DOCSLIB.ORG

Thesis Hsf 2006 Aggett M (1).Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Thesis Hsf 2006 Aggett M (1).Pdf The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town JESUS'RESURRECTION: A mSTORY OF ITS INTERPRETATION FROM REIMARUS TO THE PRESENT MICHAEL AGGETT AGGMICOOI ape Town A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award ofthe degree of Master of Arts in Jewish Studies sity of C Faculty of the Humanities UniverUniversity of Cape Town 2006 This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. Signature: Date: /") ABSTRACT JESUS' RESURRECTION: A mSTORY OF ITS INTERPRETATION FROM REIMARUS TO THE PRESENT This dissertation looks at the scholarly interpretation of Jesus' resurrection from the time of Reimarus's work in the mid-eighteenth century to the present by examining the work often scholars representing different periods. Seven scholars considered in this dissertation are deceased: Hermann Reimarus (rationalism and scepticism); Heinrich Paulus (extreme rationalism); Friedrich Schleiermacher (close of rationalism); David Strauss (mythical interpretation); Johannes Weiss (apocalyptic interpretation); Rudolph Bultmann (history of religions, kerygma, demythologising and existentialism) and Karl Barth (centrality of Jesus Christ). Three contemporary scholars are included: Wolfhart Pannenberg (diligent truth seeking); John Dominic Crossan (radical textual criticism) and N.T. 'Tom' Wright (traditional Christian interpretation). The historicity of Jesus; the early Church's resurrection belief recorded in its ancient creeds; the advent of the Enlightenment following the Church Fathers, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance and the Reformation, and the earliest attempts to portray the historical Jesus are outlined in the Introduction. ape Town Each scholar is then placed in his own time period, and discussed individually: roughly, an opening paragraph outlines his general importance to scholarship, then his major contribution(s) to the understanding of Jesus' resurrection is indicated. A short biographical sketch is followed by a description of his major general theological and philosophical convictions. The individual's interpretation of Jesus' resurrection is then outlined, more or less subdivided into five: Jesus' death, his burial, Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, his ascension, and Paul's Damascus roadsity experience. of Scholarly C criticisms, past and present, positive and negative, are noted before the chapter is closed with my own criticism, and a short recapitulation. (The chapter on Strauss has been arranged somewhat differently: it is written chronologically to help illustrate the way his views changed significantly over time). Salient issues encounteredUniver in the body of the dissertation are summarized in the Conclusion. Then, recent research undertaken by Gary Habermas is presented, suggesting that contemporary scholarship from the English, French and German-speaking world presently favours a traditional, bodily interpretation of Jesus' resurrection. Michael John Aggett 9, Griselda Place SOMERSET WEST 7130 SOUTH AFRICA Tele/fax (021) 8513457 e-mail [email protected] ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I am indebted to the following people for their assistance and support: my supervisors, Professor C.A. (Chuck) Wanamaker who, guiding me from start to fmish, taught me the rudiments of academic thinking and writing and Professor Milton Shain who encouraged me to keep going; the librarians of the Chancellor Oppenheimer Library, University of Cape Town and the J.S. Gericke and Theological School Libraries, University of Stellen bosch who so cheerfully helped me with my research; Mavis, my wife, for ongoing unselfish care and, not least, Tim for computer trouble-shooting. ape Town sityDEDICATION: of C These efforts are dedicatedUniver to my family: Mavis, David, Stephen, Jonathan, Simon, Timothy and my recently deceased parents, Aubrey and Joy. iii 'In any case, in talking about the past we lie apewith every Town breath we draw' William Maxwell in So Long, See You Tomorrow sity of C Univer iv Scriptural quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from the New Revised Standard Versionape of the Bible. Town sity of C Univer v CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and DEDICATION ii CONTENTS v PREFACE vi 1 INTRODUCTION 1 la Early Christian belief 1b Towards the Age of Enlightenment 2 REIMARUS 5 3 PAULUS 13 4 SCHLEIERMACHER ape Town20 5 STRAUSS 28 6 WEISS 38 7 BULTMANN 48 8 BARm sity of C 59 9 PANNENBERG 67 10 CROSSAN 79 11 WRIGHT Univer 91 12 CONCLUSION 