|
Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy
This study of the Qur'an arises from an interest in a pressing contemporary issue, the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, 'the Ummah and the Other'.
The Handy Concordance of the Quran is a thorough and comprehensive
guide to the study of the Holy Quran. If may be used to locate and
trace Quranic themes; to find forgotten references; to identify
occurrences of a particular name or place; to study parallel
passages - in fact, all forms of the Quranic study will be quicker
and more accurate with this concordance as an invaluable aid.
1997 was the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls explores the evidence about calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Jewish texts. James C. VanderKam examines the pertinent texts, their sources and the different uses to which people put calendrical information in the Christian world. Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls provides a valuable addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls Series and contributes to the elucidation of the scroll texts themselves and their relation to other Biblical texts.
Modern critical scholars divide the Pentateuch into distinct
components, identifying areas of unevenness in the scriptural
tradition, which point to several interwoven documents rather than
one immaculate whole. While the conclusions reached by such
critical scholarship are still matters of dispute, the
inconsistencies which it has identified stand clearly before us and
pose a serious challenge to the believer in divine revelation. How
can a text marred by contradiction be the legacy of Sinai? How can
there be reverence for holy scriptures that show signs of human
intervention? David Weiss Halivni explores these questions, not by
disputing the evidence itself or by defending the absolute
integrity of the Pentateuchal words at all costs, but rather by
accepting the inconsistencies of the text as such and asking how
this text might yet be a divine legacy.Inconsistencies and
unevenness in the Pentateuchal scriptures are not the discovery of
modern textual science alone. Halivni demonstrates that the
earliest stewards of the Torah, including some of those represented
in the Bible itself, were aware of discrepancies within the
tradition. From the Book of Chronicles through the commentaries of
the Rabbis, sensitive readers have perceived maculations, which
mitigate against the notion of an unblemished, divine document, and
have responded to these maculations in different ways.Revelation
Restored asserts that acknowledging and accounting for human
intervention in the Pentateuchal text is not alien to the Biblical
or Rabbinic tradition and need not belie the tradition of
revelation. Moreover, it argues that through recognizing textual
problems in the scriptures, as well as efforts to resolve them in
tradition, we may learn not only about the nature of the Pentateuch
itself but also about the ongoing relationship between its people
and its source.
The Creation of History in Ancient Israel demonstrates how the historian can start to piece together the history of ancient Israel using the Hebrew Bible as a source. eBook available with sample pages: 020345524X
The Book of Hiding offers a fluent and erudite analysis of the
parallels between the Bible and contemporary discussions of gender,
ethnicity and social ambiguity. Beal focuses particularly on the
traditionally marginalised book of Esther, in order to examine
closely the categories of self and other in relation to religion,
sexism, nationalism, and the ever-looming legacies and future
possibilities of annihilation. Beal applies the critical tools of
contemporary theorists, such as Cixous, Irigaray and Levinas,
challenging widely held assumptions about the moral and
life-affirming message of Scripture and even about the presence of
God in the book of Esther. The Book of Hiding draws together a
variety of different perspectives and disciplines, creating a
unique space for dialogue raising new questions and reconsidering
old assumptions, which is profoundly interesting and
well-articulated.
This new rendering is the first of its kind, since it combines translation and exegesis: the author 'opens out' the verses to reveal some of the layers of meaning expounded by the Prophet and transmitted through the ages by his companions, family and the scholars who followed them.
The Book of Hiding offers a fluent and erudite analysis of the parallels between the Bible and contemporary discussions of gender, ethnicity and social ambiguity. Beal focuses particularly on the traditionally marginalised book of Esther, in order to examine closely the categories of self and other in relation to religion, sexism, nationalism, and the ever-looming legacies and future possibilities of annihilation. Beal applies the critical tools of contemporary theorists, such as Cixous, Irigaray and Levinas, challenging widely held assumptions about the moral and life-affirming message of Scripture and even about the presence of God in the book of Esther. The Book of Hiding draws together a variety of different perspectives and disciplines, creating a unique space for dialogue raising new questions and reconsidering old assumptions, which is profoundly interesting and well-articulated.
The "Bhagavad Gita" is a sacred scripture of epic dimensions and is
the key sacred text of Hinduism. It means the "song of God" and is
often called the "Song Celestial". Alan Jacobs uses contemporary
free verse based on innovative metaphors to provide a clear meaning
for today's readers. It is mandala poetry - each verse being a
mandala for meditation.
Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in
1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume
explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the
notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life
affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into
Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible
introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an
informative addition to the series examining the major themes of
the Scroll texts.
Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.
