Tania Oldenhage
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150520
- eISBN:
- 9780199834549
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515052X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Over the centuries, New Testament texts have often been read in ways that reflect and encourage anti‐Judaism. Since the Holocaust, Christian scholars have increasingly recognized this inheritance. ...
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Over the centuries, New Testament texts have often been read in ways that reflect and encourage anti‐Judaism. Since the Holocaust, Christian scholars have increasingly recognized this inheritance. New Testament scholars have not directly confronted the horror of Nazi crimes, Odlenhage argues, but their work has nonetheless been deeply affected by the events of the Holocaust. By placing twentieth‐century biblical scholarship within its specific historical and cultural contexts, she is able to trace the process by which the Holocaust gradually moved into the collective consciousness of New Testament scholars, both in Germany and in the U.S.. Her focus is on the interpretation of the parables of Jesus by scholars, including Joachim Jeremias, Wolfgang Harnisch, Paul Ricoeur and John Dominic Crossan. In conclusion, Oldenhage offers her own reading of the parable of the wicked husbandmen, demonstrating how the turn from historical criticism to literary theory opens up the text to interpretation in light of the Holocaust. Thereby, she seeks to fashion a biblical hermeneutics that consciously works with memories of the Holocaust. If the parables are to be meaningful in our time, Oldenhage contends, we must take account of the troubling resonance between these ancient Christian stories and the atrocities of Auschwitz.Less
Over the centuries, New Testament texts have often been read in ways that reflect and encourage anti‐Judaism. Since the Holocaust, Christian scholars have increasingly recognized this inheritance. New Testament scholars have not directly confronted the horror of Nazi crimes, Odlenhage argues, but their work has nonetheless been deeply affected by the events of the Holocaust. By placing twentieth‐century biblical scholarship within its specific historical and cultural contexts, she is able to trace the process by which the Holocaust gradually moved into the collective consciousness of New Testament scholars, both in Germany and in the U.S.. Her focus is on the interpretation of the parables of Jesus by scholars, including Joachim Jeremias, Wolfgang Harnisch, Paul Ricoeur and John Dominic Crossan. In conclusion, Oldenhage offers her own reading of the parable of the wicked husbandmen, demonstrating how the turn from historical criticism to literary theory opens up the text to interpretation in light of the Holocaust. Thereby, she seeks to fashion a biblical hermeneutics that consciously works with memories of the Holocaust. If the parables are to be meaningful in our time, Oldenhage contends, we must take account of the troubling resonance between these ancient Christian stories and the atrocities of Auschwitz.
Mark Turner
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195126679
- eISBN:
- 9780199853007
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195126679.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book ranges from the tools of modern linguistics, to the recent work of neuroscientists such as Antonio Damasio and Gerald Edelman, to literary masterpieces by Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and ...
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This book ranges from the tools of modern linguistics, to the recent work of neuroscientists such as Antonio Damasio and Gerald Edelman, to literary masterpieces by Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Proust, to explain how story and projection — and their powerful combination in parable — are fundamental to everyday thought. In simple and traditional English, the author reveals how we use parable to understand space and time, to grasp what it means to be located in space and time, and to conceive of ourselves, other selves, other lives, and other viewpoints. He explains the role of parable in reasoning, in categorizing, and in solving problems. He develops a powerful model of conceptual construction and, in a far-reaching final chapter, extends it to a new conception of the origin of language that contradicts proposals by such thinkers as Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker. This book argues that story, projection, and parable precede grammar, and that language follows from these mental capacities as a consequence. The author concludes that language is the child of the literary mind. Offering revisions to our understanding of thought, conceptual activity, and the origin and nature of language, The Literary Mind presents a unified theory of central problems in cognitive science, linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy.Less
This book ranges from the tools of modern linguistics, to the recent work of neuroscientists such as Antonio Damasio and Gerald Edelman, to literary masterpieces by Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Proust, to explain how story and projection — and their powerful combination in parable — are fundamental to everyday thought. In simple and traditional English, the author reveals how we use parable to understand space and time, to grasp what it means to be located in space and time, and to conceive of ourselves, other selves, other lives, and other viewpoints. He explains the role of parable in reasoning, in categorizing, and in solving problems. He develops a powerful model of conceptual construction and, in a far-reaching final chapter, extends it to a new conception of the origin of language that contradicts proposals by such thinkers as Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker. This book argues that story, projection, and parable precede grammar, and that language follows from these mental capacities as a consequence. The author concludes that language is the child of the literary mind. Offering revisions to our understanding of thought, conceptual activity, and the origin and nature of language, The Literary Mind presents a unified theory of central problems in cognitive science, linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, ...
