Ritual Legitimacy and Scriptural Authority

In this essay, James W. Watts explains the interdependence of texts and rituals with regard to ancient religions. Specifically, he outlines patterns of practice and developments in the ritual use of texts and the texual authorization of rituals in antiquity. Watts also makes the case that beyond the interplay of texual authority and ritual legitimacy that most ancient cultures engaged in, Judaism was unique in elevating the Torah along with its other laws and stories to special scriptural status

Legitimizing and necessitating inter-faith dialogue: The dynamics of inter-faith for individual faith communities

This is the author's pdf post-refereed preprint of an article published in International Journal of Public Theology© 2010. The definitive version is available at www.brill.nlIn an age in which religion is a burning issue in the geo-political sphere, the need for peoples of different religions to engage in inter-faith dialogue may seem clear; what is less clear is whether there is legitimacy for and imperative to members of individual faith communities to engage with the religious other on the exclusive grounds of their individual faith. This article thus seeks to advocate that theology done in the service of individual faiths needs as a priority to engage in legitimizing and necessitating dialogue with the religious other as the religious other. The article considers the grounds on which exclusivist religious people can undertake inter-faith dialogue. Looking to the need to attend to particularity and the genuine otherness of the religious other, the article advocates that faiths should begin to understand what it is internal to their traditions that makes inter-faith dialogue a necessity for intense and particular religious self-identity. Members of faith communities need to be legitimated on terms internal to their community and by leaders of their community to engage in dialogue with the other: they need to know not only how to engage with the other but also why to engage with the other. Considering the particular tradition of Christianity, the article attends to these themes by seeking hints from scripture and Christ regarding why a Christian should engage with the religious other in order to be more intensely Christian

Qalāwūnid discourse, elite communication and the Mamluk cultural matrix: interpreting a 14th-century panegyric

This article analyses a brief panegyric text from mid-14th-century Egypt, authored by the court scribe Ibrāhīm b. al- Qaysarānī (d. 1352) and dedicated to the Qalāwūnid Mamluk sultan al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl (r. 1342-5). It challenges this panegyric’s standard treatment as a work of history and as a product of court propaganda and connects it to wider issues of Mamluk literary production and social organisation. In doing so, a new understanding of this panegyric emerges within a specific context of Mamluk elite communication and social performance, demonstrating at the same time how such a social semiotic reading of Mamluk cultural expressions generates further insights into the symbiotic interactions between Mamluk culture and society

Ritualization of Texts and Textualization of Ritual in the Codification of Taoist Liturgy

Early in the fifth century in China, the Taoist master began to edit a set of scriptures that had been revealed years earlier. These were the Ling-pao or Spiritual tures, considered to be the second major scriptural development of medieval Taoism. 1 In reconstructing corpus of Ling-pao scriptures from among a multitude and forgeries, Lu worked to present these texts as revelation of the Tao in history, thereby inhibiting further and securing some closure on an early canon. At however, Lu began to codify the ritual material contained scriptures to fashion the liturgical directives that for much of the subsequent Taoist tradition

Post-Soviet Islam : An Anthropological Perspective - Introduction

This is an electronic version of an article published in Rasanayagam, J. (2006). 'Post-Soviet Islam: An Anthropological Perspective - Introduction.' Central Asian Survey 25(3) pp. 219-233. Central Asian Survey is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=journal&issn=0263-4937.Peer reviewedPostprin

The Lord\u27s Anointed: Covenantal Kingship in Psalm 2 and Acts 4

This study examines the title “Christ” as applied to Jesus in Acts 4:25-27. “Christ” or “Anointed One” here is directly connected to Psalm 2:1-2, and ultimately derives from the royal anointing ceremony of Israel. That ceremony symbolizes a commitment by God to the monarch which is made most specific in the Davidic covenant. The Gospel of Luke uses the title “Christ” to connect these Davidic themes to Jesus. In Acts 4:25-27, “Christ” continues to signify Israel’s king backed by the Davidic covenant. The apostles’ reading of Psalm 2 provides a foundation for understanding their own recent persecution and for their hope that the opponents of the King they represent—like those in Psalm 2—will not prevail

Scripturalization and the Aaronide Dynasties

Priests claiming descent from Aaron controlled the high priesthood of temples in Jerusalem and on Mount Gerizim in the Second Temple period. These Aaronides were in a position to influence religious developments in this period, especially the scripturalization of the Torah. The priests’ dynastic claims were probably a significant factor in the elevation of the Pentateuch to scriptural status. This claim can be tested by correlating what little we know about the Aaronide dynasties with what little we know about the scripturalization of two different portions of the Hebrew Bible, the Pentateuch and Ezra-Nehemiah

Teaching evolution in a creationist environment: an approach based on worldviews, not misconceptions

Creationism and intelligent design are becoming more widespread. This article examines the characteristics of religions and the possible relationship between science and religion before going on to consider how science teachers might deal with creationism in their classrooms when teaching evolution. The central argument is that creationism is best seen not as a misconception but as a worldview. The most that a science teacher can normally aspire to is to ensure that students with creationist beliefs understand the scientific position. In the short term, the scientific worldview is unlikely to supplant a creationist one. We can help students to find their science lessons interesting and intellectually challenging without their being threatening. Effective teaching in this area can not only help students learn about the theory of evolution but better to appreciate the way science is done, the procedures by which scientific knowledge accumulates, the limitations of science and the ways in which scientific knowledge differs from other forms of knowledge