UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE AS A SCRIPTURE IN HISTORY, CULTURE, AND RELIGION The Bible is a popular subject of study and research, yet biblical studies gives little attention to the reason for its popularity: its religious role as a scripture. Understanding the Bible as a Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion integrates the history of the religious interpretation and ritual uses of biblical books into a survey of their rhetoric, composition, and theology in their ancient contexts. Emphasizing insights from comparative studies of different religious scriptures, it combines discussion of the Bible’s origins with its cultural history into a coherent understanding of its past and present function as a scripture.
A prominent expert on biblical rhetoric and the ritualization of books, James W. Watts describes how Jews and Christians ritualize the Bible by interpreting it, by expressing it in recitations, music, art, and film, and by venerating the physical scroll and book. The first two sections of the book are organized around the Torah and the Gospels—which have been the focus of Jewish and Christian ritualization of scriptures from ancient to modern times—and treat the history of other biblical books in relation to these two central blocks of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. In addition to analyzing the semantic contents of all the Bible’s books as persuasive rhetoric, Watts describes their ritualization in the iconic and expressive dimensions in the centuries since they began to function as a scripture, as well as in their origins in ancient Judaism and Christianity. The third section on the cultural history and scriptural function of modern bibles concludes by discussing their influence today and the controversies they have fueled about history, science, race, and gender.
Innovative and insightful, Understanding the Bible as a Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion is a groundbreaking introduction to the study of the Bible as a scripture, and an ideal textbook for courses in biblical studies and comparative scripture studies.
By:
James W. Watts
Imprint: Blackwell Publishing
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 226mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 590g
ISBN: 9781119730378
ISBN 10: 1119730376
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 13 May 2021
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface 7 Chapter 1: Scripture and Ritual 10 The Three Dimensions of Written Texts 13 Ritualizing Scriptures in Three Dimensions 15 Jewish and Christian Scriptures 18 Manuscripts and Printing 21 Section 1: The Torah as a Scripture 24 Chapter 2: Torah and Pentateuch 25 The Pentateuch in Three Dimensions 26 Scripturalizing Torah in the Time of Ezra 29 Chapter 3: The Torah’s Rhetoric 34 The Torah's Rhetoric of Origins 35 Authority, Sanctions, Readers 48 The Rhetoric of the Deuteronomistic History 62 Chapter 4: The Torah's Iconic Dimension 70 The Pentateuch's Iconic Dimension After Ezra 72 The Pentateuch's Iconic Dimension Before Ezra 92 Ancient Lost-and-Found Books 100 Chapter 5: The Torah's Expressive Dimension 105 Reading Torah after Ezra 109 Songs and Poetry in the Hebrew Bible 123 Expressing the Covenant: the Prophets 128 Expressing Torah Before Ezra 130 Chapter 6: The Torah's Semantic Dimension 138 Interpreting Life: Wisdom Literature 138 The Tanak as a Scripture 141 Promises, Threats, and Apocalyptic 146 Scripturalizing Prophets, Psalms and Wisdom 153 Interpreting Scripture: Scribes and Rabbis 160 Identifying with Israel 171 The Pentateuch Before Ezra 180 Section 2: The Gospels as a Scripture 192 Chapter 7: Rhetoric about Jesus 192 Jesus in the Gospels Paul and his Letters Chapter 8: The Rhetoric of the Gospels The Gospel According to Mark The Gospel According to Matthew The Gospel According to Luke The Gospel According to John Chapter 9: The Gospels’ Iconic Dimension Irenaeus and the Four Gospels Iconic Gospels and Bibles Chapter 10: The Gospels' Expressive Dimension Christian Lectionaries Singing Christian Scriptures The Languages of Christian Scriptures Expert Translators Portraying Jesus in Visual Art and Media Chapter 11: The Gospels' Semantic Dimension Interpreting Jesus’s Death Other Ancient Gospels Women in the Gospels and Ancient Cultures The Gospel before the Gospels Writing Paul's Letters The Search for the Historical Jesus Section 3: The Bible as a Scripture 248 Chapter 12: The Bible's Iconic Dimension 248 Publishing Tanaks and Bibles 248 Relic Books 255 Decalogue Tablets 261 Chapter 13: The Bible's Expressive Dimension 264 The Bible in Art 264 Illustrated Bibles 267 Bible Maps 270 The Bible in Theater and Film 272 Chapter 14: The Bible’s Semantic Dimension 277 Biblical Law and Authority 277 Modern Controversies about Genesis 288 Chapter 15: The History of the Bible as a Scripture 303 Scripturalization and Canonization 303 Understanding the Bible as a Scripture 304 Cited Works and Further Reading 307