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Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, Beginning, as well as the other words of Mark 1, have enriched meanings in a Jewish context, and how the Seed Parables of Ch. 4 (i.e., the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed), if read in relation to one another as a midrashic lexicon, open up different insights about the meaning of God's kingdom than those derived from the reading‐frames of the church fathers or modern critics.Less
Sabin shows how Mark uses both direct citations and indirect echoes of Hebrew Scripture to construct a framework of interpretation. In particular, she shows how the opening word of Mark's Gospel, Beginning, as well as the other words of Mark 1, have enriched meanings in a Jewish context, and how the Seed Parables of Ch. 4 (i.e., the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed), if read in relation to one another as a midrashic lexicon, open up different insights about the meaning of God's kingdom than those derived from the reading‐frames of the church fathers or modern critics.
Christopher Hood
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297659
- eISBN:
- 9780191599484
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297653.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Returns to the general question of what sort of science public management is or can be and how cultural theory can contribute to that science. If public management is (as suggested earlier) dominated ...
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Returns to the general question of what sort of science public management is or can be and how cultural theory can contribute to that science. If public management is (as suggested earlier) dominated by rhetorical forms of argument, cultural theory can help take one step further than conventional analyses of rhetoric by differentiating rhetorical ‘families’—this theme is explored in this chapter, which looks at what a cultural‐theory framework can add to the analysis of public management as an arena for rhetoric, and aims to do three things. First, it briefly expands on a now familiar argument (noted in the first chapter)—that shifts in what counts as received ideas in public management work through a process of fashion and persuasion, not through proofs couched in strict deductive logic, controlled experiments, or even systematic analysis of all available cases. Second, and more ambitiously, it aims to bring together the analysis of rhetoric in public management with the four ways of doing public management that were explored in Part II, to show how each of those approaches can have its own rhetoric, in the sense of foreshortened proofs, analogies, and parables; the aim is to put a cultural‐theory perspective to work in a different way, to identify multiple rhetorics of public management. Third, it briefly develops the suggestion made in Chapters 1 and 2 that shifts (change) in received ideas about how to organize typically occur in a reactive way, through rejection of existing arrangements with their known faults, rather than through a positive process of reasoning from a blank slate.Less
Returns to the general question of what sort of science public management is or can be and how cultural theory can contribute to that science. If public management is (as suggested earlier) dominated by rhetorical forms of argument, cultural theory can help take one step further than conventional analyses of rhetoric by differentiating rhetorical ‘families’—this theme is explored in this chapter, which looks at what a cultural‐theory framework can add to the analysis of public management as an arena for rhetoric, and aims to do three things. First, it briefly expands on a now familiar argument (noted in the first chapter)—that shifts in what counts as received ideas in public management work through a process of fashion and persuasion, not through proofs couched in strict deductive logic, controlled experiments, or even systematic analysis of all available cases. Second, and more ambitiously, it aims to bring together the analysis of rhetoric in public management with the four ways of doing public management that were explored in Part II, to show how each of those approaches can have its own rhetoric, in the sense of foreshortened proofs, analogies, and parables; the aim is to put a cultural‐theory perspective to work in a different way, to identify multiple rhetorics of public management. Third, it briefly develops the suggestion made in Chapters 1 and 2 that shifts (change) in received ideas about how to organize typically occur in a reactive way, through rejection of existing arrangements with their known faults, rather than through a positive process of reasoning from a blank slate.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin challenges the idea that the eschatology of Mark 13 warrants calling it “The Little Apocalypse,” showing how its outer frame begins with Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple, but ...