The Bible is often said to be one of the foundation texts of
Western culture. The present volume shows that it goes far beyond
being a religious text. The essays explore how religious, political
and cultural identities, including ethnicity and gender, are
embodied in biblical discourse. Following the authors, we read the
Bible with new eyes: as a critic of gender, ideology, politics and
culture. We ask ourselves new questions: about God's body, about
women's role, about racial prejudices and about the politics of the
written word.
Reading Bibles, Writing Bodies crosses boundaries. It questions our
most fundamental assumptions about the Bible. It shows how biblical
studies can benefit from the mainstream of Western intellectual
discourse, throwing up entirely new questions and offering
surprising answers. Accessible, engaging and moving easily between
theory and the reading of specific texts, this volume is an
exciting contribution to contemporary biblical and cultural
studies.
This volume assesses the religious and intellectual significance of
the Hebrew bible both as a document of its time and as an important
step in the development of thought. It presents the major aspects
of biblical religion through detailed literary analyses of key
texts, presented in English translation to make them accessible to
the general reader as well as scholars. Each of the central
traditions of biblical religion is examined, as well as a number of
important themes, like the roles of mystery and sexuality. At the
same time, the cultural and social background is explained and
described, placing the ideas uncovered in a specific temporal and
cultural setting.
This study is an analysis of the Qumran Wisdom texts. New
translations and an explanation of the background and context of
Wisdom literature introduce the reader to a little discussed part
of the Dead Sea Scrolls. After surveying biblical and extrabiblical
Wisdom books, the author considers the best and most fully
preserved Wisdom texts from Qumran. The centrepiece of the book is
a discussion of the large Wisdom instruction known as Sapiential
Work A. Also, the author reflects on the relevance of those texts
for the study of early Judaism and Christianity. An appendix treats
the Ben Sira scroll from Masada. "The Maccabean Revolt" (1988)
"John's Thought and Theology" (1990) "The Gospel of Matthew"
(1991).
This study is the first full analysis of the Qumran wisdom texts. New translations and a full explanation of the background and context of wisdom literature introduce the reader to an important and hitherto little discussed part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. After surveying biblical and extrabiblical wisdom books, the author considers the best and most fully preserved wisdom texts from Qumran. The centrepiece of the book is a discussion of the large wisdom instruction known as Sapiential Work A. Also, the author reflects on the relevance of those texts for the study of early Judaism and Christianity. An appendix treats the Ben Sira scroll from Masada.
Addressed to Jews and non-Jews alike, though aware that these two
reader groups were likelyn to approach the book with very different
presuppositions, Daiches sets out to define Judaism in relation to
philosophy, to explain Kant's philosophy through the superiority of
halakhah, defend a biblically based Jewish interpretation of
history, and champion Judaism as a religion of freedom guaranteed
by halakhah (Jewish law).
Much of the Old Testament narrates what it claims to be the history
of Israel. However, a close reading of the biblical text in
conjunction with other literary and archaeological evidence
indicates that the "history" provided by the Old Testament is
frequently inaccurate or untrue. Marc Zvi Brettler explores
alternative ways of reading the biblical texts. Through an indepth
analysis of texts from the "Book of Chronicles", "Genesis",
"Deuteronomy", "Judges" and "Samuel", Brettler shows how the
biblical historians were influenced by four key factors: typology,
interpretation of earlier texts, satire and ideology. This work
demonstrates how the historian, by taking account of this model of
history writing, can start to piece together the history of ancient
Israel using the Hebrew Bible as a source.
Aysha A. Hidayatullah offers the first comprehensive examination of
contemporary feminist Qur'anic interpretation, exploring its
dynamic challenges to Islamic tradition and contemporary Muslim
views of the Qur'an. She analyzes major feminist readings of the
Qur'an beginning in the late twentieth century, synthesizing their
common concepts and methods and revealing their vital part in the
development of the nascent field of Qur'anic tafsir (exegesis).
Hidayatullah contributes her own critical assessment of feminist
''impasses'' in the Qur'anic text and the field's appeals to the
principles of equality and justice. She expands these observations
into a radical critique of feminist approaches to the Qur'an,
arguing that the feminist exegetical endeavor has reached a point
of irresolvable contradiction by making claims about the Qur'an
that are not fully supported by the text. Hidayatullah outlines
major challenges to the authority of feminist interpretations of
the Qur'an and interrogates the feminist premises on which they
have relied, questioning the viability of current strands of
feminist Qur'anic interpretation and proposing a major revision of
its exegetical positions. An innovative work of Muslim feminist
theology, this volume offers an essential contribution to
conversations about feminist tafsir and asking bold questions at
the ''edge'' of Qur'anic interpretation.
|
|