Author: Henrietta L. Wiley Publisher: SBL Press ISBN: 088414190X Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 451
Book Description
Critical and creative studies that offer fresh perspectives on ancient ideas and practices The contributions to this volume deal in various ways with the cult at the Jerusalem Temple that epitomized the religious, cultural, and socio-political identity of Judaism for many centuries. Some essays examine ancient constitutive practices and concepts, such as purification rituals, sacrifices, atonement, or sacred authorities at the temple, with the goal of interpreting their meanings for modern readers. Other essays explore alternatives to ancient cultic meaning and practice. Essays critique established traditions, attempt to renegotiate them, or use metaphor and spiritualization to expand the potential of these phenomena to serve as terminological and ideological resources. Thus they examine and affirm the continuing relevance of ancient Jewish cultic notions long after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. An international group of scholars representing different fields and diverse religious backgrounds A thorough examination of traditions as through the lens of contemporaneous interpretive traditions such as Jewish prophecy, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Early Christian literature Examination of topics such as purification, sacrifice, and atonement, and the depiction and development of sacred authority throughout the Bible
Author: Jonathan Klawans Publisher: ISBN: 0195395840 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 385
Book Description
Ancient Jewish sacrifice has long been misunderstood. Some find in sacrifice the key to the mysterious and violent origins of human culture. Others see these cultic rituals as merely the fossilized vestiges of primitive superstition. Some believe that ancient Jewish sacrifice was doomed from the start, destined to be replaced by the Christian eucharist. Others think that the temple was fated to be superseded by the synagogue. In Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple Jonathan Klawans demonstrates that these supersessionist ideologies have prevented scholars from recognizing the Jerusalem temple as a powerful source of meaning and symbolism to the ancient Jews who worshiped there. Klawans exposes and counters such ideologies by reviewing the theoretical literature on sacrifice and taking a fresh look at a broad range of evidence concerning ancient Jewish attitudes toward the temple and its sacrificial cult. The first step toward reaching a more balanced view is to integrate the study of sacrifice with the study of purity-a ritual structure that has commonly been understood as symbolic by scholars and laypeople alike. The second step is to rehabilitate sacrificial metaphors, with the understanding that these metaphors are windows into the ways sacrifice was understood by ancient Jews. By taking these steps-and by removing contemporary religious and cultural biases-Klawans allows us to better understand what sacrifice meant to the early communities who practiced it. Armed with this new understanding, Klawans reevaluates the ideas about the temple articulated in a wide array of ancient sources, including Josephus, Philo, Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, and Rabbinic literature. Klawans mines these sources with an eye toward illuminating the symbolic meanings of sacrifice for ancient Jews. Along the way, he reconsiders the ostensible rejection of the cult by the biblical prophets, the Qumran sect, and Jesus. While these figures may have seen the temple in their time as tainted or even defiled, Klawans argues, they too-like practically all ancient Jews-believed in the cult, accepted its symbolic significance, and hoped for its ultimate efficacy.
Author: Thomas Hieke Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht ISBN: 3647534714 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 271
Book Description
Writing a commentary on a biblical book is not limited to the scholar's study and desk. Hence, several experts in the field of Hebrew Bible currently writing a larger commentary on the book of Leviticus followed the invitation of Christian Eberhart and Thomas Hieke to meet between 2014 and 2016 at the Annual SBL Conference. They shared their experiences, discussed hermeneutical and methodological considerations, and presented their ideas about particular themes and issues in the third book of the Torah. The results of these consultative panels had significant impact on the production of the commentaries. The first part of this volume features essays reflecting on the process of writing a Leviticus commentary, including boosts and obstacles, while suggesting innovative insights on particular problems of the book. The second part identifies certain themes of Leviticus, especially sacrifices and rituals ("the cult"), the notion of unintentional and deliberate sins and purity/impurity ("the bad") and how to eliminate them, and the relationship to the sphere of God ("the holy"). This section demonstrates how commenting a biblical book highly depends on the perspective a scholar takes, and how different commentaries on the same biblical text come to different conclusions because of a diversity of methodological and hermeneutical approaches. These are issues innate in the subject matter; in the end the variety of approaches bears witness to the complexity, intricacy, and richness of the biblical text. This volume, therefore, offers a fascinating inside view into the studies and onto the desks of several prolific biblical experts who share their reflections and concepts about their commentaries on Leviticus with an interested audience.
Author: Joshua D. A. Bloor Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 056770811X Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 241
Book Description
Joshua D. A. Bloor argues that the purification of the consciousness of sin, via Jesus' perpetual heavenly blood offering, is a vital motif for understanding Hebrews' sacrificial argumentation, and vice-versa. Jesus' 'objective' earthly achievements are many, yet only his 'subjective' heavenly blood offering purges the heavenly tabernacle and subsequently the consciousness of sin. Bloor views the Levitical cult as having a positive role in Hebrews, with Levitical 'guilt' foreshadowing and informing Hebrews' notion of the 'consciousness of sin'. Levitical sacrifices could purge the consciousness, but only Jesus' heavenly blood can offer complete perpetual purgation. This blood is a qualitative type of purgation which continually speaks in heaven, offering eternal assurance for the recipients regarding their consciousness of sin. Bloor begins with the 'defiled consciousness' and situates the world of Hebrews within cultic defilement, enabling the consciousness of sin and its cosmic implications to be properly understood. From here, the solution to a defiled consciousness is explored by examining Hebrews' cultic argumentation. Bloor highlights the distinctive purposes inherent in both Jesus' earthly and heavenly achievements, with the latter concerned particularly with Yom Kippur imagery and the purgation of the consciousness. Bloor concludes by differentiating between Jesus' session, present heavenly activity and perpetual heavenly blood offering. Throughout this volume, Bloor engages, critiques and advances current discourse concerning the nature and timing of Jesus' offering in Hebrews.
