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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy > Sacred texts
This new edition of Scriptures of the World's Religions uses
selections from scriptures to examine the world's religions. It
emphasizes religions that are practiced today and features English
translations that are accessible to the layperson. This edition
examines the collected sacred texts revered by these religions
themselves. There are special benefits to exploring the world's
religions through selections from their scriptures. In most cases,
the sacred texts are the oldest written documents in the tradition,
and we gain a sense of immediate connection with these religions by
studying the same documents that followers have been reading for
millennia.
The Koren Sacks Yom Kippur Mahzor, is a new Hebrew/English prayer
book with translation and commentary by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan
Sacks. It is a companion to the Koren Sacks Rosh Hashana Mahzor,
and one volume among a growing body of work produced by the
celebrated Koren Publishers-Chief Rabbi Sacks partnership. The
Koren Sacks Yom Kippur Mahzor marries the sophisticated graphic
approach for which Koren Publishers Jerusalem is renowned with the
insight and eloquence of Chief Rabbi Sacks. The Koren Sacks Yom
Kippur Mahzor brings out the inner meaning of the Yom Kippur
prayers by aligning the Hebrew and English texts, highlighting key
words, distinguishing poetry from prose, and using beautiful fonts
designed by master typographer Eliyahu Koren. Chief Rabbi Sacks'
translation brings readers closer to the authentic meaning of the
Hebrew text, while his introduction and commentary provide new ways
of understanding and experiencing the Yom Kippur service.
This book presents the Book of Ecclesiastes as a single coherent
work, whose ideas are consistent and collectively form a
comprehensive worldview. Moreover, in contrast to the prevailing
view in the research literature - it presents the Book of
Ecclesiastes as a work with an essentially positive outlook:
Kohelet's fault-finding is aimed not at the world itself, or how it
functions, but at the people who persist in missing out on the
present, on what it has to offer, and of the ability to enjoy all
that exists and is available. Contrasting with these are Koheleth's
positive perscriptions to make the most of the present. To my mind,
his remonstrations are meant to "clear the way" for his positive
recommendations - to clear the path, as it were, of the obstacles
to accepting reality. These two aspects, the negative and the
positive, come together in this investigation into Koheleth's
belief, which is founded on an acceptance of all that God has
created.
The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha addresses the Old Testament
Apocrypha, known to be important early Jewish texts that have
become deutero-canonical for some Christian churches, non-canonical
for other churches, and that are of lasting cultural significance.
In addition to the place given to the classical literary,
historical, and tradition-historical introductory questions, essays
focus on the major social and theological themes of each individual
book. With contributions from leading scholars from around the
world, the Handbook acts as an authoritative reference work on the
current state of Apocrypha research, and at the same time carves
out future directions of study. This Handbook offers an overview of
the various Apocrypha and relevant topics related to them by
presenting updated research on each individual apocryphal text in
historical context, from the late Persian and early Hellenistic
periods to the early Roman era. The essays provided here examine
the place of the Apocrypha in the context of Early Judaism, the
relationship between the Apocrypha and texts that came to be
canonized, the relationship between the Apocrypha and the
Septuagint, Qumran, the Pseudepigrapha, and the New Testament, as
well as their reception history in the Western world. Several
chapters address overarching themes, such as genre and historicity,
Jewish practices and beliefs, theology and ethics, gender and the
role of women, and sexual ethics.
One of India's greatest epics, the Ramayana pervades the country's
moral and cultural consciousness. For generations it has served as
a bedtime story for Indian children, while at the same time
engaging the interest of philosophers and theologians. Believed to
have been composed by Valmiki sometime between the eighth and sixth
centuries BC, the Ramayana tells the tragic and magical story of
Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, an incarnation of Lord Visnu, born to
rid the earth of the terrible demon Ravana. An idealized heroic
tale ending with the inevitable triumph of good over evil, the
Ramayana is also an intensely personal story of family
relationships, love and loss, duty and honor, of harem intrigue,
petty jealousies, and destructive ambitions. All this played out in
a universe populated by larger-than-life humans, gods and celestial
beings, wondrous animals and terrifying demons. With her
magnificent translation and superb introduction, Arshia Sattar has
successfully bridged both time and space to bring this ancient
classic to modern English readers.