104 13 WORKS CITED 107 vi PREFACE In 1966, as a second-year medical student, I faced the claims of traditional Christianity. I investigated and concluded that Christianity stood or fell over the question of Jesus' resurrection. In could satisfy myself that Jesus had 'risen physically from the dead' I would accept the Christian position as essentially true. I examined, therefore, the resurrection claim in some detail: How reliable were the Gospel records? Had Jesus' corpse been stolen; who might have profited thereby? Why did the authorities (Roman or Jewish) never produce his body and terminate the growing belief that Jesus was alive? How likely was it that the women were unable to relocate Jesus' burial place and, coming to a similar empty tomb, hallucinated? Similarly, were Jesus' followers likely hallucination candidates? How plausible was the 'Swoon Theory'? Whence the disciples' newly-found courage? How likely was it that several (traditionally eleven) of the twelve apostles, dispersed around the known world preaching the resurrection, would die martyrs' deaths for falsehood? Was the resurrection deliberate lie, myth or legend? I found the evidence for Jesus' resurrection compelling and, after reflection, allied myself with the local believing Christian community. This understanding, furthermore, had, authenticated for apeme the reality Town of God, the Old Testament and Judaism, and I concurred with Sir Norman Anderson, formerly Professor of Oriental Laws and Director ofthe Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in the University of London, who wrote: Easter is not primarily a comfort, but a challenge. Its message is either the supreme fact in history or else a gigantic hoax ... [w]e ourselves find it hard to see the issue so clear-cut, for ours is a tolerant age and one suspicious of all fanaticism. Most people sityhave not the of slightest C desire to attack the Easter message; and yet they only half believe it. To them it is a beautiful story, full of spiritual meaning: why worry, then, whether it is literal fact? But we miss the point. Either it is infinitely more than a beautiful story, or else it is infinitelyUniver less. If [the physical resurrection of Jesus] is true, then it is the supreme fact of history; and to fail to adjust one's life to its implications means irreparable loss. But if it is not true, if Christ be not risen, then the whole of Christianity is a fraud, foisted on the world by a company of consummate liars, or, at best, deluded simpletons. St. Paul himself realized this when he wrote, 'If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching meaningless, and your faith worthless. More, we ourselves are found to be false witnesses' [1 Cor. 15: 14,15]. So that is the issue, and it is vital for us to come to a decision about it one way or the other (Anderson 1950, I with my highlights). In January 2001, I registered for a post-graduate degree in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University of Cape Town. For my Master's thesis I had hoped to research the lives of the twelve Apostles, because I supposed their stories and fate would help me understand what they knew and believed concerning the resurrection. Very little reliable information, however, is available on the Apostles and I was advised it would not be a vii suitable dissertation topic. I decided, therefore, to re-evaluate the resurrection from an academic perspective: Why do so many individuals and scholars (Christian and non-Christian) minimize and even deny outright Jesus' resurrection? What new insights has modem scholarship provided? How should the several inconsistencies and contradictions between the four resurrection accounts be explained? Was Jesus' body, post-crucifixion, thrown into an unknown grave with other executed criminals? What did and do Jesus' contemporaries, the early disciples, the Gospel writers, Church historians and secular scholars understand by the term 'resurrection'? Has the meaning of the word changed over time? Did cultural perspectives concerning 'resurrection' during New Testament times differ significantly from our own? What was Paul's actual experience of the resurrected Jesus? Did he see a physical Jesus; was it a vision or a spiritual experience? Did Paul and the eleven have different experiences of the resurrected Jesus? Were the gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection influenced by Gnostic teaching? What contributions do the early secular historians and the extra-canonical writings make to our understanding of the resurrection? Is there historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection? Can the resurrection
