Religious Studies Scholarly Works

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What Great Transformation? Continuity, Rupture, and Capitalism in Twenty-First-Century Jewish Studies
(University of Pennsylvania Press (Penn Press), 2020) Brody, Samuel Hayim
When it comes to Jewish politics and religion, contemporary scholarly trends broadly—if cautiously—favor the classic interpretation of modernity as a moment of rupture. When it comes to Jews and economics, however, continuity appears to be preferred. Taking up this disparity as it manifests in Jewish economic history and ethics, this essay argues that greater attention to the concept of capitalism would point back toward rupture, and that such a direction should be considered despite its checkered past. Both poles of Jewish economic history’s essentialist/contextualist divide affirm Jewish economic continuity, albeit in different ways. Essentialists claim that Jews were ushered by historical circumstances into economic niches that prefigured capitalist dynamism and fluidity, while contextualists reinforce liberal ideological notions of an unchanging “economic sphere” even as they attempt to avoid grand narratives. Capitalism, for the former, is seen as having always existed in nuce, even though fettered by environmental, technological, and political factors; for the latter, capitalism is intentionally left underdetermined in order to avoid being drawn back into old debates. If, however, we consider capitalism (with Polanyi and others) a qualitative “great transformation,” both of these descriptive orientations appear problematic. A similar problem appears in Jewish economic ethics, considered here through the example of the Oxford Handbook of Judaism and Economics. Biblical and rabbinic texts on topics defined today as “economic” are read in ways that suggest the perennial existence of contemporary categories. Taking a historical view of capitalism as a qualitatively determinate phenomenon might assist this field’s normative work.
The Way of Humanity: Confucian Wisdom for an Opening World (Teachings of the Korean Philosopher, Haengchon)
(University of Kansas Libraries, 2020) Canda, Edward R.
The Way of Humanity presents a Confucian vision for personal and social transformation intended to bring about a worldwide social order of harmony, dignity, and justice for all peoples, beyond divisive sectarianism and nationalism. It is based on ideals for human flourishing gleaned from Confucian and Neo-Confucian thought as distilled by a highly respected elder philosopher in South Korea, Yi Dong Jun, PhD (Haengchon, literary name). He is Professor Emeritus of the College of Confucian Studies and Eastern Philosophy at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. This work is the first detailed presentation of a contemporary Korean philosopher’s perspective on Confucianism as grounded in daily life, its implications for personal spiritual development, and its potential to contribute to world development. The book holistically presents Master Haengchon’s insights through vivid stories, philosophical essays, numerous illustrations, audio recordings of Confucian chanting, and recommendations for further reading.
Lipa Comes to Necedah
(University of California Press, 2017-11) Zimdars-Swartz, Sandra L.
In the late summer and fall of 1950, Juliet Hughes, a self-appointed promoter of a Marian apparition at Lipa in the Philippines, joined the crowds assembling for apparitions of the Virgin in Necedah, Wisconsin. The story of Hughes’ visits to Necedah—including a miraculous rose petal she brought from Lipa as well as her meetings with visionary Mary Ann Van Hoof and a number of Necedah pilgrims—highlights the importance of person-to-person encounters at an active apparition site. Indeed, the events described here suggest that when miraculous objects and miracle stories are shared among various sites, these encounters can trigger powerful experiences of signs that enable devotees to perceive these apparitions as testifying to the same transcendent reality. These experiences function as building blocks for a global apparition network.
American Indian Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs About Smokeless Tobacco: A Comparison of Two Focus Group Studies
(Springer Verlag, 2017-12) Rollins, Kathryn L.; Lewis, Charley Sabe; Goeckner, Ryan; Pacheco, Joseph A.; Smith, Thomas Edward; Hale, Jason William; Daley, Sean Makosky; Choi, Won S.; Daley, Christine Makosky
Though smokeless tobacco (SLT) use has decreased in many communities, concern for American Indian (AI) SLT use remains, as this population continues to be disproportionally affected by SLT-related diseases. Tobacco has cultural significance to many AI tribes, therefore tobacco cessation messages portraying tobacco as entirely negative may be ineffective. As a part of our formative research for an SLT cessation intervention, we sought to gain a better understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about SLT among AI community members. We describe two independent focus group studies conducted in Montana (ten focus groups, 54 participants) and Kansas (six focus groups, 27 participants). Predominant themes emerged from three major topic areas (SLT use, program development, and recreational SLT use) during the discussions from both studies. The formative approach and data from these studies will allow us to more appropriately address SLT-related health disparities across multiple AI communities.
Genre and Rewritten Scripture: A Reassessment
(Society of Biblical Literature, 2012) Zahn, Molly M.
The Problem of Characterizing the 4QReworked Pentateuch Manuscripts: Bible, Rewritten Bible, or None of the Above?
(Brill Academic Publishers, 2008) Zahn, Molly M.
