The term nakikh wa mansukh, usually translated as 'abrogation', relates to theories arising from the early exegesis of the Qur'an, in an attempt to resolve apparent contradictions in the Qur'anic text between different statements, especially those bearing on regulations. In such cases, verses later in date are held to modify or even suspend earlier verses. The same principle was applied to contradictions between Traditions forming the basis of the Sunnah. In the lifetime of the author of this volume the question of which should 'abrogate' the other, in the event of conflict between Qur'an and tradition, had already arisen. Abu 'Ubaid's book represents the oldest yet recovered systematic application of 'abrogation' theories to both Qur'an and Sunnah when there is perceived to be a conflict between them. Best known for his work on taxation, the Kitab al-Amwal, Abu 'Ubaid (ca. 154/770224/838) was born at Herat but resided at various centres in the Abbasid Empire; he was a scholar of note in the area of theological, legal and philosophical studies. His book, which antedates the crystallization of the Schools of Fiqh and presents a view of the relation between the Qur'an and Sunnah diverging from that of Shafi'i, is of relevance to studies of the Qur'an and the formulation of Islamic jurisprudence. This edition presents the Arabic text with introductory essay and notes in English.

The commentary of Yefet ben Eli the Karaite (second half of the tenth century) on The Song of Songs is example of an exegetical work obeying two imperatives: The explanation of the divine message of Salvation mixed with the assiduous Karaite effort to prove wrong their adversaries, the Rabbanites, with the help of the Bible. In so doing Yefet ben Eli wrote a thoughtful and original commentary on the very symbolic Song of Songs. Indeed, according to Yefet ben Eli nothing in the Book should be taken realistically. The ability of Yefet to replace symbols by historical events is one of the many marks that show Yefet's mastery and the originality of his commentary.

In the Pauline literature of the New Testament, the characteristics of the Spirit and Christian life are described through the use of metaphor. An interpreter of Paul must understand his metaphors in order to arrive at a complete understanding of the Pauline pneumatological perspective. Thus, The Pauline Metaphors of the Holy Spirit examines how the Pauline Spirit metaphors express the intangible Spirit's tangible presence in the life of the Christian. Rhetoricians prior to and contemporary with Paul discussed the appropriate usage of metaphor. Aristotle's thoughts provided the foundation from which these rhetoricians framed their arguments. In this context, The Pauline Metaphors surveys the use of metaphor in the Greco-Roman world during the NT period and also studies modern approaches to metaphor. The modern linguistic theories of substitution, comparison, and verbal opposition are offered as representative examples, as well as the conceptual theories of interaction, cognitive-linguistic, and the approach of Zoltan Koevecses. In examining these metaphors, it is important to understand their systematic and coherent attributes. These can be divided into structural, orientational, and ontological characteristics, which are rooted in the conceptual approach of metaphor asserted by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. This book evaluates these characteristics against each of the Pauline Spirit-metaphors.

This book is a sequel to Biblical Historiography and Historical Geography; published in 1998. It comprises further studies in the field of biblical historiography, literary history of the biblical historical narratives and the quest for their veracity. They rely on a study of the tangible data of territorial history and the testimony elicited from the patterned historical concepts that figure in the texts. This line of research is based on a historical evaluation of literary testimonies interrelated with the archaeological evidence and regional history.

This work investigates the Lucan journey motif from a literary and theological perspective. It starts by examining the indications of movement in the narrative sequence of the Gospel. Using the historical-critical method, the author continues with a study of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36) and the Ascension (Acts 1:6-11) narratives, and presents a comparison between them. The work concludes with an investigation of the Lucan journey in the two-volume work of Luke. On the literary level, the author suggests that the Transfiguration and the Ascension narratives are composed as an architectural pair and, in turn, serve as the respective starting points for the parallel journeys in Luke-Acts. On the theological level, she shows that the two journeys are, in fact, two stages of the one unique journey, namely the journey of the Salvific Message. Thus, the author provides a further confirmation of the unity of the two-volume work of Luke.

The Golden Book is a multi-volume in-depth study that sets forth a plan, strategies, and solutions to eradicate violations of human rights through the proposed theory of the divinity of God as the source of law distinct from religiosity. In turn, this divinity positively impacts the divinity of humanity in governmental systems, embracing the classification of law as eternal, divine, natural, and human as put forth by Thomas Aquinas. Charles Mwalimu focuses on the creation of the National State of Africa Under God (NSA) as the case study. The critical analysis seeks answers to what terms such as "A Nation Under God", "In God We Trust", and "We the People", really mean as sources of power in constitution-making.