From the recipient of the National Jewish Book Award for Lifetime
Achievement, a "hugely entertaining and irreverent" (Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker) account of the art of translating the Hebrew Bible into
English In this brief book, award-winning biblical translator and
acclaimed literary critic Robert Alter offers a personal and
passionate account of what he learned about the art of Bible
translation over the two decades he spent completing his own
English version of the Hebrew Bible. Alter's literary training gave
him the advantage of seeing that a translation of the Bible can
convey the text's meaning only by trying to capture the powerful
and subtle literary style of the biblical Hebrew, something the
modern English versions don't do justice to. The Bible's style,
Alter writes, "is not some sort of aesthetic embellishment of the
'message' of Scripture but the vital medium through which the
biblical vision of God, human nature, history, politics, society,
and moral value is conveyed." And, as the translators of the King
James Version knew, the authority of the Bible is inseparable from
its literary authority. For these reasons, the Bible can be brought
to life in English only by re-creating its literary virtuosity, and
Alter discusses the principal aspects of style in the Hebrew Bible
that any translator should try to reproduce: word choice, syntax,
word play and sound play, rhythm, and dialogue. In the process, he
provides an illuminating and accessible introduction to biblical
style that also offers insights about the art of translation far
beyond the Bible.
Jews have sometimes been reluctant to claim Jesus as one of their
own; Christians have often been reluctant to acknowledge the degree
to which Jesus' message and mission were at home amidst, and shaped
by, the Judaism(s) of the Second Temple Period. In The Jewish
Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude David deSilva introduces readers
to the ancient Jewish writings known as the Apocrypha and
Pseudepigrapha and examines their formative impact on the teachings
and mission of Jesus and his half-brothers, James and Jude.
Knowledge of this literature, deSilva argues, helps to bridge the
perceived gap between Jesus and Judaism when Judaism is understood
only in terms of the Hebrew Bible (or ''Old Testament''), and not
as a living, growing body of faith and practice. Where our
understanding of early Judaism is limited to the religion reflected
in the Hebrew Bible, Jesus will appear more as an outsider speaking
''against'' Judaism and introducing more that is novel. Where our
understanding of early Judaism is also informed by the Apocrypha
and Pseudepigrapha, Jesus and his half-brothers appear more fully
at home within Judaism, and giving us a more precise understanding
of what is essential, as well as distinctive, in their
proclamation. This comparative study engages several critical
issues. How can we recover the voices of Jesus, James, and Jude
from the material purporting to preserve their speech? How can we
assess a particular text's influence on Jews in early first-century
Palestine? How can we be sufficiently sensitive to the meanings and
nuances in both the text presumed to influence and the text
presumed to be influenced so as not to distort the meaning of
either? The result is a portrait of Jesus that is fully at home in
Roman Judea and Galilee, and perhaps an explanation for why these
extra-biblical Jewish texts continued to be preserved in Christian
circles.
Yitzhak Berger advances a distinctive and markedly original
interpretation of the biblical book of Jonah that resolves many of
the ambiguities in the text. Berger contends that the Jonah text
pulls from many inner-biblical connections, especially ones
relating to the Garden of Eden. These connections provide a
foundation for Berger's reading of the story, which attributes
multiple layers of meaning to this carefully crafted biblical book.
Focusing on Jonah's futile quest and his profoundly troubled
response to God's view of the sins of humanity, Berger shows how
the book paints Jonah as a pacifist no less than as a moralist.
What do we know about the Book of Job? Not very much. The hero
complains endlessly. He has just lost his children all his
livestock. He scratches his ulcers. The misfortunes of which he
complains are all duly enumerated in the prologue. They are
misfortunes brought on him by Satan with God's permission. We think
we know, but are we sure? Not once in the Dialogues does Job
mention either Satan or anything about his misdeeds. Could it be
that they are too much on his mind for him to mention them?
Possibly, yet Job mentions everything else, and does much more than
mention. He dwells heavily on the cause of his misfortune, which is
none of those mentioned in the prologue. The cause is not divine,
satanic nor physical, but merely human.
The Mahabharata, one of the major epics of India, is a sourcebook
complete by itself as well as an open text constantly under
construction. This volume looks at transactions between its modern
discourses and ancient vocabulary. Located amid conversations
between these two conceptual worlds, the volume grapples with the
epic's problematisation of dharma or righteousness, and
consequently, of the ideal person and the good life through a
cluster of issues surrounding the concept of agency and action.
