Poverty in the Social World of the Wise

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68560/2/10.1177_030908928701203704.pd

In Praise of Darwin: George Romanes and the Evolution of a Darwinian Believer.

George John Romanes, close friend and colleague of Darwin, remains a terribly misunderstood figure in the history of evolutionary science. Although his scientific contributions have been valued, his religious journey has been either neglected or misjudged. Typically scholars only acknowledge some of the work on theism he did at the very end of his life and usually blame his wife for doctoring the record with her pieties. His extensive poetry writing, much of it religious, has never been explored and his Memorial Poem to Darwin has been completely overlooked. The recent discovery of the original typescript of the poem, lost for more than a century and reprinted in this book for the first time, allows us to enter the mind of a major Darwinian as we watch him struggle to put together faith and science on a positive basis. The typescript of the Memorial Poem contains numerous corrections inserted by Romanes as well as several handwritten poems. The recovery of this unique poetic exploration is a major event for Darwin studies and Pleins is the first author to study it and draw out its full significance in the history of the religion/science debate. Pleins recounts Romanes\u27s journey from belief to skepticism and back to faith as he arrives at a new understanding of the religious implications of Darwin\u27s theory of evolution. Throughout, Romanes shows how it is possible for a Darwinian to reframe in creative ways the relation between faith and science. Given that many today invoke Darwin to legitimate an atheistic enterprise, the publication of this poem composed by one of the original Darwinians will spark new discussions regarding these questions.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1079/thumbnail.jp

Biblical Ethics and the Poor: the Language and Structures of Poverty in the Writings of the Hebrew Prophets (Oppression, Exploitation, Justice, Injustice).

This study offers an examination of the terms for poor found in the prophetic writings--'ebyon, dal, ('c)an(')i, and ('c)anaw. Investigated here is the thesis that the prophets understood poverty to be an unjust structural feature of ancient Israel's socio-economic order. Studies on poverty in the Hebrew Bible have often focused on the Psalms to the neglect of the prophetic material; this emphasis misled scholars to believe that the pious poor were an important religious and political force in Israel. With the advent of "biblical sociology" at the turn of this century attention has increasingly been placed on the social aspects of the prophetic call for justice. The contributions of early biblical sociologists, the social gospel movement, and liberation theology are considered in particular. The distribution, linguistic associations, and semantic range of these terms is examined. The attempts by scholars to derive meaning from etymology is seen to be deficient, pointing up the need for a study of the terms in their historical and social context. A survey of the specific contexts in which the terms appear in the prophetic writings shows that the prophets understood poverty to be the result of the exploitation of the peasant populace by the power elite. Wealth came into the h and s of the elite through a network of structures--political, economic, and legal. Significant reinterpretation of 'an(')i takes place in Second Isaiah, where the term applied to the exiled nation. The prophetic perspective is compared to the legal and wisdom traditions. While portions of Amos and Isaiah appear to derive from the Covenant Code, the prophetic concerns do beyond the law codes. The prophets exerted no influence on the Deuteronomic reforms. Proverbs prefers the term dal, adding ras and mahsor. The text has royal associations and reveals an underst and ing of poverty different from that of the prophets. The vocabulary and concerns of the book of Job are similar to those of the prophets.Ph.D.TheologyBiblical studiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161149/1/8621355.pd

Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student\u27s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament

Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories by J. David Pleins with Jonathan Homrighausen is an innovative study reference intended for both introductory and advanced students of the Hebrew language to help them understand and remember vocabulary based on logical categories of related words. Since our minds acquire and recall language by making associations between related words it is only natural that we would study language in this way. By organizing Hebrew vocabulary into logical categories, as opposed to frequency, students can quickly begin to familiarize themselves with entire groups of terms and more readily acquaint themselves with the ranges of meaning of particular Hebrew words. This reference tool focuses on nouns in the Old Testament, and includes over 175 word grouping categories including pottery, ships, birds, jewelry, seasons, and many more. For each Hebrew term a definition is given and a reference in the Hebrew Bible appears so readers can see the word in context. For many words additional lexical references are indicated where students can look for further study. Words that hapax legomena (words appearing only once in the Hebrew Bible) are marked with an H and words that are rare and appear less than 10 times are marked with an R. Two helpful appendices equip students for further study, these include 1) a Guide for Further Reading where recommendations are given for helpful resources for studying the larger macro categories and 2) Lists of cluster verses where several words in a given category appear together, giving students the ability to see how these words function together in context. Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories is intended to move students beyond rote memorization to a more dynamic grasp of Hebrew vocabulary, ultimately equipping them to read with more fluidity and with a deeper and more intuitive grasp of the biblical text.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1357/thumbnail.jp

The Evolving God: Charles Darwin on the Naturalness of Religion

In focusing on the story of Darwin\u27s religious doubts, scholars too often overlook Darwin\u27s positive contribution to the study of religion. J. David Pleins traces Darwin\u27s journey in five steps. He begins with Darwin\u27s global voyage, where his encounter with religious and cultural diversity transformed his understanding of religion. Surprisingly, Darwin wrestles with serious theological questions even as he uncovers the evolutionary layers of religion from savage roots. Next, we follow Darwin as his doubts about traditional biblical religion take root, affecting his career choice and marriage to Emma Wedgwood. Pleins then examines Darwin\u27s secret notebooks as he searches for a materialist theory of religion. Again, other surprises loom as Darwin\u27s reading of Comte\u27s three stages of religion\u27s development actually predate his reading of Malthus. Pleins explores how Darwin applied his discovery to the realm of ethics by formulating an evolutionary view of the Golden Rule in his Descent of Man. Finally, he considers Darwin\u27s later reflections on the religion question, as he wrestled with whether his views led to atheism, agnosticism, or a new kind of theism. The Evolving God concludes by looking at some of the current religious debates surrounding Darwin and suggests the need for a deeper appreciation for Darwin as a religious thinker. Though he grew skeptical of traditional Christian dogma, Darwin made key discoveries concerning the role and function of religion as a natural evolutionary phenomenon.https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1108/thumbnail.jp

The Bible & Liberation the Psalms. : Song of tragedy, hope, and Justice.

New Yorkx, 229 p.; 21 cm

The Social visions of the Hebrew Bible : A Theological introduction

Kentxii, 592 p.; 23 c