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

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE AS A SCRIPTURE IN HISTORY, CULTURE, AND RELIGIONThe 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 7Chapter 1: Scripture and Ritual 10The Three Dimensions of Written Texts 13Ritualizing Scriptures in Three Dimensions 15Jewish and Christian Scriptures 18Manuscripts and Printing 21Section 1: The Torah as a Scripture 24Chapter 2: Torah and Pentateuch 25The Pentateuch in Three Dimensions 26Scripturalizing Torah in the Time of Ezra 29Chapter 3: The Torah's Rhetoric 34The Torah's Rhetoric of Origins 35Authority, Sanctions, Readers 48The Rhetoric of the Deuteronomistic History 62Chapter 4: The Torah's Iconic Dimension 70The Pentateuch's Iconic Dimension After Ezra 72The Pentateuch's Iconic Dimension Before Ezra 92Ancient Lost-and-Found Books 100Chapter 5: The Torah's Expressive Dimension 105Reading Torah after Ezra 109Songs and Poetry in the Hebrew Bible 123Expressing the Covenant: the Prophets 128Expressing Torah Before Ezra 130Chapter 6: The Torah's Semantic Dimension 138Interpreting Life: Wisdom Literature 138The Tanak as a Scripture 141Promises, Threats, and Apocalyptic 146Scripturalizing Prophets, Psalms and Wisdom 153Interpreting Scripture: Scribes and Rabbis 160Identifying with Israel 171The Pentateuch Before Ezra 180Section 2: The Gospels as a Scripture 192Chapter 7: Rhetoric about Jesus 192Jesus in the GospelsPaul and his LettersChapter 8: The Rhetoric of the GospelsThe Gospel According to MarkThe Gospel According to MatthewThe Gospel According to LukeThe Gospel According to JohnChapter 9: The Gospels' Iconic DimensionIrenaeus and the Four GospelsIconic Gospels and BiblesChapter 10: The Gospels' Expressive DimensionChristian LectionariesSinging Christian ScripturesThe Languages of Christian ScripturesExpert TranslatorsPortraying Jesus in Visual Art and MediaChapter 11: The Gospels' Semantic DimensionInterpreting Jesus's DeathOther Ancient GospelsWomen in the Gospels and Ancient CulturesThe Gospel before the GospelsWriting Paul's LettersThe Search for the Historical JesusSection 3: The Bible as a Scripture 248Chapter 12: The Bible's Iconic Dimension 248Publishing Tanaks and Bibles 248Relic Books 255Decalogue Tablets 261Chapter 13: The Bible's Expressive Dimension 264The Bible in Art 264Illustrated Bibles 267Bible Maps 270The Bible in Theater and Film 272Chapter 14: The Bible's Semantic Dimension 277Biblical Law and Authority 277Modern Controversies about Genesis 288Chapter 15: The History of the Bible as a Scripture 303Scripturalization and Canonization 303Understanding the Bible as a Scripture 304Cited 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
• 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