DOCSLIB.ORG

Richard Simon Critical History of the Text of the New Testament New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Richard Simon Critical History of the Text of the New Testament New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents Richard Simon Critical History of the Text of the New Testament New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents (NTTSD) combines two series, New Testament Tools and Studies (NTTS) and Studies and Documents (SD). The former was founded by Bruce M. Metzger in 1965 and edited by him until 1993, when Bart D. Ehrman joined him as co-editor. The latter series was founded by Kirsopp and Silva Lake in 1935, edited by them until the death of Kirsopp Lake in 1946, then briey by Silva Lake and Carsten Høeg (1955), followed by Jacob Geerlings (until 1969), by Irving Alan Sparks (until 1993), and nally by Eldon Jay Epp (until 2007). The new series will promote the publication of primary sources, reference tools, and critical studies that advance the understanding of the New Testament and other early Christian writings and writers into the fourth century. Emphases of the two predecessor series will be retained, including the textual history and transmission of the New Testament and related literature, relevant manuscripts in various languages, methodologies for research in early Christianity. The series will also publish a broader range of studies pertinent to early Christianity and its writings. Editors Bart D. Ehrman, Ph.D., James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eldon J. Epp, Ph.D., Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature Emeritus and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio VOLUME 43 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ntts Richard Simon Critical History of the Text of the New Testament Wherein is Established the Truth of the Acts on which the Christian Religion is Based Translated, Introduced and Annotated by Andrew Hunwick LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Simon, Richard, 1638-1712. [Histoire critique du texte du Nouveau Testament. English] Richard Simon critical history of the text of the New Testament : wherein is established the truth of the acts on which the Christian religion is based / translated, introduced, and annotated by Andrew Hunwick. pages cm. – (New Testament tools, studies, and documents, ISSN 0077-8842 ; v. 43) Includes index. ISBN 978-90-04-24420-7 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-24421-4 (e-book) 1. Bible. N.T.–Criticism, Textual–History–17th century. I. Hunwick, Andrew. II. Title. III. Title: Critical history of the text of the New Testament. BS2325.S5613 2013 225.4'86–dc23 2012044189 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 0077-8842 ISBN 978-90-04-24420-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-24421-4 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhof Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. CONTENTS Acknowledgments . xi Abbreviations. xiii Preface................................................................ xv Richard Simon (1638–1712): Sketch of Life and Career . xxv 1. Disproof of Early Heretics’ Arguments against the Validity of the Books in the New Testament. Remarks on the Premise Applied by Church Fathers to Prove the Books’ Genuineness . 1 2. Titles Heading the Gospels and Other Books in the New Testament. Whether the Titles Are by the Authors of Those Books or Whether They Were Added . 11 3. Books Published in the Name of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Of Several Forgeries by Early Heretics. Remarks on This Whole Question. 19 4. The First Fathers Did Not Produce the Originals of the New Testament in Their Disputes with Heretics. Discussion of Evidence Used to Show That Churches Retained Such Originals . 33 5. The Books of the New Testament Starting with the Gospel of St Matthew. The Original of This Gospel Was Written in the Hebrew Spoken by the Jews in Jerusalem at That Time. Rejoinder to Reasons Contrary to This View . 41 6. In the Time of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, Jews in the Area of Jerusalem Spoke Chaldaic or Syriac. Mr Voss’s Arguments against This View. Clari cation of Problems Pertaining to This Question . 51 7. The Nazarene Sect and Their Hebrew or Chaldaic Version of the Gospel of St Matthew. 63 vi contents 8. The Ebionites. Their Version of the Gospel of St Matthew. Other Early Heretics Who Used This Gospel . 75 9. The Greek Text of St Matthew. Its Status. Comparison with the Hebrew or Chaldaic Text. Rejoinders to Heretics’ Objections to This Gospel . 