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Article Constitutional Bad Faith
    VOLUME 129 FEBRUARY 2016 NUMBER 4 © 2016 by The Harvard Law Review Association ARTICLE CONSTITUTIONAL BAD FAITH David E. Pozen CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 886 I. BAD FAITH BASICS ............................................................................................................... 890 II. JUDICIAL TOLERATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL BAD FAITH ..................................... 896 A. Doctrinal Responses ......................................................................................................... 897 1. Explicit Enforcement Zones ....................................................................................... 898 2. Implicit Enforcement Zones ....................................................................................... 902 3. Nonenforcement Zones ................................................................................................ 905 B. Explanations ...................................................................................................................... 909 III. VARIETIES OF CONSTITUTIONAL BAD FAITH ............................................................. 918 A. Subjective Bad Faith ....................................................................................................... 920 1. Dishonesty .................................................................................................................... 920 2. Disloyalty .....................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Three Point Five
    Religious Neutrality Chapter Three Draft: Feb. 14, 2011 Please do not cite or quote Chapter Three The American Specification of Neutrality Secularism in the United States has never been a secularism of governmental religion-blindness.1 Rather, it is secularism of a religion-friendly kind, which aims at broad, nondenominational support for religion while remaining neutral among religious factions. Neutrality’s fluidity means that it can vary in both its conceptual scope and its field of application. Religious neutrality, for example, could mean neutrality among varieties of Protestantism, or varieties of Christianity, or varieties of monotheism, or something even broader and vaguer. Whatever conceptual scope is attributed to it, the obligation of neutrality could be held to apply only to judges, or to both judges and legislators, or to citizens when voting. In this chapter, I will examine the specific variety of neutrality that has been followed in American law. It has never stopped treating religion as a distinctive human good. That neutrality, however, has shifted over time, becoming vaguer and more inclusive. Modes of secularism Which specification of neutrality we actually adopt will depend on our substantive reasons for adopting neutrality in the first place. Bruce Ackerman (who capitalizes “Neutrality” because it is the master concept of his political theory) observes that “it would be a category mistake to imagine that there could be a Neutral justification for the practice of Neutral justification – for Neutrality makes no sense except as a part of the practice it constitutes.”2 It is not possible to be blind to an issue with respect to which one has resolved to remain neutral.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sources of Islamic Revolutionary Conduct
    Joint Military Intelligence College LAMBERT Y Y The Sources of Islamic Revolutionary Conduct TEL IN LIG Y E R N A C T E I L C I O M L L T E N G I E O J 1962 Major Stephen P. Lambert U.S. Air Force TEL IN LIG Y E R N A C ISBN 1-932946-02-0 T E PCN 56747 I L C I O M L L T E N G I E O J 1962 The Joint Military Intelligence College supports and encourages research on intelligence issues that distills lessons and improves Intelligence Community capabilities for policy-level and operational consumers Y: The Sources of Islamic Revolutionary Conduct, Major Stephen P. Lambert, U.S. Air Force This product has been reviewed by senior experts from academia and government, and has been approved for unrestricted distribution by the Directorate for Freedom of Information and Security Review, Washington Headquarters Services. It is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service (www.ntis.gov). The author has also arranged for publication of this study through the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. The projected publication date is 2005. The Hoover Institution book includes commentar- ies on Major Lambert’s work by an even greater variety