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Sabin challenges the idea that the eschatology of Mark 13 warrants calling it “The Little Apocalypse,” showing how its outer frame begins with Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple, but ends with two parables that indicate its restoration. She sees Jesus’ Parable of the Returning Householder as a scriptural reference to God's return to his dwelling, and the Parable of the Fig Tree in bloom as a scriptural sign of God's kingdom. She also shows how the inner frame of Mark 13 begins with the disciples asking a question about the End Time typical of apocalyptic writing, but concludes with Jesus’ nonapocalyptic response of not knowing. She argues that while Jesus’ central discourse is filled with apocalyptic conventions warning about the End, they are immediately defused by Jesus’ reassurances. She notes that at the center of his discourse, Jesus describes the core evil not as Satan, but as “the desolating sacrilege,” a reference to the destructive acts of Antiochus IV as type or symbol of Rome's corruption of Temple worship.Less
Sabin challenges the idea that the eschatology of Mark 13 warrants calling it “The Little Apocalypse,” showing how its outer frame begins with Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple, but ends with two parables that indicate its restoration. She sees Jesus’ Parable of the Returning Householder as a scriptural reference to God's return to his dwelling, and the Parable of the Fig Tree in bloom as a scriptural sign of God's kingdom. She also shows how the inner frame of Mark 13 begins with the disciples asking a question about the End Time typical of apocalyptic writing, but concludes with Jesus’ nonapocalyptic response of not knowing. She argues that while Jesus’ central discourse is filled with apocalyptic conventions warning about the End, they are immediately defused by Jesus’ reassurances. She notes that at the center of his discourse, Jesus describes the core evil not as Satan, but as “the desolating sacrilege,” a reference to the destructive acts of Antiochus IV as type or symbol of Rome's corruption of Temple worship.
Marie Noonan Sabin
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143591
- eISBN:
- 9780199834600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143590.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Sabin reads the Temple‐cleansing scene in the framework of Maccabees, The Parable of the Fig Tree in the context of Genesis, and the Parable of the Vineyard in the context of the Prophets, seeing ...
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Sabin reads the Temple‐cleansing scene in the framework of Maccabees, The Parable of the Fig Tree in the context of Genesis, and the Parable of the Vineyard in the context of the Prophets, seeing these linked episodes as a midrashic lexicon stressing the hope that the Temple would be restored. Reading Jesus's debates in the Temple in the framework of the four sons’ questions in an ancient Passover liturgy, she sees them serving to discriminate between the righteous and the unrighteous within Judaism, with Jesus himself in perfect agreement with the righteous Temple scribe. Sabin perceives the accusations that Jesus planned to destroy the Temple to be false, in keeping with a pattern evident in the Psalms, Lamentations, and the Wisdom of Solomon, all of which describe false witnesses who condemn God's righteous one through untruthful accusations. In conclusion, she discusses the rending of the sanctuary veil in Mark 15:38, suggesting that the verb Mark uses here – schizo – recalls Isaiah's prayer to God to take back his sanctuary (Isa 63), as well as the opening up of the heavens in Mark 1:10. Sabin argues that by means of these interweaving scriptural frameworks, Mark takes the reader on an exegetical journey that moves from cleansing the Temple of its profanation to the revelation of where God dwells – not in a majestic building but in human life and death, even death on a cross.Less
Sabin reads the Temple‐cleansing scene in the framework of Maccabees, The Parable of the Fig Tree in the context of Genesis, and the Parable of the Vineyard in the context of the Prophets, seeing these linked episodes as a midrashic lexicon stressing the hope that the Temple would be restored. Reading Jesus's debates in the Temple in the framework of the four sons’ questions in an ancient Passover liturgy, she sees them serving to discriminate between the righteous and the unrighteous within Judaism, with Jesus himself in perfect agreement with the righteous Temple scribe. Sabin perceives the accusations that Jesus planned to destroy the Temple to be false, in keeping with a pattern evident in the Psalms, Lamentations, and the Wisdom of Solomon, all of which describe false witnesses who condemn God's righteous one through untruthful accusations. In conclusion, she discusses the rending of the sanctuary veil in Mark 15:38, suggesting that the verb Mark uses here – schizo – recalls Isaiah's prayer to God to take back his sanctuary (Isa 63), as well as the opening up of the heavens in Mark 1:10. Sabin argues that by means of these interweaving scriptural frameworks, Mark takes the reader on an exegetical journey that moves from cleansing the Temple of its profanation to the revelation of where God dwells – not in a majestic building but in human life and death, even death on a cross.
William L Randall and A. Elizabeth McKim
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306873
- eISBN:
- 9780199894062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306873.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter argues that spiritual aging is ultimately a narrative endeavor. After considering the relationship between spirituality and wisdom, aging, and religion, it proposes that spirituality has ...
