of Apamea, as well as the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. After this some aspects of Isaac's own theology is presented, i.e. his understanding of God as love, pedagogue and present in the world in the form of providence. Isaac's view of the devil and the demons is also discussed. The purpose of this discussion is to give the reader a sense of Isaac's particular theological worldview.
Paul U. Unschuld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520257658
- eISBN:
- 9780520944701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257658.003.0018
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the disappearance of demons and microorganisms from teachings on the causation of illnesses and the understanding of the pharmaceutical tradition and examines the question of ...
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This chapter focuses on the disappearance of demons and microorganisms from teachings on the causation of illnesses and the understanding of the pharmaceutical tradition and examines the question of the body's powers of self-healing. It is relatively easy to understand that the scientists of the time ignored demons but not all scientists and observers were prepared to renounce the knowledge of demons. It was only those observers responsible for the new medicine who no longer saw what their predecessors had seen for many centuries. The “upper class of ancient China,” literate and formally educated in history, philosophy, and natural history, is divided into two groups. One group comprising those who no longer perceived part of what was once reality and the other group comprising those who continued to acknowledge that part of reality and included it in their healing. Demons and spirits were shown amulets or confronted with spoken exorcisms describing one's alliance with the superpowers of the numinous world, such as the sun, moon, Big Dipper, or especially fierce demons whose alliance one sought against the weaker spirits.Less
This chapter focuses on the disappearance of demons and microorganisms from teachings on the causation of illnesses and the understanding of the pharmaceutical tradition and examines the question of the body's powers of self-healing. It is relatively easy to understand that the scientists of the time ignored demons but not all scientists and observers were prepared to renounce the knowledge of demons. It was only those observers responsible for the new medicine who no longer saw what their predecessors had seen for many centuries. The “upper class of ancient China,” literate and formally educated in history, philosophy, and natural history, is divided into two groups. One group comprising those who no longer perceived part of what was once reality and the other group comprising those who continued to acknowledge that part of reality and included it in their healing. Demons and spirits were shown amulets or confronted with spoken exorcisms describing one's alliance with the superpowers of the numinous world, such as the sun, moon, Big Dipper, or especially fierce demons whose alliance one sought against the weaker spirits.
Williams Martin
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195083491
- eISBN:
- 9780199853205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195083491.003.0055
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
The track “Sun Ra and His Arkestra—Sun Song” is perhaps a pretentious, or at least curious, billing for a jazz LP, particularly when one is reminded that it was initially recorded around ten years ...
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The track “Sun Ra and His Arkestra—Sun Song” is perhaps a pretentious, or at least curious, billing for a jazz LP, particularly when one is reminded that it was initially recorded around ten years ago. Titles of tracks, such as “Call for All Demons”, “Transition”, “Future”, “New Horizons”, confirm this impression. But the style and context of the music are anything but advanced, even for ten years ago; they are indeed quite traditional and affirm that Sun Ra is somewhat mislabelled as a leader in the trend. The music is not only traditional, it is professional—and, that being said, frequently slick, not to say frequently superficial and rather dull.Less
The track “Sun Ra and His Arkestra—Sun Song” is perhaps a pretentious, or at least curious, billing for a jazz LP, particularly when one is reminded that it was initially recorded around ten years ago. Titles of tracks, such as “Call for All Demons”, “Transition”, “Future”, “New Horizons”, confirm this impression. But the style and context of the music are anything but advanced, even for ten years ago; they are indeed quite traditional and affirm that Sun Ra is somewhat mislabelled as a leader in the trend. The music is not only traditional, it is professional—and, that being said, frequently slick, not to say frequently superficial and rather dull.
Sean M. McDonough
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199576470
- eISBN:
- 9780191722585
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576470.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The book now moves from the origins of the doctrine to its use in the New Testament. The creation formula in 1 Cor. 8: 6 has generally been treated in isolation from Paul's broader discussion of idol ...
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The book now moves from the origins of the doctrine to its use in the New Testament. The creation formula in 1 Cor. 8: 6 has generally been treated in isolation from Paul's broader discussion of idol meat in 1 Corinthians 8–10. The formulation is in fact a crucial underpinning to the argument of these chapters. For Paul, Christ has always been God's way of mediating himself to the world, from the creation (8: 6), through the history of Israel (cf. ‘the rock was Christ’ in 10: 4, and ‘tempted Christ’ in 10: 9), and presently through the Church (e.g. 10: 16–17). This is set in contrast to the proffered mediation of demonic idols, who lay claim to the same role and thus call for allegiance as rival kurioi. The true, and tangible, meal of mediation is to be found in Jesus' supper (1 Cor. 11).Less
The book now moves from the origins of the doctrine to its use in the New Testament. The creation formula in 1 Cor. 8: 6 has generally been treated in isolation from Paul's broader discussion of idol meat in 1 Corinthians 8–10. The formulation is in fact a crucial underpinning to the argument of these chapters. For Paul, Christ has always been God's way of mediating himself to the world, from the creation (8: 6), through the history of Israel (cf. ‘the rock was Christ’ in 10: 4, and ‘tempted Christ’ in 10: 9), and presently through the Church (e.g. 10: 16–17). This is set in contrast to the proffered mediation of demonic idols, who lay claim to the same role and thus call for allegiance as rival kurioi. The true, and tangible, meal of mediation is to be found in Jesus' supper (1 Cor. 11).
