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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy > Sacred texts > General
Few studies focus on the modes of knowledge transmission (or
concealment), or the trends of continuity or change from the
Ancient to the Late Antique worlds. In Antiquity, knowledge was
cherished as a scarce good, cultivated through the close
teacher-student relationship and often preserved in the closed
circle of the initated. From Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform
texts to a Shi'ite Islamic tradition, this volume explores how and
why knowledge was shared or concealed by diverse communities in a
range of Ancient and Late Antique cultural contexts. From caves by
the Dead Sea to Alexandria, both normative and heterodox approaches
to knowledge in Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities are
explored. Biblical and qur'anic passages, as well as gnostic,
rabbinic and esoteric Islamic approaches are discussed. In this
volume, a range of scholars from Assyrian studies to Jewish,
Christian and Islamic studies examine diverse approaches to, and
modes of, knowledge transmission and concealment, shedding new
light on both the interconnectedness, as well as the unique
aspects, of the monotheistic faiths, and their relationship to the
ancient civilisations of the Fertile Crescent.
The "Platform Sutra" comprises a wide range of important
Chan/Zen Buddhist teachings. Purported to contain the autobiography
and sermons of Huineng (638--713), the legendary Sixth Patriarch of
Chan, the sutra has been popular among monastics and the educated
elite for centuries. The first study of its kind in English, this
volume offers essays that introduce the history and ideas of the
sutra to a general audience and interpret its practices. Leading
specialists on Buddhism discuss the text's historical background
and its vaunted legacy in Chinese culture.
Incorporating recent scholarship and theory, chapters include an
overview of Chinese Buddhism, the crucial role of the "Platform
Sutra "in the Chan tradition, and the dynamics of Huineng's
biography. They probe the sutra's key philosophical arguments, its
paradoxical teachings about transmission, and its position on
ordination and other institutions. The book includes a character
glossary and extensive bibliography, with helpful references for
students, general readers, and specialists throughout. The editors
and contributors are among the most respected scholars in the study
of Buddhism, and they assess the place of the "Platform Sutra" in
the broader context of Chinese thought, opening the text to all
readers interested in Asian culture, literature, spirituality, and
religion.
This volume offers a new reading of Maimonides' Guide of the
Perplexed. In particular, it explores how Maimonides' commitment to
integrity led him to a critique of the Kal?m, to a complex concept
of immortality, and to insight into the human yearning for
metaphysical knowledge. Maimonides' search for objective truth is
also analysed in its connection with the scientific writings of his
time, which neither the Kal?m nor the Jewish philosophical
tradition that preceded him had endorsed. Through a careful
analysis of these issues, this book seeks to contribute to the
understanding of the modes of thought adopted in The Guide of the
Perplexed, including the 'philosophical theologian' model of
Maimonides' own design, and to the knowledge of its sources.
With over 140 million copies in print, and serving as the principal
proselytizing tool of one of the world's fastest growing faiths,
the Book of Mormon is undoubtedly one of the most influential
religious texts produced in the western world. Written by Terryl
Givens, a leading authority on Mormonism, this compact volume
offers the only concise, accessible introduction to this
extraordinary work.
Givens examines the Book of Mormon first and foremost in terms of
the claims that its narrators make for its historical genesis, its
purpose as a sacred text, and its meaning for an audience which
shifts over the course of the history it unfolds. The author traces
five governing themes in particular--revelation, Christ, Zion,
scripture, and covenant--and analyzes the Book's central doctrines
and teachings. Some of these resonate with familiar
nineteenth-century religious preoccupations; others consist of
radical and unexpected takes on topics from the fall of Man to
Christ's mortal ministries and the meaning of atonement. Givens
also provides samples of a cast of characters that number in the
hundreds, and analyzes representative passages from a work that
encompasses tragedy, poetry, sermons, visions, family histories and
military chronicles. Finally, this introduction surveys the
contested origins and production of a work held by millions to be
scripture, and reviews the scholarly debates that address questions
of the record's historicity.
Here then is an accessible guide to what is, by any measure, an
indispensable key to understanding Mormonism. But it is also an
introduction to a compelling and complex text that is too often
overshadowed by the controversies that surround it.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and
style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of
life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the
newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about
the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from
philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
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My Rebbe
(Hardcover)
Adin Steinsaltz
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R595
R533
Discovery Miles 5 330
Save R62 (10%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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For legendary Talmud scholar and prolific author Rabbi Adin
Even-Israel Steinsaltz, the Lubavitcher Rebbe embodied a lifelong
mission to better the world. Far surpassing the role of teacher,
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was at once a scientific mind and
faithful believer; educational innovator and social activist;
spiritual guide and master network builder.
My Rebbe is Rabbi Steinsaltz's long-awaited personal testament
to the man whose passion and vision transformed Chabad-Lubavitch
from a tiny group of Chassidim into an educational and spiritual
movement that spans the globe. With the admiration of a close
disciple, the astute observation of a scholar and the spiritual
depth of a mystic, Steinsaltz crafts an intimate portrait of a
revolutionary religious leader whose dedication to intellectual,
religious, and spiritual principles impacted generations of
followers.
The first in the Magerman Educational Siddur Series, The Koren
Children's Siddur created for the early elementary grades, combines
stimulating and beautiful illustrations with thought-provoking
educational components on each page to provide teachers and parents
with an educational resource as much as a conventional siddur. The
siddur, for kindergarten, first and second grades, is also
accompanied by a comprehensive Teacher and Parents Guide to
maximize the educational potential of this beginner's siddur.
The corpus coranicum eludes familiar categories and resists strict
labels. No doubt the threads woven into the fabric are
exceptionally textured, varied, and complex. Accordingly, the
introductory chapter of this book demonstrates the application of
form criticism to the text. Chapter two then presents a
form-critical study of the prayer genre. It identifies three
productive formulae and addresses distinct social settings and
forms associated with them. The third chapter begins by defining
the liturgy genre vis-a-vis prayer in the Qur'an. Drawing a line
between the hymn and litany forms, this chapter treats each in
turn. Chapter four considers the genre classified as wisdom
literature. It identifies sapiential formulae and sheds light on
wisdom contexts. The fifth chapter examines the narrative genre
writ large. It also surveys narrative blocks of the long saga. The
subsequent chapter on the proclamation genre inspects a set of
vocative formulae, which occurs in the messenger situation. The
concluding chapter looks at the corpus through synchronic and
diachronic lenses. In the end, Qur'anic genres encapsulate the
form-critical elements of formulae, forms, and settings, as well as
an historical dimension.
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