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This chapter argues that spiritual aging is ultimately a narrative endeavor. After considering the relationship between spirituality and wisdom, aging, and religion, it proposes that spirituality has to do with transcending our lifestories. The inevitability of death is then explored from a poetic perspective, with death seen as having an aesthetic necessity, as The End. Along such lines, the chapter critiques the notion of “successful aging.” The powerful role of master narratives in the formation of individuals' lifestories is considered next, as is the idea that a life can be conceived as a sacred story, or parable, with limitless potential for meaning. The chapter then enlists the concepts of gerotranscendence, generativity, and genealogy to trace the various ways in which, effectively, we let our stories go. It argues that the recognition of the open-endedness of our stories and the experience of wonder at their mystery is a hallmark of spiritual growth.Less
This chapter argues that spiritual aging is ultimately a narrative endeavor. After considering the relationship between spirituality and wisdom, aging, and religion, it proposes that spirituality has to do with transcending our lifestories. The inevitability of death is then explored from a poetic perspective, with death seen as having an aesthetic necessity, as The End. Along such lines, the chapter critiques the notion of “successful aging.” The powerful role of master narratives in the formation of individuals' lifestories is considered next, as is the idea that a life can be conceived as a sacred story, or parable, with limitless potential for meaning. The chapter then enlists the concepts of gerotranscendence, generativity, and genealogy to trace the various ways in which, effectively, we let our stories go. It argues that the recognition of the open-endedness of our stories and the experience of wonder at their mystery is a hallmark of spiritual growth.
Samuel Wells
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199571833
- eISBN:
- 9780191722264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199571833.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter is organized into five parts. First, it takes Niebuhr's essay ‘Why the Christian Church is not Pacifist’, and sets out its arguments as a characteristic Niebuhr manifesto. It then ...
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This chapter is organized into five parts. First, it takes Niebuhr's essay ‘Why the Christian Church is not Pacifist’, and sets out its arguments as a characteristic Niebuhr manifesto. It then explores two weaknesses of the essay — its inadequate account of pacifism and its impoverished account of realism. Third, it is argued that at the heart of Niebuhr's theology, and significant in both the weaknesses already named, is his particular reading of the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13). This parable concerns the nature and destiny of humanity in the face of evil, and Niebuhr's treatment of the parable is seriously flawed. Fourth, the chapter suggests what a Christian pacifism free of Niebuhr's assumptions might look like. Finally, it explores what might make for a more appropriate sense of Christian realism than that offered by Niebuhr.Less
This chapter is organized into five parts. First, it takes Niebuhr's essay ‘Why the Christian Church is not Pacifist’, and sets out its arguments as a characteristic Niebuhr manifesto. It then explores two weaknesses of the essay — its inadequate account of pacifism and its impoverished account of realism. Third, it is argued that at the heart of Niebuhr's theology, and significant in both the weaknesses already named, is his particular reading of the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13). This parable concerns the nature and destiny of humanity in the face of evil, and Niebuhr's treatment of the parable is seriously flawed. Fourth, the chapter suggests what a Christian pacifism free of Niebuhr's assumptions might look like. Finally, it explores what might make for a more appropriate sense of Christian realism than that offered by Niebuhr.
J. Warren Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195369939
- eISBN:
- 9780199893362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369939.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Having described in Chapter 2 Ambrose’s view of the proper relation between the intellect, the emotions, and the body prior to the fall, the book turns in this chapter to an examination of questions ...
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Having described in Chapter 2 Ambrose’s view of the proper relation between the intellect, the emotions, and the body prior to the fall, the book turns in this chapter to an examination of questions related to Ambrose’s conception of the fall and its effects upon the passions and the intellect. How is the corruption of sin transmitted from one generation to the next? Does the fall result in the transmission of death alone or is there also a corruption of human faculties with a loss of moral freedom, libertas? In what sense does humanity retain free will while yet in "slavery to sin"? Does the fall result in an inheritance of guilt or just weakness? This chapter explores these questions by a comparison of Ambrose’s description of human nature before the fall in Hexameron and human nature after the fall under the law in De Iacob.Less
Having described in Chapter 2 Ambrose’s view of the proper relation between the intellect, the emotions, and the body prior to the fall, the book turns in this chapter to an examination of questions related to Ambrose’s conception of the fall and its effects upon the passions and the intellect. How is the corruption of sin transmitted from one generation to the next? Does the fall result in the transmission of death alone or is there also a corruption of human faculties with a loss of moral freedom, libertas? In what sense does humanity retain free will while yet in "slavery to sin"? Does the fall result in an inheritance of guilt or just weakness? This chapter explores these questions by a comparison of Ambrose’s description of human nature before the fall in Hexameron and human nature after the fall under the law in De Iacob.