Drawing on several interdisciplinary approaches, the essays reflect
on a range of issues in the Mahabharata, including those of duty,
motivation, freedom, selfhood, choice, autonomy, and justice, both
in the context of philosophical debates and their ethical and
political ramifications for contemporary times. This book will be
of interest to scholars and researchers engaged with philosophy,
literature, religion, history, politics, culture, gender, South
Asian studies, and Indology. It will also appeal to the general
reader interested in South Asian epics and the Mahabharata.
This book challenges the dominant scholarly notion that the Qur'an
must be interpreted through the medieval commentaries shaped by the
biography of the prophet Muhammad, arguing instead that the text is
best read in light of Christian and Jewish scripture. The Qur'an,
in its use of allusions, depends on the Biblical knowledge of its
audience. However, medieval Muslim commentators, working in a
context of religious rivalry, developed stories that separate
Qur'an and Bible, which this book brings back together. In a series
of studies involving the devil, Adam, Abraham, Jonah, Mary, and
Muhammad among others, Reynolds shows how modern translators of the
Qur'an have followed medieval Muslim commentary and demonstrates
how an appreciation of the Qur'an's Biblical subtext uncovers the
richness of the Qur'an's discourse. Presenting unique
interpretations of 13 different sections of the Qur'an based on
studies of earlier Jewish and Christian literature, the author
substantially re-evaluates Muslim exegetical literature. Thus The
Qur'an and Its Biblical Subtext, a work based on a profound regard
for the Qur'an's literary structure and rhetorical strategy, poses
a substantial challenge to the standard scholarship of Qur'anic
Studies. With an approach that bridges early Christian history and
Islamic origins, the book will appeal not only to students of the
Qur'an but of the Bible, religious studies and Islamic history.
In the last three decades, hundreds of books and essays have been
published on women, gender, and Jewish Studies. This burgeoning
scholarship has not been adequately theorized, contextualized, or
historicized. This book argues that Jewish feminist studies is
currently constrained by multiple frames of reference that require
re-examination, a self-critical awareness, and a serious reflective
inquiry into the models, paradigms, and assumptions that inform,
shape, and define this area of academic interest. This book is the
first critical analysis of Jewish feminist scholarship, tracing it
from its tentative beginnings in the late 1970s to contemporary
academic articulations of its disciplinary projects. It focuses on
the assumptions, evasions, omissions, inconsistencies, and gaps in
this scholarship, and notably the absence of debate, contestation,
and interrogation of authoritative articulations of its presumed
goals, investments, and priorities. The book teases out implicit
thinking about mapping, direction, and orientation from
introductions to leading anthologies and engages critically with
the few explicitly theoretical works on Jewish feminist studies,
contesting ideas that have become hegemonic in some areas, and
interrogating the limitations these theories impose on future
trajectories in Jewish feminist studies. Each chapter outlines the
theoretical assumptions that inform salient publications in the
field, providing a close reading of scholarly texts that justify
certain practices. The book is divided into four chapters, each of
which focuses on a different frame of reference. It outlines the
way in which the various frames that have so far been imposed on
Jewish feminism, the ethnocentric, liberal, personal, masculinist,
and essentialist, have arrested its theoretical elaboration and
articulation. The book includes both interdisciplinary anthologies
on gender and Jewish identity and disciplinary publications in
history, literature, philosophy, cultural studies, and Holocaust
studies.
This book offers new translations of the Tiruppavai and Nacciyar
Tirumoli, composed by the ninth-century Tamil mystic and poetess
Kotai. Two of the most significant compositions by a female mystic,
the Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli give expression to her
powerful experiences through the use of a vibrant and bold
sensuality, in which Visnu is her awesome, mesmerizing, and
sometimes cruel lover. Kotai's poetry is characterized by a
richness of language in which words are imbued with polyvalence and
even the most mundane experiences are infused with the spirit of
the divine. Her Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli are garlands of
words, redolent with meanings waiting to be discovered. Today Kotai
is revered as a goddess, and as a testament to the enduring
relevance of her poetry, her Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli
continue to be celebrated in South Indian ritual, music, dance, and
the visual arts.
This book aims to capture the lyricism, beauty, and power of
Kotai's original works. In addition, detailed notes based on
traditional commentaries, and discussions of the ritual and
performative lives of the Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli
highlight the importance of this ninth-century poet and her two
poems over the past one thousand years.