This study sets out to interpret the Marcan Temple incident (Mark 11, 15-19) as a distancing device, by which the Marcan faction differentiates itself from other Jews, especially the anti-Roman revolutionaries who had turned the temple in Jerusalem into 'a den of bandits' during the Jewish revolt between 66 and 74 CE. It concentrates on the interactions between the Marcan faction and other Jewish factions in the context of its Jewish symbolic universe. The study concludes that the Marcan faction is 'Jewish but differently'.

The Shepherd-Flock Motif in the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38) Against Its Historical Background provides a comprehensive survey of the use of the shepherd-flock motif in the ancient world for the readers of the New Testament. This review of Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, Greco-Roman, and Christian sources is guided by a motific approach that integrates the concept of metaphor, Semantics, and the comparative method. A chief concern of this study is to apply this knowledge to the study of Luke-Acts, especially the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38). The shepherd-flock motif appears to be central in this speech and helps to integrate other motifs and themes in this discourse, such as the kingship motif. The Shepherd-Flock Motif in the Miletus Discourse (Acts 20:17-38) Against Its Historical Background is indispensable to the study of motifs in the New Testament and contributes meaningfully to the scholarly research on Luke-Acts.

The Trickster Revisited: Deception as a Motif in the Pentateuch explores the use of deception in the Pentateuch and uncovers a new understanding of the trickster's function in the Hebrew Bible. While traditional readings often «whitewash the biblical characters, exonerating them of any wrongdoing, modern scholars often explain these tales as significant at some earlier point in Israelite tradition. But this study asks the question: what role does the trickster have in the later pentateuchal setting? Considering the work of Victor Turner and the mythic function of the trickster, The Trickster Revisited explores the connections between tricksters, the rite de passage pattern, marginalization, and liminality. Marginalized individuals and communities often find trickster tales significant, therefore trickster stories often follow a similar literary pattern. After tracing this pattern throughout the Pentateuch, specifically the patriarchal narratives and Moses' interaction with Pharaoh in the Exodus, the book discusses the meaning these stories had for the canonizers of the Pentateuch. The author argues that in the Exile and post-exilic period, as the canon was forming, the trickster was the perfect manifestation of Israel's self-perception. The cognitive dissonance of prophetic words of hope and grandeur, in light of a meager socio-economic and political reality, caused the nation to identify itself as the trickster. In this way, Israel could explain its lowly state as a temporary (but still significant) «betwixt and between, on the threshold of a rise in status, i.e. the great imminent kingdom predicted by the prophets.

A Word Fitly Spoken explores significant poetic devices within the four alphabetic acrostic psalms found in Book I of the Psalter. The majority of scholarly opinion has been that these acrostics are poetically and artistically deficient due to the writers' and editors' pre-occupation with the alphabetic pattern. In contrast to this view, A Word Fitly Spoken proposes that the acrostic pattern contributes to, rather than detracts from, the poetic artistry of these psalms. In an effort to promote a holistic, canonical reading of the four acrostic poems within Book I of the Psalter, this study also examines the linguistic and grammatical connections within the text. Such a close reading repeatedly demonstrates the emotive power and the imagination of this literature in contradiction to its supposedly stiff, wooden nature. A Word Filly Spoken is attuned to the frequent plays on word and sound that occur throughout these four poems and as such would be useful in graduate courses on biblical interpretation, Hebrew poetry, or the Psalms.

The Nay Science offers a new perspective on the problem of scientific method in the human sciences. Taking German Indological scholarship on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavadgita as their example, Adluri and Bagchee develop a critique of the modern valorization of method over truth in the humanities.
The authors show how, from its origins in eighteenth-century Neo-Protestantism onwards, the critical method was used as a way of making theological claims against rival philosophical and/or religious traditions. Via discussions of German Romanticism, the pantheism controversy, scientific positivism, and empiricism, they show how theological concerns dominated German scholarship on the Indian texts. Indology functions as a test case for wider concerns: the rise of historicism, the displacement of philosophical concerns from thinking, and the belief in the ability of a technical method to produce truth.
Based on the historical evidence of the first part of the book, Adluri and Bagchee make a case in the second part for going beyond both the critical pretensions of modern academic scholarship and and the objections of its post-structuralist or post-Orientalist critics. By contrasting German Indology with Plato's concern for virtue and Gandhi's focus on praxis, the authors argue for a conception of the humanities as a dialogue between the ancients and moderns and between eastern and western cultures.