Mallory McDuff
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379570
- eISBN:
- 9780199869084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379570.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter addresses the question of how Christian education can engage youth in environmental stewardship and the moral imperative to protect God’s earth. The stories in this chapter highlight the ...
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This chapter addresses the question of how Christian education can engage youth in environmental stewardship and the moral imperative to protect God’s earth. The stories in this chapter highlight the ministry of Christian education for youth in three contexts: camp and conference centers, Sunday school classes, and youth groups. This chapter introduces faith leaders such as Stan Hubbard, the president of Kanuga Conferences, who saw green initiatives for camps as a discernment process that led to the installation of one of the largest solar water-heating systems in the Southeast. The lessons learned in this chapter include using land owned by religious institutions to engage youth in the outdoors, ensuring that camp facilities reflect environmental stewardship, using facilities as a teaching tool, integrating creation care into Sunday school, and harnessing the power of media to promote environmentally responsible behaviors.Less
This chapter addresses the question of how Christian education can engage youth in environmental stewardship and the moral imperative to protect God’s earth. The stories in this chapter highlight the ministry of Christian education for youth in three contexts: camp and conference centers, Sunday school classes, and youth groups. This chapter introduces faith leaders such as Stan Hubbard, the president of Kanuga Conferences, who saw green initiatives for camps as a discernment process that led to the installation of one of the largest solar water-heating systems in the Southeast. The lessons learned in this chapter include using land owned by religious institutions to engage youth in the outdoors, ensuring that camp facilities reflect environmental stewardship, using facilities as a teaching tool, integrating creation care into Sunday school, and harnessing the power of media to promote environmentally responsible behaviors.
Richard Crouter
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195379679
- eISBN:
- 9780199869169
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379679.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Chapter 4 of this book argues that Niebuhr as writer and rhetorician draws from literature as much as from history. His gifts honed as preacher yield memorable phrases and ideas that draw from a deep ...
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Chapter 4 of this book argues that Niebuhr as writer and rhetorician draws from literature as much as from history. His gifts honed as preacher yield memorable phrases and ideas that draw from a deep encounter with literary classics (e.g., Greek tragedy, Thomas Mann) and poetry (e.g., Marianne Moore). For him poetic insight comes close to the language of religion in its ability to speak to human quandaries and anxiety in an imperfect world. Niebuhr’s Christian insight is “beyond tragedy” even as it explores the depths and contradictions of human suffering. As a “tamed cynic,” he is suspicious of all tendencies to retreat into an inner mental or spiritual world as done by the classical Stoics and their contemporary secular and religious imitators. As writer, Niebuhr resembles other distinguished writers whose vision is presented “upon occasion” and not as a finished understanding of the way things are or must be.Less
Chapter 4 of this book argues that Niebuhr as writer and rhetorician draws from literature as much as from history. His gifts honed as preacher yield memorable phrases and ideas that draw from a deep encounter with literary classics (e.g., Greek tragedy, Thomas Mann) and poetry (e.g., Marianne Moore). For him poetic insight comes close to the language of religion in its ability to speak to human quandaries and anxiety in an imperfect world. Niebuhr’s Christian insight is “beyond tragedy” even as it explores the depths and contradictions of human suffering. As a “tamed cynic,” he is suspicious of all tendencies to retreat into an inner mental or spiritual world as done by the classical Stoics and their contemporary secular and religious imitators. As writer, Niebuhr resembles other distinguished writers whose vision is presented “upon occasion” and not as a finished understanding of the way things are or must be.
John Casey
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195092950
- eISBN:
- 9780199869732
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195092950.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter explores the development of ideas of the afterlife amongt the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Jews, including accounts of ascents to heaven. The Mesopotamian earthly paradise ...