The influence of Buddhism on the Chinese language, on Chinese
literature and on Chinese culture in general cannot be overstated,
and the language of most Chinese Buddhist texts differs
considerably from both Classical and Modern Chinese. This reader
aims to help students develop familiarity with features of Buddhist
texts in Chinese, including patterns of organization, grammatical
features and specialized vocabulary. It also aims to familiarize
students with the use of a range of resources necessary for
becoming independent readers of such texts. Chinese Buddhist Texts
is suitable for students who have completed the equivalent of at
least one year's college level study of Modern Chinese and are
familiar with roughly one thousand of the commonest Chinese
characters. Previous study of Classical Chinese would be an
advantage, but is not assumed. It is an ideal textbook for students
taking relevant courses in Chinese studies programs and in Buddhist
studies programs. However, it is also possible for a student to
work through the reader on his or her own. Further online resources
are available at: lockgraham.com
The influence of Buddhism on the Chinese language, on Chinese
literature and on Chinese culture in general cannot be overstated,
and the language of most Chinese Buddhist texts differs
considerably from both Classical and Modern Chinese. This reader
aims to help students develop familiarity with features of Buddhist
texts in Chinese, including patterns of organization, grammatical
features and specialized vocabulary. It also aims to familiarize
students with the use of a range of resources necessary for
becoming independent readers of such texts. Chinese Buddhist Texts
is suitable for students who have completed the equivalent of at
least one year's college level study of Modern Chinese and are
familiar with roughly one thousand of the commonest Chinese
characters. Previous study of Classical Chinese would be an
advantage, but is not assumed. It is an ideal textbook for students
taking relevant courses in Chinese studies programs and in Buddhist
studies programs. However, it is also possible for a student to
work through the reader on his or her own. Further online resources
are available at: lockgraham.com
Dead Sea: New Discoveries in the Cave of Letters is a
multidisciplinary study of the Cave of Letters in the Nahal Hever
of the Judean desert, a site reputed for having contained the most
important finds evidencing the Bar Kokhba revolt, including the
cache of bronzes found buried there and the papers of Babatha, one
of the few direct accounts of the context of the Bar Kokhba revolt
in the second century CE. Chapters by diverse scholars report on
and discuss the ramifications of the 1999-2001 expedition to the
site, the first organized archaeological activity there since the
expeditions at Nahal Hever by Yigal Yadin in 1960-1961. Using
advanced technological methodologies alongside more "traditional"
archaeological techniques, the team explored several research
hypotheses. The expedition sought to determine whether the material
collected in the cave could substantiate the hypothesis that the
cave was a place of refuge during both the Bar Kokhba revolt and
the earlier Great Revolt against the Roman Empire. The expedition
also researched the viability of a relatively long-term occupation
of the cave while under siege by Roman forces, questioning whether
occupants would have been able to cook, sleep, etc., without
severely degrading the cave environment as a viable place for human
habitation. The individual chapters represent the result of
analysis by scholars and scientists on different aspects of the
material culture that the expedition uncovered.
Sefer ha-Zohar (The Book of Radiance) has captivated readers ever
since it emerged in Spain over seven hundred years ago. Written in
a lyrical Aramaic, the Zohar, a masterpiece of Kabbalah, features
mystical interpretation of the Torah, rabbinic tradition, and
Jewish practice. Volume 11 comprises a collection of different
genres within the Zoharic library. The fragmentary Midrash
ha-Ne'lam on Song of Songs opens with its treatment of mystical
kissing. Highlights of Midrash ha-Ne'lam on Ruth are the spiritual
function of the Kaddish prayer, the story of the ten martyrs, and
mystical eating practices. In Midrash ha-Ne'lam on Lamentations,
the inhabitants of Babylon and the inhabitants of Jerusalem vie to
eulogize a ruined Jerusalem. It reframes the notion of a Holy
Family in Jewish terms, in implicit contrast to the Christian triad
of Father, Mother, and Son. The Zohar on Song of Songs consists of
dueling homilies between Rabbi Shim'on bar Yohai and the prophet
Elijah, contrasting spiritual ascent with the presence of the
demonic. The climax projects the eros of the Song of Songs onto the
celestial letters that constitute the core of existence. Matnitin
and Tosefta are dense, compact passages in which heavenly heralds
chide humanity for its spiritual slumber, rousing people to learn
the mysteries of holiness. Packed with neologisms and hortatory in
tone, these passages are spurs to pietistic devotion and mystical
insight.