of scholars than included in the present book. [email protected], Editor and Director Center for Strategic Intelligence Research Library of Congress Control Number 2004114330 ISBN 1-932946-02-0 Y The Sources of Islamic Revolutionary Conduct Major Stephen P. Lambert, U.S. Air Force Research Fellow In g ic t e e g ll t ii a g e r n tt c SS c ee rr R R o o e e f f s s e e r r a a e e t r t r n c n Joint Military c e h e h C Intelligence College C WASHINGTON, DC April 2005 With the cooperation and support of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) USAF Academy, Colorado Springs The views expressed in this book are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Burns* (Skidmore College)
    Klesis – Revue philosophique – 2011 : 19 – Autour de Leo Strauss Leo Strauss’s Life and Work Timothy Burns* (Skidmore College) I. Life Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was a German-born American political philosopher of Jewish heritage who revived the study of political philosophy in the 20 th century. His complex philosophical reflections exercise a quietly growing, deep influence in America, Europe, and Asia. Strauss was born in the rural town of Kirchhain in Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, on September 20, 1899, to Hugo and Jenny David Strauss. He attended Kirchhain’s Volksschule and the Rektoratsschule before enrolling, in 1912, at the Gymnasium Philippinum in Marburg, graduating in 1917. The adolescent Strauss was immersed in Hermann Cohen’s neo-Kantianism, the most progressive German-Jewish thinking. “Cohen,” Strauss states, “was the center of attraction for philosophically minded Jews who were devoted to Judaism.” After serving in the German army for a year and a half, Strauss began attending the University at Marburg, where he met Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jacob Klein. In 1921 he went to Hamburg, where he wrote his doctoral thesis under Ernst Cassirer. In 1922, Strauss went to the University of Freiburg-im-Breisgau for a post- doctoral year, in order to see and hear Edmund Husserl, but he also attended lecture courses given by Martin Heidegger. He participated in Franz Rosenzweig’s Freies Jüdisches Lehrhaus in Frankfurt-am-Main, and published articles in Der Jude and the Jüdische Rundschau . One of these articles, on Cohen’s analysis of Spinoza, brought Strauss to the attention of Julius Guttmann, who in 1925 offered him a position researching Jewish Philosophy at the Akademie für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin.
    [Show full text]
  • Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil.Pdf
    Leo Strauss Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil A course offered in 1971–1972 St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland Edited and with an introduction by Mark Blitz With the assistance of Jay Michael Hoffpauir and Gayle McKeen With the generous support of Douglas Mayer Mark Blitz is Fletcher Jones Professor of Political Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College. He is author of several books on political philosophy, including Heidegger’s Being and Time and the Possibility of Political Philosophy (Cornell University Press, 1981) and Plato’s Political Philosophy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010), and many articles, including “Nietzsche and Political Science: The Problem of Politics,” “Heidegger’s Nietzsche (Part I),” “Heidegger’s Nietzsche (Part II),” “Strauss’s Laws, Government Practice and the School of Strauss,” and “Leo Strauss’s Understanding of Modernity.” © 1976 Estate of Leo Strauss © 2014 Estate of Leo Strauss. All Rights Reserved Table of Contents Editor’s Introduction i–viii Note on the Leo Strauss Transcript Project ix–xi Editorial Headnote xi–xii Session 1: Introduction (Use and Abuse of History; Zarathustra) 1–19 Session 2: Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorisms 1–9 20–39 Session 3: BGE, Aphorisms 10–16 40–56 Session 4: BGE, Aphorisms 17–23 57–75 Session 5: BGE, Aphorisms 24–30 76–94 Session 6: BGE, Aphorisms 31–35 95–114 Session 7: BGE, Aphorisms 36–40 115–134 Session 8: BGE, Aphorisms 41–50 135–152 Session 9: BGE, Aphorisms 51–55 153–164 Session 10: BGE, Aphorisms 56–76 (and selections) 165–185 Session 11: BGE, Aphorisms 186–190 186–192 Session 12: BGE, Aphorisms 204–213 193–209 Session 13 (unrecorded) 210 Session 14: BGE, Aphorism 230; Zarathustra 211–222 Nietzsche, 1971–72 i Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil Mark Blitz Leo Strauss offered this seminar on Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil at St John’s College in Annapolis Maryland.
