A cutting-edge introduction to how the Bible functions as a scripture, and how it came to be ritualized in this way.
Understanding the Bible as A Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion is a unique introduction to the Bible, describing how Jews and Christians ritualize scripture by interpreting it, by expressing it in recitations, music, and art, and by venerating the physical scroll and book.
Biblical studies tend to focus on questions of how and when the books of the Bible were composed, edited, and canonized as scripture. James W. Watts writes this introduction to the Bible from the perspectives of comparative scriptures and religious studies that include but go beyond such historical and literary issues. He organizes Parts 1 and 2 of the book around the Torah and Gospels, which have been the focus of Jewish and Christian ritualization of scriptures until modern times. Then one-volume printed bibles became common, which are the focus of the Part 3. He describes how the books of the Bible have been used in the centuries since they began to function as a scripture, and the origins of their ritualization in ancient Judaism and Christianity. The book:
- Analyzes the semantic contents of all of the Bible’s books as persuasive rhetoric
- Gives equal space to the Bible’s ritualization in the iconic and expressive dimensions as to its semantic interpretation
- Fully integrates the cultural history of the Bible with its influence on Jewish and Christian ritual, and in art, music, theatre, and film
- Concludes with the cultural influence of modern bibles and the controversies they have fueled about history, science, race, and gender
Understanding the Bible as A Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion is a groundbreaking work that highlights new research data and organizes the material to focus attention on the Bible’s function as a scripture.
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
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