81 10. The Dates and Order of the Gospels. Greek Manuscript Copies of St Mark Cited in This Regard. His Gospel Generally Believed to Be the Second. His Role as St Peter’s Interpreter. 87 11. In Which Language Did St Mark Write His Gospel? The Last Twelve Verses of His Gospel Are Lacking in Several Greek Manuscripts . 97 12. The Gospel of St Luke. What Made Him Publish It, Given the Existence of Two Others Published before His. Of Marcion and His Text of the Gospel of St Luke. The Catholics also Made Some Alterations to This Gospel . 107 13. The Gospel of St John. Heretics by Whom It Was Rejected. Their Reasons. Response to Those Reasons. Discussion of the Twelve Verses from This Gospel Which Are Absent from Some Early Manuscripts. Several Greek Manuscripts Cited to Overcome This Di culty. Critics Who Falsely Believed That the Final Chapter of This Gospel is Not by St John . 119 14. Acts of the Apostles as Accepted within the Church. Acts Ascribed to Other Apostles Are of Doubtful Authenticity . 131 15. St Paul’s Epistles in General. Marcion and His Text of Those Epistles. Forged Letters Ascribed to St Paul. 137 16. The Epistle to the Hebrews: Is It by St. Paul, and Is It Canonical? Views of the Early Eastern and Western Churches; Views on This Epistle from More Recent Times . 147 17. The Catholic or Canonical Epistles in General and in Detail: Clari cation of Problems Pertaining Thereto. 159 contents vii 18. Exegetic Discussion of 1John 5:7, Not Present in Most Greek Manuscripts or Other Western Texts, nor in the Earliest Latin Manuscripts. The Preface to the Canonical Epistles Ascribed to St Jerome in Certain Latin Bibles is Not by Him. The Impossibility of Proving That the Text of St Cyprian Contained the Self-Same Passage from the First Epistle of St John . 173 19. Revelation: Early Views on This Book; Heretics Who Rejected It; Their Reasons; Discussion of Their Reasons. Learned Catholics in the Early Church also Ascribed It to Cerinthus. Modern Views on This Book . 187 20. Objections Raised to the Books of the New Testament by the Jews and Other Enemies of the Christian Religion. Did the Evangelists and the Apostles Use the Greek Septuagint When Quoting the Old Testament? St Jerome’s View on the Matter. His Misplaced Preference for the Jewish Hebrew Text over the Septuagint . 197 21. Discussion of Further Doubts about the Books of the New Testament. Part of the Evangelists’ and Apostles’ Interpretative Method Was to Apply Passages of the Old Testament to the Messiah, a Common Jewish Practice. This, and an Accepted Jewish Tradition, Provide the Only Possible Explanation for Various Words Having a Wider Meaning in the New Testament Than the Old . 207 22. Analysis of Various Old Testament Passages Seemingly Quoted by the Apostles in an Incorrect Sense. Veri cation of Criticisms Made of Their Writings. Establishment of Basic Principles for Refuting the Jews and the Emperor Julian . 217 23. Were the Books in the New Testament Inspired? Refutation of the Opinions of Grotius and Spinoza. Cardinal Du Perron’s Mistaken Explanation of the Words Referring to Inspiration in 2Timothy 3:16. Quarrel on the Subject of Inspiration between the Jesuits and the Theologians of Louvain. Three Jesuits’ Propositions Condemned by the Doctors of Louvain and Douai. Defence of the Propositions against Their Censuring by Those Theologians . 231 viii contents 24. Analysis of the Arguments Put Forward by Louvain and Douai Scholars in Censuring the Propositions of the Louvain Jesuits Concerning Scriptural Inspiration. One Learned Paris Theologian’s Highly Independent View of the Matter . 243 25. Spinoza’s Arguments against Inspiration in the Books of the New Testament . 251 26. The Evangelists’ and Apostles’ Styles. Views Held on This Subject by Modern Writers and Early Church Scholars, Followed by Critical Observations . 257 27. The Hellenistic Language: Is There Such a Thing? Most Disagreements on the Matter Are Purely Nominal. The Arguments Adduced by Claude Saumaise to Disprove the Existence of This Language Serve Rather to Substantiate It. The Greek in the New Testament Can Be Described As “Synagogical” Greek. The Hellenistic Jews, Like All Other Jews, Used the Hebrew Bible in Their Congregations . 267 28. A Fuller Discussion of Saumaise’s Arguments against the “Hellenistic” Language, with Incidental Explanations of Various Problems Pertaining to the Subject . 277 29. Overall View of Greek Manuscripts, Including Sources Already Mentioned. Compilations of the Diverse Readings Found in Those Manuscripts.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Bonaventure's Threefold Way to God