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Four Testaments
- Tao Te Ching, Analects, Dhammapada, Bhagavad Gita: Sacred Scriptures of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism
(Paperback)
Brian Arthur Brown; Foreword by Francis X Clooney S J; Contributions by David Bruce, K E Eduljee, Richard Freund, …
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R1,049
Discovery Miles 10 490
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Four Testaments brings together four foundational texts from world
religions-the Tao Te Ching, Dhammapada, Analects of Confucius, and
Bhagavad Gita-inviting readers to experience them in full, to
explore possible points of connection and divergence, and to better
understand people who practice these traditions. Following Brian
Arthur Brown's award-winning Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel,
Quran, this volume of Four Testaments features essays by esteemed
scholars to introduce readers to each tradition and text, as well
as commentary on unexpected ways the ancient Zoroastrian tradition
might connect Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism, along
with the Abrahamic faiths. Four Testaments aims to foster deeper
religious understanding in our interconnected and contentious
world.
The last and most intriguing book of the Ramayana, the Uttara Kanda
is rendered here by noted Sanskrit scholar Arshia Sattar in vivid,
sensuous detail. First composed around 500 BCE, it tells the story
of an unjustly exiled prince, the abduction of his wife from the
forest by a ten-headed demon king, his alliance with a band of
magical monkeys, and the internal and external battles he must
fight to win back his wife and keep her. India's great Sanskrit
epic brings to readers the classic dilemmas every individual faces:
love versus duty, destiny and free will, the public and the private
self, the pull of family, and the right to personal happiness.
These universal problems are layered with the quintessentially
Indian ideas of karma (action) and dharma (duty).The book explores
what it means to be human in a complex and demanding world,
considering the parameters and contexts in which we make the
decisions that will determine the color and tenor of our lives, the
choices that make us who we are. It also offers a great, albeit
tragic, love story-a story of the demands and pressures of love and
how we might fail those that we love most. Accompanied by Sattar's
thoughtful essays weighing the moral complexity of this most
enduring of epics, this translation crystallizes her deep and
intimate knowledge of the Ramayana in a way that is utterly
compelling.
The last and most intriguing book of the Ramayana, the Uttara Kanda
is rendered here by noted Sanskrit scholar Arshia Sattar in vivid,
sensuous detail. First composed around 500 BCE, it tells the story
of an unjustly exiled prince, the abduction of his wife from the
forest by a ten-headed demon king, his alliance with a band of
magical monkeys, and the internal and external battles he must
fight to win back his wife and keep her. India's great Sanskrit
epic brings to readers the classic dilemmas every individual faces:
love versus duty, destiny and free will, the public and the private
self, the pull of family, and the right to personal happiness.
These universal problems are layered with the quintessentially
Indian ideas of karma (action) and dharma (duty).The book explores
what it means to be human in a complex and demanding world,
considering the parameters and contexts in which we make the
decisions that will determine the color and tenor of our lives, the
choices that make us who we are. It also offers a great, albeit
tragic, love story-a story of the demands and pressures of love and
how we might fail those that we love most. Accompanied by Sattar's
thoughtful essays weighing the moral complexity of this most
enduring of epics, this translation crystallizes her deep and
intimate knowledge of the Ramayana in a way that is utterly
compelling.
Steve D. Fraade offers a new translation, with notes, and detailed
commentary to the Dead Sea Scroll most commonly called the Damascus
Document, based on both ancient manuscripts from caves along the
western shore of the Dead Sea, and medieval manuscripts from the
Cairo Geniza. The text is one of the longest and most important of
the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its importance derives from several aspects
of its contents: its extensive collections of laws, both for the
sectarian community that authored it and for the rest of Israel;
some of the oldest examples of scriptural interpretation, both
legal and narrative, both implicit and explicit, with important
implications for our understanding of the evolving status of the
Hebrew canon; some of the clearest expressions, often in hortatory
form, of the community's self-understanding as an elect remnant of
Israel that understands itself in dualistic opposition to the rest
of Israel, its practices, and its leaders; important expressions of
the community's self-understanding as a priestly alternative to the
sacrificial worship in the Jerusalem Temple; expressions of an
apocalyptic, eschatological understanding of living as the true
Israel in the "end of days;" important expressions of attitudes
toward woman, sexual activity, and marriage; importance for our
understanding of ancient modes of teaching and of ritual practice;
importance for the study of the history of the Hebrew language and
its scribal practices. The volume contains a substantial
introduction, dealing with these aspects of the Damascus Document
and locating its place within the Dead Sea Scrolls more broadly as
well as the historical context of ancient Judaism that gave rise to
this text.
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