Author: Sofanit T. Abebe Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 0567715809 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 336
Book Description
The contributors to this volume offer a bold re-reading of Hebrews and 1 Peter from the perspective of the Global South. The chapters provide enriching new hermeneutical and theological insights, revealing facets of the text that may not at first be apparent to readers within a Eurocentric context. The volume is thus able to explore topics ranging from the authorship of Hebrews in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition and the Batak reading of Christus Victor, to a Xhosa perception of the solidarity and sacrifice of Jesus, and intercultural readings of Christian identity in the context of persecution. With an introduction and final response by scholars from the Global North, this volume encourages awareness of how the Global South contributes to world Christianity.
Author: Jaeyoung Jeon Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG ISBN: 3110707047 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 477
Book Description
In der Reihe Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) erscheinen Arbeiten zu sämtlichen Gebieten der alttestamentlichen Wissenschaft. Im Zentrum steht die Hebräische Bibel, ihr Vor- und Nachleben im antiken Judentum sowie ihre vielfache Verzweigung in die benachbarten Kulturen der altorientalischen und hellenistisch-römischen Welt. Die BZAW akzeptiert Manuskriptvorschläge, die einen innovativen und signifikanten Beitrag zu Erforschung des Alten Testaments und seiner Umwelt leisten, sich intensiv mit der bestehenden Forschungsliteratur auseinandersetzen, stringent aufgebaut und flüssig geschrieben sind.
Author: Hannah K. Harrington Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht ISBN: 3647571288 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 420
Book Description
This study traces the emergence of the concept of the body as a sanctuary from its biblical roots to its expressions in late Second Temple Judaism. Harrington's hypothesis is that the destruction of the first Jerusalem temple was a catalyst for a new reality vis-à-vis the temple and the emergence of increased emphasis on the holiness of the people along with concomitant standards of purity in a certain stream of Judaism. The study brings into relief elements of this attitude from exilic texts, e.g. Ezekiel, to Ezra-Nehemiah, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Second Temple Jewish texts, including early Jesus and Pauline traditions. The goal is to provide a history of the concept of the body-cum-temple metaphor which comes to its fullest expression in the letters of Paul to the Corinthians. The concept of the body as a sanctuary as it comes to fruition in late second temple Judaism must be understood within the conceptual world of Jewish holiness of the time. The metaphor of the temple provides a frame of reference but only a close analysis of the concepts of holiness, purity, and impurity and the dynamics between them can provide depth and distinction. Of particular importance, critical to proper understanding of the temple metaphor, are the notions of the elect, holy status of Israel and its possible desecration by wrongful sexual relations, the loss of the temple and the ripple effect of creating at least temporary substitutes for processes of the cult, the widespread concern in Second Temple Judaism for ritual purity in support of greater holiness, and a desire among Jews for the residence and agency of the spirit of holiness.
Author: Christian A. Eberhart Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN: 1725239906 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 180
Book Description
Exploring nonviolent images of atonement-- The "sacrifice" of Jesus is one of the most central doctrines in Christianity--and one of the most controversial, especially in contemporary debate (and after the appearance of films such as The Passion of the Christ). The implications of a violent parent and the necessity of innocent suffering are profoundly troubling to many people. Are they nevertheless necessary elements of Christian theology? Christian A. Eberhart makes a decisive contribution to these debates by carefully and clearly examining the Old Testament metaphors of sacrifice and atonement and the ways these metaphors were taken over by early Christians to speak of the significance of Christ. Eberhart shows that these New Testament appropriations have been misunderstood as requiring a logic of necessary violence; rather they speak to larger Christological themes concerning the whole mission and life of Jesus.
Author: Eyal Regev Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300245599 Category : Religion Languages : en Pages : 497
Book Description
A comprehensive treatment of the early Christian approaches to the Temple and its role in shaping Jewish and Christian identity The first scholarly work to trace the Temple throughout the entire New Testament, this study examines Jewish and Christian attitudes toward the Temple in the first century and provides both Jews and Christians with a better understanding of their respective faiths and how they grow out of this ancient institution. The centrality of the Temple in New Testament writing reveals the authors’ negotiations with the institutional and symbolic center of Judaism as they worked to form their own religion.
Author: Henrietta L. Wiley
Author: Henrietta L. Wiley
Author: Jonathan Klawans
Author: Thomas Hieke
Author: Joshua D. A. Bloor
Author: Sofanit T. Abebe
Author: Jaeyoung Jeon
Author: Hannah K. Harrington
Author: Christian A. Eberhart
Author: Eyal Regev