    BONAVENTURE’S THREE-FOLD WAY TO GOD R. E. Houser Though he became Minister General of the Franciscan Order in 1257, Bonaventure’s heart never left the University of Paris, and during his generalate he delivered three sets of “collations” or university sermons at Paris. On 10 December 1270 Itienne Tempier, bishop of Paris, had condemned certain erroneous propositions. Bonaventure ruminated over these matters, and in the Spring of 1273 delivered his magisterial Collations on the Hexameron.1 Left 1 For Bonaventure’s dates see J.G. Bougerol, Introduction a l’étude de saint Bonaventure 2nd ed. (Paris: Vrin, 1988); J. Quinn, “Bonaventure” Dict. of the M.A. 2: 313-9. On the circumstances of the Collations, one friar noted: “But oh, no, no, no! Since the reverend Lord and Master who gave out this work has been elevated to a sublime position, and is leaving his way of life [as a friar], those attending his sermons have not received what was to follow [the missing last three collations]. This work was read and composed at Paris, in the year of our Lord 1273, from Easter to Pentecost, there being present Masters and Bachelors of Theology and other brothers, in the number of 160.” Bonaventure, Opera Omnia (ed. Quaracchi) 5: 450 n. 10; Coll. in Hex. ed. F. Delorme (Quaracchi: 1934) 275. 92 unfinished owing to his elevation to the cardinalate, in them he read the first chapter of Genesis spiritually, distinguishing seven levels of “vision” corresponding to the seven days of creation. The first level is “understanding naturally given” or philosophy, divided into logic, physics, and ethics.
    [Show full text]
  • A Theologian's Brief: the Human Embryo In
    Copyright © 2005 The Center for Christian Ethics 37 A Theologian’s Brief This statement on the place of the human embryo in the Christian tradition and the theological principles for evaluating its moral status was submitted to the House of Lords Select Committee on Stem Cell Research on June 1, 2001, by an ad hoc group of Christian theolo- gians from the Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, and Reformed traditions. BASIS OF THIS SUBMISSION 1. In a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, it is appropriate to take account not only of secular arguments concerning the place of the hu- man embryo but also of arguments expressed in the religious language of some sections of the community. It is particularly important to understand the Christian tradition in this regard because of the place Christianity has had in shaping the moral understanding of many citizens in this country, and because this tradition has already been invoked in the context of public debate.1 2. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regu- lations 2001 greatly expand the purposes for which research using human embryos can take place, and thus, if implemented, will inevitably lead to a massive increase in the use and destruction of embryos. The Select Com- mittee has expressed its wish not “to review the underlying basis of the 1990 Act”;2 however, the ethical and legal issues surrounding “the Regula- tions as they now stand” cannot adequately be addressed without consid- ering the moral status of the human embryo. Similarly, the “regulatory framework established by the 1990 Act” cannot operate effectively if it is flawed in principle.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Thomas' Principle of Individuation, Materia Quantitate Signata
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1951 St. Thomas' Principle of Individuation, Materia Quantitate Signata Joseph M. Loftus Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Loftus, Joseph M., "St. Thomas' Principle of Individuation, Materia Quantitate Signata " (1951). Master's Theses. 1418. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/1418 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1951 Joseph M. Loftus " ST. THCllAS' PRINCIPLE OF INDIVIDUAfiClf MATERIA QUANTITA'lE SIGNATA Joseph M. Loftus, O.S.U. A 1b,esis SUbmitted to the Faculty ot the Graduate School of La,yola University in Partial Fultillment ot thl Re~iremsnt8 tar the Degree ot Master of .A:rts June 1951 Father Joseph ~. Lof'tus, O.S.M. waS born in Chicago, Illinois, November 9, 1921 • .... - He was graduated f'rom st. Philip High School, Chicago, Illinois, June, 1939. In September of' the same '. year he entered the Servite Order as a postulant at HillSide, Illinois. The f'ollowing September he entered . the novitiate at Granville, Wisoonsin. From September, 1941 to June, 194.3, he studied philosophy at HillSide, Illinois. During, the remainder of' 1943 and until June, 1944, he taught English at St.
