Well, I’ve been remiss in posting anything about the very interesting things I’ve been (re)reading over the last few months. I suppose one gets into that kind of rut a bit too easily, thinking, “I’d rather read than write about my reading, and who cares what I think, anyway!” But there is at least someContinue reading “Catching up: autumnal reviewlets”
Search results for: gerdmar
Legaspi conclusion
What, finally, of the scriptural Bible? In this story, it has been the shadowy counterpart to the academic Bible forged during the Enlightenment. Though perhaps only a shade, it has lived on in religious communities as long as men and women have revered its authority. A full account of the relationship between the scriptural BibleContinue reading “Legaspi conclusion”
Legaspi, The Death of Scripture
I will let the beginning of Michael Legaspi’s praface in his The Death of the Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies present his thesis, as it works so very well: Consider two scenes. The first takes place in an Eastern Orthodox church. The liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is under way. From behind theContinue reading “Legaspi, The Death of Scripture”
Book Notes
I’ve been very busy, but even so, I apologize for not keeping up with posting here. Blogs have their (hopefully temporary) lulls from time to time. My break was, however, remarkably productive. I have left a mere 143 pages of checking and indexing OTP citations. Woo. Hoo. Yet I have been onlinely slack! Not onlyContinue reading “Book Notes”
A great new blog
Some readers will have noticed the book that I still have in my “Currently Reading” spot to the right here: Anders Gerdmar’s Roots of Theological Anti-semitism (Brill, 2009), which I’ve posted some notes on already. Well, just tonight I happily received a message from Anders Gerdmar himself, informing me (and thereby you, dear reader) ofContinue reading “A great new blog”
What Might Have Been
The following comes from my notes on the chapter “The History of Religions School and the Jews” in Anders Gerdmar, Roots of Theological Anti-Semitism (Brill, 2009) Johannes Weiss (1863-1914) was, like Wilhelm Bousset (1865-1920), a student of Albrecht Ritschl (1822-1889). Both were considered members of the History of Religions School (Religionsgeschichtliche Schule), an academic movementContinue reading “What Might Have Been”
More of de Wette’s charm
Because my last post on de Wette was so interesting to some, I thought I’d post some more of his ideas and comment upon them. The point here is to demonstrate that, if anything, de Wette’s proposals were not critical in the true sense, that is, demonstrative of rational discernment, but are rather the resultContinue reading “More of de Wette’s charm”
de Wette, Devolution, and Deuteronomy
Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette (1780-1849) is generally considered the founding father of modern critical Biblical Studies. Specifically, he was the first to develop and apply a philosophically-based method to the Biblical texts, rather than relying upon religiously-influenced or -established commonplaces or traditions. This does not, however, mean that his own method was devoid ofContinue reading “de Wette, Devolution, and Deuteronomy”
Pasto, Who Owns the Jewish Past?
The basic argument of this work is straightforward: Jewish history, as represented in western Biblical scholarship, is a Christian invention. Or rather, it is what I will call a Christian sacralizing history. I will explain what I mean by the term “Christian” below. By “sacralizing history” I mean any representation of the past that servesContinue reading “Pasto, Who Owns the Jewish Past?”
Roots of Theological Anti-Semitism: Semler
As my reading of Anders Gerdmar’s excellent Roots of Theological Anti-Semitism progresses, I’ll occasionally be posting some little excerpts with my thoughts. Here is the first of such, discussing some of the ideas of Johann Salomo Semler (1725-1791): Semler dichotomises universalism and particularism, where the negative, particularism, is characteristic of the Jews. Overall, Semler takesContinue reading “Roots of Theological Anti-Semitism: Semler”