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This chapter explores the development of ideas of the afterlife amongt the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Jews, including accounts of ascents to heaven. The Mesopotamian earthly paradise (“Dilmun”) and its difference from the Jewish paradise is described. The philosophical Judaism of Philo of Alexandria is outlined. There follows discussion of images of heaven in the sayings and parables of Jesus, and in particular the idea that heaven is within us. St. Paul's account of the spiritual, risen body is discussed, and St. John's account of the descent of the heavenly Jerusalem.Less
This chapter explores the development of ideas of the afterlife amongt the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Jews, including accounts of ascents to heaven. The Mesopotamian earthly paradise (“Dilmun”) and its difference from the Jewish paradise is described. The philosophical Judaism of Philo of Alexandria is outlined. There follows discussion of images of heaven in the sayings and parables of Jesus, and in particular the idea that heaven is within us. St. Paul's account of the spiritual, risen body is discussed, and St. John's account of the descent of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Anna Wierzbicka
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137330
- eISBN:
- 9780199867905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137337.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The parable of the Sower is widely regarded as “the great watershed of all Jesus’ parables” (Capon 1985), but its meaning has been disputed, and the parable has even been used (by Crossan 1978) as a ...
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The parable of the Sower is widely regarded as “the great watershed of all Jesus’ parables” (Capon 1985), but its meaning has been disputed, and the parable has even been used (by Crossan 1978) as a prime example of the indeterminacy (or “hermeneutical polyvalence”) of Jesus’ parables. This chapter strongly opposes such claims and it argues that Jesus intended to convey through this parable a clear and unambiguous message that he wanted to be heard (“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”). This message, illuminated by Mark's own interpretation, is explicated in the chapter, in simple and universal human concepts. The chapter emphasizes the irony of the fact that of all Jesus’ parables, it is the Sower that should have been chosen as a “metaparable to deconstruct all parables,” and to attack the very idea of a message intended to be heard and understood.Less
The parable of the Sower is widely regarded as “the great watershed of all Jesus’ parables” (Capon 1985), but its meaning has been disputed, and the parable has even been used (by Crossan 1978) as a prime example of the indeterminacy (or “hermeneutical polyvalence”) of Jesus’ parables. This chapter strongly opposes such claims and it argues that Jesus intended to convey through this parable a clear and unambiguous message that he wanted to be heard (“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”). This message, illuminated by Mark's own interpretation, is explicated in the chapter, in simple and universal human concepts. The chapter emphasizes the irony of the fact that of all Jesus’ parables, it is the Sower that should have been chosen as a “metaparable to deconstruct all parables,” and to attack the very idea of a message intended to be heard and understood.
Anna Wierzbicka
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137330
- eISBN:
- 9780199867905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137337.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Chapter 7 is devoted to two twin parables and argues that they convey the same message by means of two distinct images. The use of universal human concepts allows us to identify this message and to ...
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Chapter 7 is devoted to two twin parables and argues that they convey the same message by means of two distinct images. The use of universal human concepts allows us to identify this message and to articulate it as follows:there is one thing that is good for all peoplea person can live with Godif a person lives with God this is always good for this personnothing else is like thismany people don’t know thisThe chapter discusses the metaphors of “hiddenness,” “smallness,” “treasure,” “price,” “cost,” and “profit” and clarifies their meaning in the concepts of the two parables.Less
Chapter 7 is devoted to two twin parables and argues that they convey the same message by means of two distinct images. The use of universal human concepts allows us to identify this message and to articulate it as follows:
there is one thing that is good for all people
a person can live with God
if a person lives with God this is always good for this person
nothing else is like this
many people don’t know this
The chapter discusses the metaphors of “hiddenness,” “smallness,” “treasure,” “price,” “cost,” and “profit” and clarifies their meaning in the concepts of the two parables.
Anna Wierzbicka
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137330
- eISBN:
- 9780199867905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137337.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter, too, is devoted to two twin parables with an identical message, and it argues that the image of a God, searching tirelessly for every lost “sheep” or “coin” (that is, every individual, ...
