Jan Christian Gertz's Books

The Invention of Religion

Faith and Covenant in the Book of Exodus

By: Jan Assmann

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The Invention of Religion

Faith and Covenant in the Book of Exodus

By: Jan Assmann

A groundbreaking account of how the Book of Exodus shaped fundamental aspects of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam The Book of Exodus may be the most consequential story ever told. But its spectacular moments of heaven-sent plagues and parting seas overshadow its true significance, says Jan Assmann, a leading historian of ancient religion. The story of Moses guiding the enslaved children of Israel out of captivity to become God's chosen people is the foundation of an entirely new idea of religion, one that lives on today in many of the world's faiths. The Invention of Religion sheds new light on ancient scriptures to show how Exodus has shaped fundamental understandings of monotheistic practice and belief. Assmann delves into the enduring mythic power of the Exodus narrative, examining the text's compositional history and calling attention to distinctive motifs and dichotomies: enslavement and redemption; belief and doubt; proper worship and idolatry; loyalty and betrayal. Revelation is a central theme--the revelation of God's power in miracles, of God's presence in the burning bush, and of God's chosen dwelling among the Israelites in the vision of the tabernacle. Above all, it is God's covenant with Israel—the binding obligation of the Israelites to acknowledge God as their redeemer and obey His law—that is Exodus's most encompassing and transformative idea, one that challenged basic assumptions about humankind's relationship to the divine in the ancient world. The Invention of Religion is a powerful account of how ideas of faith, revelation, and covenant, first introduced in Exodus, shaped Judaism and were later adopted by Christianity and Islam to form the bedrock of the world's Abrahamic religions.

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Page Count

413

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400889235

ISBN 13

9781400889235

Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity

Interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in Cotton Mather's 'Biblia Americana'

By: Jan Stievermann

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Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity

Interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures in Cotton Mather's 'Biblia Americana'

By: Jan Stievermann

Jan Stievermann's pioneering study of Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana examines this Puritan scholar's engagement with the Hebrew Bible as Old Testament. The author focuses specifically on Mather's struggle to uphold or modify traditional typological and allegorical readings in the face of a growing awareness of the historicity of Scriptures. Other key issues include Mather's interventions in the contemporary debates over the legitimacy of Christian interpretations of the prophets, as well as over the authorship, provenance, genre, and spiritual import of texts such as Ecclesiastes and Canticles. Stievermann's book yields fascinating insights into an underappreciated phase of exegesis that was at once traditionalist and innovative, apologetically oriented, pious, and open to new modes of historical-textual criticism. Moreover, it shows how Mather's biblical exegesis fits into the broader development of Puritan theology and identity. --

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Page Count

512

Publisher

Mohr Siebeck

Published Date

ISBN 10

3161542703

ISBN 13

9783161542701

Religio Duplex

How the Enlightenment Reinvented Egyptian Religion

By: Jan Assmann

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Religio Duplex

How the Enlightenment Reinvented Egyptian Religion

By: Jan Assmann

In this important new book, the distinguished Egyptologist Jan Assmann provides a masterful overview of a crucial theme in the religious history of the West - that of 'religio duplex', or dual religion. He begins by returning to the theology of the Ancient Egyptians, who set out to present their culture as divided between the popular and the elite. By examining their beliefs, he argues, we can distinguish the two faces of ancient religions more generally: the outer face (that of the official religion) and the inner face (encompassing the mysterious nature of religious experience). Assmann explains that the Early Modern period witnessed the birth of the idea of dual religion with, on the one hand, the religion of reason and, on the other, that of revelation. This concept gained new significance in the Enlightenment when the dual structure of religion was transposed onto the individual. This meant that man now owed his allegiance not only to his native religion, but also to a universal 'religion of mankind'. In fact, argues Assmann, religion can now only hold a place in our globalized world in this way, as a religion that understands itself as one among many and has learned to see itself through the eyes of the other. This bold and wide-ranging book will be essential reading for historians, theologians and anyone interested in the nature of religion and its role in the shaping of the modern world.

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Page Count

264

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

0745681492

ISBN 13

9780745681498

Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar

By: Jan A. Wagenaar

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Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar

By: Jan A. Wagenaar

The book focusses on the origin and transformation of the priestly festival calendar. Since the epoch-making work of Julius Wellhausen at the end of the 19th century the differences between the various ancient Israelite festival calendars have often been explained in terms of a gradual evolution, which shows an increasing historicisation, denaturalisation and ritualisation. The festivals were in Wellhausen's view gradually detached from agricultural conditions and celebrated more and more at fixed points in the year. This study tries to show that the changes in the priestly festival calendar reflect a conscious effort to adapt the ancient Israelite festival calendar to the semi-annual layout of the Babylonian festival year. The ramifications of the change only come to the fore after a careful study of the agricultural conditions of ancient Israel - and Mesopotamia - makes clear that passover and the festival of unleavened bread were originally celebrated in the second month of the year. The first month of the year envisaged by the priestly festival calendar for the celebration of passover and the festival of unleavened bread in turn mirrors the date of one of the two semi-annual Babylonian New Year festivals. The two Babylonian New Year festivals were celebrated exactly six months apart at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In order to adapt the ancient Israelite festival calendar to the Babylonian scheme with two New Year festivals a year, the date of passover and the festival of unleavened bread had to be moved up by one month. The consequences for the origin of passover, the festival of unleavened bread, the festival of weeks and the festival of huts are charted and the relations between the various ancient Israelite festival calendars are determined anew.

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496

Publisher

Otto Harrassowitz Verlag

Published Date

ISBN 10

344705249X

ISBN 13

9783447052498

T&T Clark Handbook of the Old Testament

An Introduction to the Literature, Religion and History of the Old Testament

By: Jan Christian Gertz,Angelika Berlejung,Konrad Schmid,Markus Witte

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T&T Clark Handbook of the Old Testament

An Introduction to the Literature, Religion and History of the Old Testament

By: Jan Christian Gertz,Angelika Berlejung,Konrad Schmid,Markus Witte

Beginning with methods and sources, this Handbook looks at the Biblical text, archaeology, other texts, and iconography. It explores varying exegetical methods, including historical criticism, canonical approach, feminist, social scientific and liberation theology. Methods in archaeology, Hebrew epigraphic and iconography are also covered. The second section is devoted to the history and religious history of Ancient Israel. Introductory matters, such as fundamental terminology and definitions, ethnic identity, ancestors and the dead, geography and time reckoning are explicated before the book moves on to a historical survey from the Iron Age (c. 1200 BCE) to the early Roman period (ending about 63 CE). The heart of the book is a detailed survey of the Hebrew canonical books, section by section and book by book. The discussion for each book includes: biblical presentation and content; problems arising from the history of literary analysis and research; the origin and growth of the writing; the theology; and notes on reception history. This book will provide students with everything they need to study the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

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T&T Clark

Published Date

ISBN 10

0567425290

ISBN 13

9780567425294

Anthropology and Political Science

A Convergent Approach

By: Myron J. Aronoff,Jan Kubik

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Anthropology and Political Science

A Convergent Approach

By: Myron J. Aronoff,Jan Kubik

What can anthropology and political science learn from each other? The authors argue that collaboration, particularly in the area of concepts and methodologies, is tremendously beneficial for both disciplines, though they also deal with some troubling aspects of the relationship. Focusing on the influence of anthropology on political science, the book examines the basic assumptions the practitioners of each discipline make about the nature of social and political reality, compares some of the key concepts each field employs, and provides an extensive review of the basic methods of research that "bridge" both disciplines: ethnography and case study. Through ethnography (participant observation), reliance on extended case studies, and the use of "anthropological" concepts and sensibilities, a greater understanding of some of the most challenging issues of the day can be gained. For example, political anthropology challenges the illusion of the "autonomy of the political" assumed by political science to characterize so-called modern societies. Several chapters include a cross-disciplinary analysis of key concepts and issues: political culture, political ritual, the politics of collective identity, democratization in divided societies, conflict resolution, civil society, and the politics of post-Communist transformations.

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Page Count

368

Publisher

Berghahn Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

085745725X

ISBN 13

9780857457257

Genesis 1-11

By: Jan Christian Gertz

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Genesis 1-11

By: Jan Christian Gertz

Genesis 1-11 considers the origins of the world and how it is ordered, the origin of humanity and the origins of civilization. It is an expression of the basic conviction, widespread in antiquity, that everything present and everything future received its essence in the beginning. In this sense, the biblical Primeval History is less an explanation of the origin of the world than primarily an attempt to understand humanity's experience with itself and its environment in an interpretive way. At the center of this reflection in exemplary narratives, in addition to natural history, genealogy and geography, is humanity in its manifold relationships with its fellow humanity, with non-human Creation, and with God. The commentary offers readers inside and outside the field a clearly understandable synthesis of previous research and places the Primeval History within the context of the literature of the ancient Near East.

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ISBN 10

9042951575

ISBN 13

9789042951570

Book's by Jan Christian Gertz

The Invention of Religion

The Invention of Religion

Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity

Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity

Religio Duplex

Religio Duplex

Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar

Origin and Transformation of the Ancient Israelite Festival Calendar

T&T Clark Handbook of the Old Testament

T&T Clark Handbook of the Old Testament

Anthropology and Political Science

Anthropology and Political Science

Genesis 1-11

Genesis 1-11

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