Ronald E. Heine
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199245512
- eISBN:
- 9780191600630
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199245517.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Contains a complete English translation of the first book of Jerome's Latin commentary on Ephesians plus an English translation of all the Greek excerpts from Origen's commentary on Ephesians, which ...
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Contains a complete English translation of the first book of Jerome's Latin commentary on Ephesians plus an English translation of all the Greek excerpts from Origen's commentary on Ephesians, which treat the passages from the epistle covered by Jerome in the first book. Book I begins with a lengthy prologue and then provides commentary on Ephesians 1: 1–2: 22. Jerome appears to depend on Origen in the prologue when he discusses the task of a commentator on Scripture and when he describes the idolatry and magic practiced at Ephesus as an explanation for the obscure and mysterious nature of much of the epistle. The first two chapters of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians give Origen numerous opportunities for philological comments on Paul's use of language. They also provide the basis for discussions of themes such as the creation of the world, the origin of souls, divine foreknowledge, the demonic powers, and the reconciliation of earthly beings and angels effected by Christ.Less
Contains a complete English translation of the first book of Jerome's Latin commentary on Ephesians plus an English translation of all the Greek excerpts from Origen's commentary on Ephesians, which treat the passages from the epistle covered by Jerome in the first book. Book I begins with a lengthy prologue and then provides commentary on Ephesians 1: 1–2: 22. Jerome appears to depend on Origen in the prologue when he discusses the task of a commentator on Scripture and when he describes the idolatry and magic practiced at Ephesus as an explanation for the obscure and mysterious nature of much of the epistle. The first two chapters of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians give Origen numerous opportunities for philological comments on Paul's use of language. They also provide the basis for discussions of themes such as the creation of the world, the origin of souls, divine foreknowledge, the demonic powers, and the reconciliation of earthly beings and angels effected by Christ.
Richard Foley
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154725
- eISBN:
- 9781400842308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154725.003.0018
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter explores how the possession of true beliefs for a brief duration can (or cannot) be counted as knowledge. In everyday situations, if one has true but unstable beliefs and is unaware of ...
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This chapter explores how the possession of true beliefs for a brief duration can (or cannot) be counted as knowledge. In everyday situations, if one has true but unstable beliefs and is unaware of the source of the instability, this gap in one's information can be used to explain why one lacks knowledge. Demon and brain-in-the-vat hypotheses typically make use of the familiar narrative technique in which the audience is given information that the characters of the story lack. The audience is aware that the characters are being massively deceived, but the characters themselves are not. The chapter, however, takes a new spin on the demon hypothesis to raise further questions about what counts as knowledge in scenarios were the character does not lack information about their situation that is available to the audience.Less
This chapter explores how the possession of true beliefs for a brief duration can (or cannot) be counted as knowledge. In everyday situations, if one has true but unstable beliefs and is unaware of the source of the instability, this gap in one's information can be used to explain why one lacks knowledge. Demon and brain-in-the-vat hypotheses typically make use of the familiar narrative technique in which the audience is given information that the characters of the story lack. The audience is aware that the characters are being massively deceived, but the characters themselves are not. The chapter, however, takes a new spin on the demon hypothesis to raise further questions about what counts as knowledge in scenarios were the character does not lack information about their situation that is available to the audience.
Alvin I. Goldman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812875
- eISBN:
- 9780199933150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812875.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, General
This chapter introduces reliabilism and identifies important objections and counterexamples to reliabilism. It presents a survey of existing responses, including the response to the demon-world ...
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This chapter introduces reliabilism and identifies important objections and counterexamples to reliabilism. It presents a survey of existing responses, including the response to the demon-world problem and the reliable clairvoyant problem. It studies the many forms of contemporary epistemology that share the central features of reliabilism. It discusses the “tracking” theory of Nozick, which serves as a counterfactual reliability theory of knowledge, minus any element of causal processes. Another theory included in this chapter is “virtue reliabilism”, which rather closely resembles reliabilism.Less
This chapter introduces reliabilism and identifies important objections and counterexamples to reliabilism. It presents a survey of existing responses, including the response to the demon-world problem and the reliable clairvoyant problem. It studies the many forms of contemporary epistemology that share the central features of reliabilism. It discusses the “tracking” theory of Nozick, which serves as a counterfactual reliability theory of knowledge, minus any element of causal processes. Another theory included in this chapter is “virtue reliabilism”, which rather closely resembles reliabilism.