This article engages the problem of whether the five manuscripts classified as 4QReworked Pentateuch (4Q158, 4Q364–367) should be considered extrabiblical compositions or simply expansive copies of the Pentateuch. Since similar methods of reworking scripture appear in both types of text, focusing on the ways scripture is reworked in the 4QRP manuscripts cannot solve the problem. Other criteria such as the literary voice, scope, and coverage of a work are more promising. The fragmentary state of the texts, however, precludes a definitive solution and requires that multiple possibilities be considered.
4QReworked Pentateuch C and the Literary Sources of the Temple Scroll: A New (Old) Proposal
(Brill Academic Publishers, 2012) Zahn, Molly M.
This essay proposes a new understanding of the literary history of the Temple Scroll in light of its relationship with 4QReworked Pentateuch C (4Q365 + 365a). It begins from the argument that 4QRP C includes the five fragments labeled 4Q365a (4QTemple?), and that 4QRP C should be regarded as an expanded edition of the Pentateuch. Substantial parallels between 4QRP C (both 4Q365 and 4Q365a) and the Temple Scroll raise the possibility that an expanded Pentateuch resembling 4QRP C could have constituted the main source with which the Temple Scroll’s redactor worked. This proposal departs from the usual understanding of the Scroll as comprised of several lightly-reworked, independent sources. Instead, it situates the composition of the Temple Scroll more firmly in the context of the ongoing scribal reworking of scripture in the Second Temple period.
Torah for ‘The Age of Wickedness’: The Authority of the Damascus and Serekh Texts in Light of Biblical and Rewritten Traditions
(Brill Academic Publishers, 2013) Zahn, Molly M.
Considerable attention has been paid recently to the similarities between the composition and development of biblical texts, rewritten scripture-type texts, and the major Qumran rule scrolls. This study adds a new dimension to that work by comparing the authority claims of the Damascus Document (D) and the Community Rule (S) with those made by Deuteronomy, the Temple Scroll, and Jubilees. While D and S lack the pseudepigraphic self-presentation of the others, they share with them a concern to present themselves as the most authentic expression of God’s revealed will. D and S resemble Deuteronomy in particular in their use of several specific literary techniques to claim authority by means of asserting a close relationship with existing authoritative revelation.
The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Scribal Culture of Second Temple Judaism
(Brill Academic Publishers, 2015) Zahn, Molly M.
The Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), along with its Qumran forebears, has deservedly been regarded as a key source of information for understanding the scribal culture of early Judaism. Yet studies have tended to emphasize the relative uniformity of the characteristic pre-SP readings as evidence of a scribal approach distinct within Second Temple Judaism. This article argues that both the uniformity and the distinctiveness of these readings have been overstated: there is more internal diversity within pre-SP than is usually recognized, and similar or identical readings are also preserved in other manuscript traditions. Rather than representing a distinctive scribal approach or school, the readings of pre-SP are better taken as a particularly concentrated example of scribal attitudes and techniques that appear to have been widespread in early Judaism.
The Coptic Wizard's Hoard
(Cambridge University Press, 1994-10-01) Mirecki, Paul A.
Within the large collection of ancient manuscripts at the University of Michigan there is a group of Coptic papyri which appears to have been a hoard or library of ancient magical texts. Produced by five copyists sometime in the fourth through seventh centuries and originating from a now unknown location in Egypt, the collection was brought to the British Museum by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge in February 1921 for restoration by C. T. Lamacraft; in August of that year, it underwent philological examination by the Coptic lexicographer Walter E. Crum, and was later forwarded to the University of Michigan.
Academic Integrity and the Study of New Religious Movements: Introduction
(University of California Press, 1998-10-01) Miller, Timothy
No abstract is available for this item.
No Oil: The coming Utopia/Dystopia and Communal Possibilities
(Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Letras, 2006-03-01) Miller, Timothy
No abstract is available for this item.
The Evolution of American Spiritual Communities, 1965–2009
(University of California Press, 2010-02-01) Miller, Timothy
The great outpouring of new religious and spiritual movements in the United States after 1965 led to the formation of thousands of spiritual intentional communities. Those communities were based in all the world's major religions, as well as in new expressions of religion articulated by a rising generation of independent spiritual teachers. Many communities gathered around charismatic leaders, and quite a few of them continued after the leader died or stepped down. Over time those communities that survived evolved in form and outlook; in some cases once-authoritative leaders were deposed, and in others the death or departure of a leader led to changes in the group. External social pressure in several cases influenced various groups' developmental trajectories. This paper examines the histories of several religious communal groups, focusing on ones that have survived and exploring the modifications they have undertaken as their members have matured.
Was Valerius Maxumus a Hack?
(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013) Welch, Tara S.
Valerius Maximus’ Facta et dicta memorabilia blends elements of Roman declamation and historiography. Scrutiny of this text’s intertextual practices sheds light on the relationship it creates between its contents and its readers. Whereas declamation’s textual re-use aims to draw attention to the declaimer’s skill at adapting material, and historiographers invoke prior texts to borrow the earlier author’s authority, Valerius Maximus includes prior texts in ways that obscure both his own skill and his source’s authority. The attention he draws to an authorless “tradition,” of which he is a part, makes the lessons his text contains available to an audience previously excluded from Roman literary culture.

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