    [Show full text]
  • Text of the Gospel of Mark: Lake Revisited
    BABELAO 3 (2014), p. 145-169 + Appendix, p. 171-289 © ABELAO (Belgium) The « Caesarean » Text of the Gospel of Mark: Lake Revisited By Didier Lafleur IRHT - Paris n the field of history and practice of New Testament textual criticism, two major stages were initiated during the last cen- tury by Kirsopp Lake. The first of these was the publication, Iin 19 02, of a survey concerning Codex 1 of the Gospels and its Allies, in the Texts and Studies series (7:3). The second stage was the pub- lication, in 1928, with Robert P. Blake and Silva New, of « The Caesarean Text of the Gospel of Mark » in the Harvard Theological Review (21:4). For the first time, the authors emphasized the exist- ence of such text on the basis of three major pieces of evidence: the Greek manuscripts, the patristic witnesses and the Oriental versions. Since then, the question of the « Caesarean » text-type has been a very disputed matter. It still remains an important tex- tual issue.1 1 This paper was first presented during the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 2012, Chicago, November 18. 146 D. LAFLEUR Our plan is not to discuss here about the « Caesarean » text and its subsequent developments, but to mainly focus the genesis of Lake’s publication. The survey of his preliminary works will help us to better consider, after a short account of Lake’s biobibliography, the way he followed until the 1928 « Caesarean Text of the Gospel of Mark » and which methodology he used. We will then emphasize one of the three pieces of evidence quot- ed by the authors, the evidence of the Greek manuscripts as de- scribed in their tables of variants.
    [Show full text]
  • Erudition, Antiquity, and the Enlightenment in Rome, Ca. 1600-Ca
    Erudition, Antiquity, and the Enlightenment in Rome, ca. 1600-ca. 1800. Theodor Dunkelgrün / Timothy Twining / Felix Waldmann, Cambridge, 07.06.2018. Reviewed by Stefan Bauer Published on H-Soz-u-Kult (June, 2018) Historians of scholarship met in the Old Di‐ an calendar reform to what he termed the “Grego‐ vinity School at St John’s College, Cambridge, to rian scriptural reform”. exchange their views on “Erudition, Antiquity, The paper by PIET VAN BOXEL (Oxford) be‐ and The Enlightenment in Rome, ca. 1600-ca. gan with the observation that the Latin Vulgate 1800”. The themes this conference aimed to pon‐ authorised by Pope Sixtus V in 1590 was met with der were the relationship between erudition and severe criticism. The Jesuit theologian Robert Bel‐ the Christian confessions, the impact of censor‐ larmine formulated a set of text-critical rules for ship on scholarly practices, and the place of erudi‐ the revision of the Vulgate. He was convinced of tion in the emergence of the Roman Enlighten‐ the importance of variant readings for the estab‐ ment. Special attention was given to biblical lishment of a reliable text, an idea that resonates scholarship – and its censorship – in early modern in his preface to the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate Rome. (1592). Van Boxel called particular attention to a THEODOR DUNKELGRÜN (Cambridge) point‐ manuscript in the Archives of the Gregorian Uni‐ ed out the paradox created by the Catholic Church versity in Rome, which contains Bellarmine’s at the Council of Trent (1546), which decreed that notes regarding his teaching on Genesis in Leu‐ only the Latin Vulgate translated by Jerome was ven.