Tracing the Evidence: Dinah in Post-Hebrew Bible Literature examines the post-biblical literary developments of Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob. According to Genesis 34, Dinah was sexually violated by Shechem; however, there are gaps in the biblical narrative and little written about what happened to her after the fateful time. Tracing the Evidence considers how post-Hebrew Bible traditions have filled in some of those gaps. Some traditions give more information about her day-to-day life, how old she was when Shechem met her, and various details about her subsequent marriage(s) and children.

Revelation 19: 11-21 is a passage rich in symbol and allusion, much of which proves elusive for interpreters restricting themselves to Old Testament references. However, when Greco-Roman history and mythology are examined, new possibilities are discovered. Revelation 19 in Historical and Mythological Context analyzes the Roman triumph and the Parthian threat as sources for the colorful imagery in Revelation 19, ultimately exploring the Nero redivivus myth as the nexus between the two and a key for unlocking the passage. Paradox and parody are important themes in this technical though theological study of the climax to the drama that is the Apocalypse.

The history of scholarship narrates a complicated past for the interpretation of the -Shepherd Discourse in the Fourth Gospel. Both the internal and contextual integrity of John 9: 39-10: 21 have been compromised by a misapplied analogy dividing the passage into a parable and explanation structure, and by reading models that favor historical approaches. As a result, the images and figures encountered in the discourse have not been allowed their full imaginative impact and the tendency is to look outside the Gospel for their referents and explanations. The meaning of the -Shepherd Discourse lies not in its relation to the rest of the Fourth Gospel, but to that which is imported into the narrative. Moreover, its function as the discourse to chapter 9, and in the whole of the Gospel, is overlooked. Lewis employs the strategy of rereading, borrowed from literary theory, to address the internal integrity of the discourse and the relationship of the discourse to the rest of the narrative. The literary phenomenon of rereading highlights the interconnectedness of the whole of the discourse and allows all of the imagery to be assessed at a figurative level. Rereading also foregrounds the function of John 9: 39-10: 21 as the discourse to the healing of the blind man in chapter nine, and calls attention to the importance of the -Shepherd Discourse for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, especially the often-ignored image of Jesus as the door. This book suggests that rereading is necessitated by the Gospel itself as a fundamental feature of its unique theological expression."

This book demonstrates a number of approaches made by biblical scholars to find a theology of the Christian Scripture. It then considers attempts to bridge the gap between exegesis and dogmatics by appeal to the discipline of 'fundamental theology' and the doctrine of Revelation. It finds that, for all the interesting questions raised, one is forced back to the Bible from where one must form the themes and concepts which have been developed by theologians through the ages, and which with help from biblical historical critics can be made to refresh theology and serve the Church. This is done by examining the role of 'faith' in the two testaments and by considering how the Bible's understanding of that which receives revelation is itself useful for the total enterprise of theology.

Written by a leading authority on Chinese philosophy, Decoding Dao uniquely focuses on the core texts in Daoist philosophy, providing readers with a user-friendly introduction that unravels the complexities of these seminal volumes. * Offers a detailed introduction to the core texts in Daoist philosophy, the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi, two of the most widely read and most challenging texts in China s long literary history * Covers the three main ways the texts can be read: as religious, mystical, and philosophical works * Explores their historical context, origins, authorship, and the reasons these seminal texts came into being, along with the key terms and approaches they take * Examines the core philosophical arguments made in the texts, as well as the many ways in which they have been interpreted, both in China itself and in the West * Provides readers with an unrivalled insight into the multifaceted philosophy of Daoism and the principles underlying much of Chinese culture informed by the very latest academic scholarship

As the first monk in the desert, Antony became an early Christian superstar, eclipsing his many ascetic predecessors. The introduction of asceticism into the wilderness also represented an encounter between Christian and Hellenistic ideas. For centuries Greeks had considered the uncultivated geography intrinsically primordial, a chaotic place where man struggled to remain human. The wilderness represented an eternal ordeal, where man always faced fierce beasts, disorder, and death, but also where simultaneously he could attain boundless wealth, wisdom, and even physical immortality. Through Athanasius of Alexandria's fourth-century biography of Antony, we learn how the Christian appropriation of Greek ideas on geography, bodies and immortality raised asceticism to an entirely new level. Placed in his uncultivated landscape, Antony became a true martyr, an athlete of God, and a holy man able to retrieve the bodily incorruptibility lost in the Fall, which all Christians could look forward to at the end of times. In this way Athanasius employed a traditional Greek worldview to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity over Paganism, which never promised ordinary people anything but an eternal existence as dead and disembodied souls.

