Understanding the Bible As a Scripture in History, Culture, and - Religio

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.

List of contents

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

About the author

JAMES W. WATTS is Professor in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. He is the author of How and Why Books Matter (2019), Understanding the Pentateuch as a Scripture (Wiley Blackwell, 2017), Leviticus 1-10 (2013), and Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture (2007). He is a co-founder of SCRIPT, The Society for Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts.

Summary

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.

Report

Watts's 2017 textbook, Understanding the Pentateuch as a Scripture, is "wide-ranging yet admirably focused," and also: "Intended as a textbook, this work in fact has a good deal to teach biblical critics. But it will also prove wonderfully useful to undergraduate and seminary students." Benjamin Sommer in Review of Biblical Literature (2019);
 
and: ""Watts is to be congratulated for this achievement in which his competence is coupled with a deep sense of measure and balance in his judgments." Jean-Louis Ska in the Review of Biblical Literature (2020)

Product details

• Authors: James W Watts, James W. Watts, Jw Watts, Watts James W.
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2021
• EAN: 9781119730378
• ISBN: 978-1-119-73037-8
• No. of pages: 384
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Christianity; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; Bibel, Biblical Studies, Religion & Theology, Religion u. Theologie, Bibelstudien