    [Show full text]
  • The Great Struggle Accretions
    The Great Struggle Accretions I Sunday rest I Satan’s agency in the serpent’s actions I The type of fruit eaten I The date/time of year of Christ’s birth I The number of magi I Mary Magdalen’s profession Doctrine Orthodox Medieval Western/Catholic Christianity = Bible + Patristic Commentaries + Adopted elements from folklore, missionary target cultures, … Latin Church Fathers (Selective) I Tertullian (c. 160–c. 225) I Ambrose (c. 340–397) I Jerome (c. 347–420) I Augustine of Hippo (354–430) I Gregory the Great (c. 540–604) I Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) In the Beginning I Gn 1: Creation I Gn 2: Creation; Paradise I Gn 3: The Fall …angels? …Lucifer/Satan? The Lucifer Passage “ Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. (Is 14:11–15) ” Typology: The Four Senses of Scripture 1. History: the literal text 2. Allegory: a reflection of redemption (Isaac:Christ) 3.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY of AMERICA an Hexaëmeral Reading
    THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA An Hexaëmeral Reading of Bonaventure’s Breviloquium A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Daniel Wade McClain Washington, D.C. 2016 An Hexaëmeral Reading of Bonaventure’s Breviloquium Daniel Wade McClain, Ph.D. Director: Joshua Benson, Ph.D. This dissertation examines the structure of Bonaventure’s Breviloquium, a brief synthesis of theology produced in 1257 at the end of his tenure as Master at the University of Paris.1 Previous studies of this text have complicated its structure by emphasizing a distinction in genre between the prologue and the “body,” and by reading the “body” either in terms of the Platonic scheme of procession and return, or in terms of origin, procession, and return, which is a scheme supplied by Bonaventure himself.2 While attending to Bonaventure’s unique theology of the Trinity and Christ as 1 Cf. Jacques-Guy Bougerol, Introduction à Saint Bonaventure (Paris: J. Vrin, 1988), 197; Marianne Schlosser, “Bonaventure: Life and Works,” in A Companion to Bonaventure, ed. Jay M. Hammond, Wayne Hellmann, and Jared Goff (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 24–26. 2 Pedro Bordoy-Torrents, “Técnicas divergentes en la redacción del Breviloquio de San Bonaventura,” Cientia Tomista (1940): 442-51; Paula Jean Miller, F.S.E, Marriage: the Sacrament of Divine-Human Communion (Quincy, IL: Franciscan Press, 1995); Dominic Monti, O.F.M., “Introduction,” in Breviloquium (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2005), xlviii-xlix; and Joshua C. Benson, “The Christology of the Breviloquium,” in A Companion to Bonaventure, 247–287.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mystery of Fr-Bn Copte 13 and the “Codex St.-Louis”: When Was a Coptic Manuscript First Brought to Europe in “Modern” Times?
    Journal of Coptic Studies 6 (2004) 5–23 THE MYSTERY OF FR-BN COPTE 13 AND THE “CODEX ST.-LOUIS”: WHEN WAS A COPTIC MANUSCRIPT FIRST BROUGHT TO EUROPE IN “MODERN” TIMES? BY STEPHEN EMMEL The present investigation seeks to clarify statements in the secondary Coptological literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries con- cerning the existence of a “Codex St.-Louis,”1 that is to say, a Coptic manuscript supposedly brought to Paris by Louis IX at the end of the Sixth Crusade in 1254.2 The Objects of Investigation (1) Bibliothèque Nationale de France (FR-BN), manuscript Copte 13. A beautifully illustrated Tetraevangelium (the four Gospels) in Bohairic Coptic, copied and illuminated between 1178 and 1180 by Michael, 1 So called by René-Georges Coquin in correspondence between us in the early 1990s. 2 Most of the basic research for this investigation was done a little over a decade ago, and I now take the occasion of the Eighth International Congress of Coptic Studies (Paris, June/July 2004, with an accompanying exhibition titled “Pages d’une autre Égypte: les manuscrits des Coptes” planned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France to include the manuscript in question, Copte 13) to report it. I owe special debts of gratitude for assis- tance of one sort and another to Anne Boud’hors, Jacques Debergh, Michel Garel, Iris Hinerasky, and Bentley Layton. To Dr. Boud’hors I am indebted for the following obser- vation (made in a letter dated 21 March 1991), which eventually altered the course of my thinking on this topic decisively: “Finalement je me demande si tout cela n’est pas une légende, et si ce manuscrit [le “Codex St.-Louis”] n’est pas le Copte 13 (qui aurait pu passer par l’Oratoire?).