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This chapter, too, is devoted to two twin parables with an identical message, and it argues that the image of a God, searching tirelessly for every lost “sheep” or “coin” (that is, every individual, every lost human being), suggests a hope of universal salvation and is incompatible with the traditional notion of an eternal “hell.” The explication of the two parables’ message includes components like the following ones:God wants to do good things for all peopleGod wants all people to live with Godwhen a person doesn’t want to live with GodGod feels something bad because of thisGod does many things because of thisif afterwards this person wants to live with GodGod feels something very good because of thisLess
This chapter, too, is devoted to two twin parables with an identical message, and it argues that the image of a God, searching tirelessly for every lost “sheep” or “coin” (that is, every individual, every lost human being), suggests a hope of universal salvation and is incompatible with the traditional notion of an eternal “hell.” The explication of the two parables’ message includes components like the following ones:
God wants to do good things for all people
God wants all people to live with God
when a person doesn’t want to live with God
God feels something bad because of this
God does many things because of this
if afterwards this person wants to live with God
God feels something very good because of this
Marc Hirshman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199206575
- eISBN:
- 9780191709678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Judaism
This chapter examines the ambience of the Pesikta d'Rav Kahana and its objectives by paying close attention to some of the Greek loanwords it uses and, more generally, to the nature of the language ...
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This chapter examines the ambience of the Pesikta d'Rav Kahana and its objectives by paying close attention to some of the Greek loanwords it uses and, more generally, to the nature of the language it employs in parables when speaking of the temple and the degree of intimacy indicated between God and Israel. The Pesikta d'Rav Kahana throbs with a longing for God's presence in the temple. The longing for restoration is accompanied by a strong desire for retribution on the nations of the world, a motif that is a staple of most, if not all, of the piskaot. The king parables are employed to indicate God's desire for a place (papilion) where intimacy with Israel is assured and secure. God secures a place among the Jewish elders, abandoning the angels above (sunkleten), in order to guide the discussion of calendar, the heart of the Pesikta's concern.Less
This chapter examines the ambience of the Pesikta d'Rav Kahana and its objectives by paying close attention to some of the Greek loanwords it uses and, more generally, to the nature of the language it employs in parables when speaking of the temple and the degree of intimacy indicated between God and Israel. The Pesikta d'Rav Kahana throbs with a longing for God's presence in the temple. The longing for restoration is accompanied by a strong desire for retribution on the nations of the world, a motif that is a staple of most, if not all, of the piskaot. The king parables are employed to indicate God's desire for a place (papilion) where intimacy with Israel is assured and secure. God secures a place among the Jewish elders, abandoning the angels above (sunkleten), in order to guide the discussion of calendar, the heart of the Pesikta's concern.
Tania Oldenhage
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150520
- eISBN:
- 9780199834549
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515052X.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter turns to Paul Ricoeur's contributions to American New Testament parable studies in the 1970s. In his essay “Biblical Hermeneutics,” Ricoeur argues that structuralism can offer new and ...
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This chapter turns to Paul Ricoeur's contributions to American New Testament parable studies in the 1970s. In his essay “Biblical Hermeneutics,” Ricoeur argues that structuralism can offer new and helpful approaches to the parables but that it needs to be combined with an existential interpretation. He moves on to make metaphor theory fruitful for parable studies and thereby offers a new, interpretive vision of the parables of Jesus. Understood as metaphorical narratives, the parables are said to offer a new vision of reality. Ricoeur argues, moreover, that, as limit‐expressions, the parables refer to limit‐experiences of human life, including death, suffering, guilt, and hatred. Throughout the essay, Ricoeur emphasizes the limitations of historical criticism and calls for a more comprehensive interpretive theory.Less
This chapter turns to Paul Ricoeur's contributions to American New Testament parable studies in the 1970s. In his essay “Biblical Hermeneutics,” Ricoeur argues that structuralism can offer new and helpful approaches to the parables but that it needs to be combined with an existential interpretation. He moves on to make metaphor theory fruitful for parable studies and thereby offers a new, interpretive vision of the parables of Jesus. Understood as metaphorical narratives, the parables are said to offer a new vision of reality. Ricoeur argues, moreover, that, as limit‐expressions, the parables refer to limit‐experiences of human life, including death, suffering, guilt, and hatred. Throughout the essay, Ricoeur emphasizes the limitations of historical criticism and calls for a more comprehensive interpretive theory.
Tania Oldenhage
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150520
- eISBN:
- 9780199834549
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515052X.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter develops a critical reading of what Oldenhage calls the “limit‐rhetoric” in Ricoeur's 1975 essay “Biblical Hermeneutics.” Oldenhage points out that during the 1970s the notion of limit ...