    [Show full text]
  • Strauss's Life of Jesus
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Electronic Texts in American Studies Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln 1840 Strauss’s Life of Jesus Theodore Parker West Roxbury Unitarian Church Paul Royster (depositor) University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas Part of the American Studies Commons Parker, Theodore and Royster, Paul (depositor), "Strauss’s Life of Jesus" (1840). Electronic Texts in American Studies. 7. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Texts in American Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published originally in the Christian Examiner for April, 1840. Reprinted STRAUSS’S LIFE OF JESUS 249 from The Critical and Miscellaneous Writings of Theodore Parker (Bos- ton: James Munroe and Company, 1843), pp. 248–308. a great light in his time. Some thought that Theology died with him. A few, perhaps more than a few, at one time doubted his soundness in the faith, for he studied Philosophy, the Philos- ophy of Wolf, and there are always men, in Pulpits and Par- Strauss’s Life of Jesus. lors, who think Philosophy is curious in unnecessary matters, meddling with things that are too high for the human arm to reach. Such was the case in Baumgarten’s time in Halle of Sax- Das Leben Jesu, Kritisch bearbeitet von Dr. DAVID FRIEDERICH STRAUSS.
    [Show full text]
  • The Word-Of-God Conflict in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in the 20Th Century
    Luther Seminary Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary Master of Theology Theses Student Theses Spring 2018 The Word-of-God Conflict in the utherL an Church Missouri Synod in the 20th Century Donn Wilson Luther Seminary Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/mth_theses Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Wilson, Donn, "The Word-of-God Conflict in the utherL an Church Missouri Synod in the 20th Century" (2018). Master of Theology Theses. 10. https://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/mth_theses/10 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Theology Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. THE WORD-OF-GOD CONFLICT IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH MISSOURI SYNOD IN THE 20TH CENTURY by DONN WILSON A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Luther Seminary In Partial Fulfillment, of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF THEOLOGY THESIS ADVISER: DR. MARY JANE HAEMIG ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 2018 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Mary Jane Haemig has been very helpful in providing input on the writing of my thesis and posing critical questions. Several years ago, she guided my independent study of “Lutheran Orthodoxy 1580-1675,” which was my first introduction to this material. The two trips to Wittenberg over the January terms (2014 and 2016) and course on “Luther as Pastor” were very good introductions to Luther on-site.
    [Show full text]
  • Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity
    = . t I I1 . " I Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity " . • .. .. if J 1 I Nietzsche's Critique of, Christianity: An Exposition of ..The Anti-Christ ... ,"By Bruee Kinsey Ward, B.A. \ t A Thesis Submitted to the SChool of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree -Master· of Arts ~ter University Jiule, 1~75. , -- 't Master of Arts (1975) McMaster Univeraity • (Religion) Hamilton, Ontario. Title: Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity: An Exposition of ---.The Anti-Christ ? • Author: Bruce Kinsey Ward, B.A. (University of T?ronto) Supervisor: Dr. George P. Grant. Number of Pages: 125 o '. Scope and Purpose: This thesis a~tempts to set forth clearly what Nietzsche says about. Christianity in -The Anti-Christ. Its goal is the achievement of an adequate understanding of Nietzsche's critique of Chris~anity;' it is not meant to be a critical ( evaluation o~ that critique. • . I o -, Acknowledgements I would like to thank the supervisor of this thesis, .;) .~. ,.' ~ .. ..;.;'"'~ Dr. G. P. Grant. His exeellence as a thinker and as a teacher has been deeply appreciated in the course of my study of Nietzsch,e. ...' .' . ... ~ .. .. "'''-4- ~. ~... _-;I .' -:. -- -~ ;", ~ 4;1 -/ '" " I·t Contents Chapter Page Int roduct1~ 1 I: The Necessity for a Critique of oi' Christianity in Nietzsche's Thought 6 II: The Method of Nietzsche" s Critique of Christianity in The Anti-Chr~st 3S ."I An Exposition of ~e Anti-Christ: Nietzsche's Critique of Jesus 69 IV: An Exposition of The Anti-christ: Nietzsche's Critique of Christianity 89 Bibliography 125 / , , INTRODUCTION The subject of this thesis is the critique of Christianity contained in Friedrich Nietzsche's book, The Anti-Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • Reinterpretations of the Historical Jesus
    Scholars Crossing LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations 1996 Reinterpretations of the Historical Jesus Gary R. Habermas Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs Recommended Citation Habermas, Gary R., "Reinterpretations of the Historical Jesus" (1996). LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations. 38. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs/38 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, College Press Publishing, 1996. Chapter IV Reinterpretations of the Historical Jesus In addition to the major historical approaches presented in the last chapter, many have attempted to write more-or-less popular lives of Jesus. These authors often advocate unorthodox interpretations: Jesus never died on the cross; he was connected with the Qumran community; someone else changed his message to fit their own desires; he traveled to various parts of the word during the so called "silent years" or even after the crucifixion. While such works are given virtually no attention by careful scholars, these attempts are sometimes very popular with those who are unfamiliar with the data behind such questions. Many are bothered by nonfactual or illogical presentations, but are not quite able to locate the problems involved. This is the major reason that these approaches are included in this book. We will investigate several of the most popular recent attempts to present unorthodox pictures of Jesus' life.