    [Show full text]
  • Catholic Theology in the Thirteenth Century and the Origins of Secularism
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Mary Immaculate Research Repository and Digital Archive Article Catholic Theology in the Thirteenth Century and the Origins of Secularism Rik Van Nieuwenhove Mary Immaculate College, Limerick Abstract This article examines two distinct responses to the reception of Aristotle in the thirteenth century: the Bonaventurean and the Thomist. The outcome of this debate (and the Condemnations of 1277) led to the modern separation of faith and reason. Rather than seeing voluntarism and nominalism as the cause of the modern separation of faith and reason, and theology and philosophy, it will be suggested that it is actually the other way around: the Bonaventurean response indirectly resulted in the growing separation of faith and reason, which led, in turn, to voluntarism. It is important not to confuse the Thomist and Franciscan responses, as sometimes happens in recent scholarship, including in the work of Gavin D’Costa, as will be shown. Both the Thomist and the Bonaventurean approaches are legitimate resources to respond to the (post)-secular context in which we find ourselves, and the former should not be reduced to the latter. Keywords Aquinas and Bonaventure, faith and reason, origins of modernity n this article I want to revisit debates that took place at the end of the thirteenth cen- Itury. From a historical point of view it is exactly in this period that we find the origins of secularism and modernity, especially the growing separation of faith
    [Show full text]
  • How to Live with Messiness: Joshua Berman on Biblical Criticism
    How to Live with Messiness: Joshua Berman on Biblical Criticism 18forty.org/reader/how-to-live-with-messiness-joshua-berman-on-biblical-criticism August 6 | Weekend Reader By: Yehuda Fogel How can an Orthodox rabbi be a scholar of Biblical criticism? Can Biblical scholars determine the ‘true Bible’? Enter Professor Joshua Berman. Prolific author and scholar Rabbi Dr. Berman is no apologetic. He engages with Biblical criticism with honesty and erudition, and is a passionate critic of the excesses of scholarship. In this week’s Weekend Reader, we will consider one key critique of his thought: The ability to live with messiness. The Bible is a complicated work, and learning to live in humility with its complications can elevate all that study it. We will look at a case study in messiness — the topic of Biblical reformulations — in the hope of better understanding the Bible’s complexity. Learning to Live with the Messiness In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, economists were in a state of disarray. Much like the state of pollsters after the 2016 election, economists were stunned by their failure to anticipate such a major event occurring. New York Times and economist Paul Krugman suggested in his 2009 piece “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?” that economists have been mislead by the “desire for an all-encompassing, intellectually elegant approach that also gave economists a chance to show off their mathematical prowess.” Seeking the grand narrative of economics has led economists to mistake truth for beauty, and redemption of economics can come only by learning to accept the less beautiful parts of economic realities, and “learn[ing] to live with the messiness.” Rabbi Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • The Metaphysics of Light in the Hexaemeral Literature
    The Metaphysics of Light in the Hexaemeral Literature From Philo of Alexandria to Ambrose of Milan I S I D O R O S C H A R A L A M P O S K A T S O S Pembroke College December 2018 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy D e c l a r a t i o n This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Acknowledgements and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Acknowledgements and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Acknowledgements and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit. Isidoros Charalampos Katsos Pembroke College CB2 1RF [email protected] The Metaphysics of Light in the Hexaemeral Literature From Philo of Alexandria to Ambrose of Milan Summary This study investigates the concept of light in the early Jewish-Christian exegesis of the biblical creation narrative (Gen. 1, so-called ‘hexaemeron’). The study argues that the early hexaemeral exegetes theorised light from a dual perspective, both physical and metaphysical.
    [Show full text]
  • Judaism and Enlightenment
    JUDAISM AND ENLIGHTENMENT ADAM SUTCLIFFE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge cb2 1rp, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, cb2 2ru,UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon´ 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org C AdamSutcliffe 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2003 Printed in the United Kingdomat the University Press, Cambridge Typeface Adobe Garamond 11/12.5 pt System LATEX 2ε [tb] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data This book is published with the generous support of the Koret Jewish Studies Publication Programof the Koret Foundation isbn 0 521 82015 4 hardback Contents List of illustrations page ix Acknowledgements xi List of abbreviations xiv Introduction: disentangling Judaismand Enlightenment 1 parti: the crumbling of old certainties: judaism, the bible and the meaning of history 1 The crisis and decline of Christian Hebraism 23 2 Hebraic politics: Respublica Mosaica 42 3 Meaning and method: Jewish history, world history
    [Show full text]