The temptations of Jesus cast a spell on readers young and old. These temptations are macabre yet triumphant, short yet endless, ominous and dismal yet sacred and hopeful. Scholars have long been obsessed with the attempted seduction of the Saint and the successful sanitation of the Seducer. Where else but from Q could such an enchanting narrative derive? This book reviews scholarship and examines tradition history to argue that the pericope is more than a wisdom-derived scribal legitimation of the Teacher, a popular (and partially correct) theory about the story's origin and function in Q. It is a theological summit ascribing a unique sonship to Jesus. With diabolic dialogue in such sacred sites as Zion, Sinai, and the desert, protology and eschatology brew to form a muse on both the wilderness testing of Israel and the primeval testing of Adam. The brief expedition through the cosmos - from desert to empire to sanctuary - demonstrates a lordship of evil in the world, and thus a need for the reign of God and a context for Jesus' sonship, sermon, prayer, miracles, exorcisms, and even his death and resurrection. The tests present an approved champion (a Son of God), a conflict (a tryst with mortality and cosmic evil), and a conquest (resulting in an enthronement). These narratives, not supplied by Matthew and Luke, are found only in Q.

Progressive Christians have largely resisted studying the book of Revelation, but Reclaiming the Book of Revelation shows that the last book of the Bible has great relevance for progressive Christians and congregations in this world. It addresses themes such as how to avoid being drawn into the values of a consumerist society, how to describe our fears instead of fleeing from them, and how to live with hope in difficult times. Because Revelation has been claimed by the «religious right and proponents of rapture theology, Wilfried E. Glabach addresses the need for more progressive Christians to give another interpretation of the book. Reclaiming the Book of Revelation offers an interpretation that stresses God's forgiveness and the «healing of the nations rather than the destruction of many and the redemption of a few. Dr. Glabach motivates and encourages preachers, teachers, and lay readers to explore Revelation's vision of assurance, justice, and peace.

The work of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the Neziv, ranks amongst the most widely read rabbinic literature of the nineteenth century. His breadth of learning, unabashed creativity, and penchant for walking against the stream of the rabbinic commentarial establishment has made his commentaries a favorite amongst rabbinic scholars and scholars of rabbinics alike. Yet, to date, there has been no comprehensive and systematic attempt to place his intellectual oeuvre into its historical context - until now. In the Pillar of Volozhin, Gil Perl traces the influences which helped mold and shape the Neziv's thinking while also opening new doors into the world of early nineteenth-century Lithuanian Torah scholarship, an area heretofore almost completely untouched by academic research.

In the biblical tradition revelation from God is frequently mediated through certain gifted individuals. Disclosure and hiddenness are both integral to revelation and this study explores how Matthew presents Jesus as a true discerner of revelation and how he seeks to persuade his readrs to accept the truth of his claim. Discemment of revelation is a significant motif running through Matthew's Gospel, relating closely to other aspects of his theological dynamic. This is explored by examining the background in the Old Testament and early Jewish literature, model discemment (Jesus), fragile discemment (Peter) and failed discernment (opponents). A general composition critical approach is taken, although insights from literary criticism are also used, especially to explore literary devices familiar in the apocalyptic and wisdom traditions which Matthew uses as persuasive tools.

What role does the Christian community play in the process of growing in Christian maturity? This book argues that in Pauline theology the redeemed community is a necessary means for the progressive sanctification of the individual believer, an idea that is largely misunderstood in parts of the Western church. It evaluates foundational theological considerations traditionally omitted from sanctification studies and places them within the context of Pauline theology. Included are the missiological nature of holiness, the initiatory character of God, the creation of the new humanity as reflecting the image of God, and the impact upon the church resulting from the radical redefinition by Christ of the cultural symbols surrounding the Jewish temple system. This book offers a corrective to the individualized approach to Christian growth: For Paul, the focus of God's transformative activity culminates with the community rather than the individual, the goal of which is to reveal God's glory to the broader creation.

The narrative of Noah's flood in Genesis draws perennial interest from scholars and the general public. Too often, however, historical and exegetical studies of the text, the story's reception, and discussion of theological appropriation remain aloof from each other, if not at odds. This volume takes the influential nature of the flood story as an ideal opportunity to bring some of these methods into dialogue.

This pamphlet contains 206 Syriac inscriptions, sorted by date, attesting to the Nestorian presence in Central Asia