    [Show full text]
  • Ernest Renan and the Question of Race. Jane Victoria Dagon Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1999 Ernest Renan and the Question of Race. Jane Victoria Dagon Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Dagon, Jane Victoria, "Ernest Renan and the Question of Race." (1999). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6937. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6937 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Beware of Philosophy: a Warning to Biblical Scholars Norman L. Geisler
    Beware Of Philosophy: A Warning To Biblical Scholars Norman L. Geisler The exhortation of the apostle Paul to “beware of philosophy” (Col 2:8) is as urgent today as it was in the first century, if not more so. And this is not only true for Christians who call themselves philosophers but for those who do not, especially for biblical exegetes. I. Philosophies Of Which To Beware And Why Although the context of Col 2:8 probably has reference to a proto-gnostic type of philosophy at Colosse that had a disastrous mix of legalism, asceticism, and mysticism with Christianity, the implications of Paul’s exhortation to “beware of philosophy” are appropriately applied to other alien systems of thought that have invaded Christianity down through the centuries since then. There are many current philosophies of which we should beware. But first I will touch on some of the more damaging ideologies in the past few centuries. Among them few have been more destructive than naturalism, both of the metaphysical and methodological varieties. 1. Naturalism. Naturalism is the philosophy that denies that there are supernatural interventions in the world. It is at the root of modern negative biblical criticism which began in earnest with the publication of Benedict Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-Politicus in 1670. Spinoza argued that “nothing then, comes to pass in nature in contravention to her universal laws, nay, everything agrees with them and follows from them, for … she keeps a fixed and immutable order.” In fact, “a miracle, whether in contravention to, or beyond, nature, is a mere absurdity.” The noted Dutch-Jewish pantheist was nothing short of dogmatic about the impossibility of miracles.
    [Show full text]
  • Atheism Course Syllabus for Young Scholars in American Religion (Fall 2019)
    Atheism Course Syllabus for Young Scholars in American Religion (Fall 2019) Joseph Blankholm Department of Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara Institutional and Curricular Setting: The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a public research university and one of 10 campuses comprising the University of California system. As of 2019, the school enrolled just over 23,000 undergraduates and just under 3,000 graduate students. 85% of those undergraduates are from California, and more than 40% will be the first in their family to graduate from a 4-year college; 36% are white, 30% Latinx, 28% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 5% black. The school is officially designated a Hispanic Serving Institution, which means that at least 25% of its student body is Hispanic. With strong departments across the sciences, humanities, and fine arts, UCSB ranked as the 5th-best public university in the country in 2019 according to US News & World Report. The university is on the quarter system, with three 10-week quarters stretching from late September through early June. Geographically, the university is located on the Pacific coast, 10 miles outside of downtown Santa Barbara. Formed in 1964, UCSB’s Department of Religious Studies has been among the pioneers of the secular study of religion and has built its reputation on its theoretical rigor, its wide range of specializations, its diverse language offerings, and its focus on the fringes of what is traditionally considered religious. It offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees, and with 25 tenure-track faculty, is the largest Religious Studies department in the University of California system.
    [Show full text]