Penelope Maddy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199273669
- eISBN:
- 9780191706264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199273669.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
Unlike Descartes, contemporary philosophers tend to regard the possibility that I might be dreaming as a serious threat to the reasonableness of my ordinary beliefs about the world. Here the Second ...
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Unlike Descartes, contemporary philosophers tend to regard the possibility that I might be dreaming as a serious threat to the reasonableness of my ordinary beliefs about the world. Here the Second Philosopher's point of view is illustrated by her reaction to this challenge, especially as it is posed by Stroud. In the end, she sees the sceptic as asking her to defend her usual ways of finding out about the world without using any of those methods in the process. This strikes her as a coherent and even understandable request, and one she has no idea how to satisfy. What she denies is the contention that it arises simply from careful scrutiny of her ordinary methods and that it must be satisfied in order for her ordinary beliefs to be reasonable.Less
Unlike Descartes, contemporary philosophers tend to regard the possibility that I might be dreaming as a serious threat to the reasonableness of my ordinary beliefs about the world. Here the Second Philosopher's point of view is illustrated by her reaction to this challenge, especially as it is posed by Stroud. In the end, she sees the sceptic as asking her to defend her usual ways of finding out about the world without using any of those methods in the process. This strikes her as a coherent and even understandable request, and one she has no idea how to satisfy. What she denies is the contention that it arises simply from careful scrutiny of her ordinary methods and that it must be satisfied in order for her ordinary beliefs to be reasonable.
Alan H. Sommerstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199554195
- eISBN:
- 9780191720604
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554195.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines the portrayal of monsters, ogres, and demons in Sicilian and Attic comedy throughout the 5th century bc. In early comedy and mime (Epicharmus, Sophron, Cratinus, Crates) the ...
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This chapter examines the portrayal of monsters, ogres, and demons in Sicilian and Attic comedy throughout the 5th century bc. In early comedy and mime (Epicharmus, Sophron, Cratinus, Crates) the monster was typically confronted and vanquished by a mythical hero (often Heracles), and this pattern reappeared in one lost early play of Aristophanes. In Acharnians, however, we meet the politician (Lamachus) as monster, and, far more spectacularly, Cleon a year later in Knights; by Wasps, Aristophanes himself has become the Heracles figure who defeats the giant. In Frogs, on the other hand, uniquely, a monster figure—Aeschylus—is victorious; and meanwhile Aristophanes' contemporary Phrynichus seems to have begun a process of demythologizing and humanizing the monster/demon which eventually led to the antisocial types depicted by Menander (Knemon, Smikrines).Less
This chapter examines the portrayal of monsters, ogres, and demons in Sicilian and Attic comedy throughout the 5th century bc. In early comedy and mime (Epicharmus, Sophron, Cratinus, Crates) the monster was typically confronted and vanquished by a mythical hero (often Heracles), and this pattern reappeared in one lost early play of Aristophanes. In Acharnians, however, we meet the politician (Lamachus) as monster, and, far more spectacularly, Cleon a year later in Knights; by Wasps, Aristophanes himself has become the Heracles figure who defeats the giant. In Frogs, on the other hand, uniquely, a monster figure—Aeschylus—is victorious; and meanwhile Aristophanes' contemporary Phrynichus seems to have begun a process of demythologizing and humanizing the monster/demon which eventually led to the antisocial types depicted by Menander (Knemon, Smikrines).
T. Grandy Walter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199546176
- eISBN:
- 9780191720161
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546176.003.0002
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This chapter reviews the origins of modern information theory, along with the early links with physics.
This chapter reviews the origins of modern information theory, along with the early links with physics.
Hud Hudson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199282579
- eISBN:
- 9780191712463
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282579.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
Frequently, Christian doctrines and themes come under fire from some alleged incompatibility between their content and something called ‘our modern worldview’. This chapter takes issue with a number ...
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Frequently, Christian doctrines and themes come under fire from some alleged incompatibility between their content and something called ‘our modern worldview’. This chapter takes issue with a number of such critiques not by contesting our modern worldview or by claiming it unfit to generate verdicts of that kind, but by challenging the relevant incompatibility claims. Amusing and interesting results are to be had for such topics as heaven and hell, the Garden of Eden, angels and demons, and a variety of New Testament miracles.Less
Frequently, Christian doctrines and themes come under fire from some alleged incompatibility between their content and something called ‘our modern worldview’. This chapter takes issue with a number of such critiques not by contesting our modern worldview or by claiming it unfit to generate verdicts of that kind, but by challenging the relevant incompatibility claims. Amusing and interesting results are to be had for such topics as heaven and hell, the Garden of Eden, angels and demons, and a variety of New Testament miracles.