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This chapter develops a critical reading of what Oldenhage calls the “limit‐rhetoric” in Ricoeur's 1975 essay “Biblical Hermeneutics.” Oldenhage points out that during the 1970s the notion of limit was already becoming a crucial trope within Holocaust literary studies. Focusing on Terrence Des Pres's study of Holocaust testimonies, Oldenhage explores how notions such as “limit‐situation” or “extremity” helped Des Pres to draw attention to the experiences of Holocaust survivors that so far had been ignored or misinterpreted. By cross‐reading the fields of Holocaust studies and New Testament parable studies, Oldenhage raises questions about Ricoeur's deployment of the charged trope of “limit‐experiences” in relation to the parables of Jesus.Less
This chapter develops a critical reading of what Oldenhage calls the “limit‐rhetoric” in Ricoeur's 1975 essay “Biblical Hermeneutics.” Oldenhage points out that during the 1970s the notion of limit was already becoming a crucial trope within Holocaust literary studies. Focusing on Terrence Des Pres's study of Holocaust testimonies, Oldenhage explores how notions such as “limit‐situation” or “extremity” helped Des Pres to draw attention to the experiences of Holocaust survivors that so far had been ignored or misinterpreted. By cross‐reading the fields of Holocaust studies and New Testament parable studies, Oldenhage raises questions about Ricoeur's deployment of the charged trope of “limit‐experiences” in relation to the parables of Jesus.
Tania Oldenhage
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150520
- eISBN:
- 9780199834549
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515052X.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter concludes by addressing the implications of this book for future work in New Testament scholarship. Oldenhage demonstrates what a post‐Holocaust reading of the parables of Jesus might ...
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This chapter concludes by addressing the implications of this book for future work in New Testament scholarship. Oldenhage demonstrates what a post‐Holocaust reading of the parables of Jesus might look like. Focusing on the story of the Wicked Husbandmen, she seeks to develop an interpretation that critically makes use of literary criticism and that works explicitly with Holocaust memory. Oldenhage emphasizes the importance of situating parable interpretation as thoroughly as possible in specific cultural and rhetorical contexts. She also suggests possible ways for dealing with the parable's legacy of anti‐Judaism.Less
This chapter concludes by addressing the implications of this book for future work in New Testament scholarship. Oldenhage demonstrates what a post‐Holocaust reading of the parables of Jesus might look like. Focusing on the story of the Wicked Husbandmen, she seeks to develop an interpretation that critically makes use of literary criticism and that works explicitly with Holocaust memory. Oldenhage emphasizes the importance of situating parable interpretation as thoroughly as possible in specific cultural and rhetorical contexts. She also suggests possible ways for dealing with the parable's legacy of anti‐Judaism.
Toshimasa Yasukata
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144949
- eISBN:
- 9780199834891
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144945.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Elucidates Lessing's ideal of humanity, the ideal that finds poetic and literary expression in Nathan the Wise. The parable of the three rings, the starting point for the plot that stands at the ...
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Elucidates Lessing's ideal of humanity, the ideal that finds poetic and literary expression in Nathan the Wise. The parable of the three rings, the starting point for the plot that stands at the center of the entire work, offers a clue to Lessing's religious idea of humanity. We construe this famous parable as implying not only Lessing's attitude toward positive religions but also his view as to the meaning of the truth claim of a historical religion in this “interim” between the beginning and the end of history. It is observed that Lessing's idea of humanity as illustrated by this drama and by the parable in particular, is suffused with deep piety and a noble wisdom free of prejudice. The essence of Nathan's reason as illustrated in Act 4, Scene 7 suggests that the essential core of Lessingian reason is formed by a “believing reason” or “hearkening reason” which, fully aware of its own limitations, opens itself to the decrees of the reason‐transcending deity.Less
Elucidates Lessing's ideal of humanity, the ideal that finds poetic and literary expression in Nathan the Wise. The parable of the three rings, the starting point for the plot that stands at the center of the entire work, offers a clue to Lessing's religious idea of humanity. We construe this famous parable as implying not only Lessing's attitude toward positive religions but also his view as to the meaning of the truth claim of a historical religion in this “interim” between the beginning and the end of history. It is observed that Lessing's idea of humanity as illustrated by this drama and by the parable in particular, is suffused with deep piety and a noble wisdom free of prejudice. The essence of Nathan's reason as illustrated in Act 4, Scene 7 suggests that the essential core of Lessingian reason is formed by a “believing reason” or “hearkening reason” which, fully aware of its own limitations, opens itself to the decrees of the reason‐transcending deity.
