bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Circumcision of the Prostitute: Gender, Sexuality, and the Call To Repentance in Jeremiah 3:1- 4:41
Authors: Shields Mary E. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe move from accusation to promise in Jer. 3:1—4:4 is mirrored by a move from female imagery to male imagery. The passage begins with marriage imagery: God as the husband, and Israel as the wife who acts like a harlot. Sister imagery is used next to portray the "rivalry" in prostitution between Judah and the northern kingdom. When the chapter begins to move to the possibility of repentance, however, the imagery changes to father-son imagery, God being the father and Israel being the repentant and obedient son. The last shift in imagery, that of circumcision, as a sign both of human repentance and of God's promise, occurs in Jer. 4:1-4. In addition to shifts in imagery, there are also shifts in mode of address, from feminine direct address to masculine direct address. Equally significant as the shift in imagery, the direct address is used rhetorically to pressure the audience into identifying in one way as opposed to another (e.g., to identify as the proper sons to God as father rather than as unfaithful wife to God as husband). This article explores these shifts in gender imagery and direct address, focusing on the ways in which gender and sexuality are constructed in this chapter, and how they in turn construct the call to repentance.
"Stand, Therefore ... ": Ephesians 6:10-20 as Peroratio
Authors: Lincoln Andrew T. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractDespite objections that can be raised against the way ancient rhetorical categories are applied to the New Testament letters, an analysis of Ephesians which labels 6:10-20 as peroratio proves illuminating. Most discussions of this pericope have simply treated it as the concluding element of the letter's paraenesis, while noting its apparent change of imagery and mood. It is argued here that, on a rhetorical analysis, Ephesians 6:10-20 contains the major elements expected of a peroratio by the ancient rhetoricians and also has features in common with ancient accounts of speeches of generals before battle. Once the pericope is recognized as a peroratio, greater justice can be done to its links with the whole of the letter, fresh light is shed on the dispute about the reference of the various pieces of armour, and the concluding depiction of Paul's imprisonment falls into place. In particular such an analysis enables a clearer evaluation of the effectiveness of the pericope's imagery and exhortation as part of the writer's overall strategy of persuasion.
Pour Une Lecture «Catholique» De La Bible
Authors: L'Hour Jean 
Published: April 2008

AbstractL'arrivée sur la scène internationale de la revue Biblical Interpretation marque un tournant dans l'histoire de l'exégèse. Au plan de la recherche biblique, elle reflète un nouveau positionnement du christianisme dans le concert mondial des cultures, des religions, mais aussi de la modernité. En effet, l'objectif que s'est donné cette revue d'une interprétation des Ecritures chrétiennes en dialogue avec les autres religions et, plus largement, avec le monde moderne, n'est pas sans poser un certain nombre de questions au christianisme et à ses églises. L'Eglise Catholique, en raison de sa fermeté doctrinale, nous paraît particulièrement interpellée. Jusqu'où cette Eglise peut-elle aller dans le dialogue sans mettre en péril sa doctrine touchant à la révélation, au canon des Ecritures, à la christologie, sans renoncer à la conception qu'elle a d'elle-même, de son universalisme, de sa mission? Les exégètes catholiques engagés dans ce dialogue font figure de francs-tireurs et l'articulation de leur recherche avec la doctrine catholique est pour le moins malaisée. Le présent article a pour ambition, d'une part, de prendre la mesure des difficultés qui sembleraient compromettre un dialogue à parité avec les autres religions et avec la modernité souvent athée, et, d'autre part, de dégager les ouvertures possibles en vue d'un tel dialogue.
Intertextuality and Historical Criticism in New Testament Studies: Is There a Relationship? 1
Authors: Hatina Thomas R. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAn increasing number of historically oriented biblical scholars investigating the use of scripture in the New Testament are applying the term "intertextuality" as a descriptive category to refer to the relationship between written texts, primarily as the imbedding of fragments of earlier texts within later texts. The term is often used pragmatically as a substitute category for uncovering and investigating conscious or unconscious allusions to scripture in the New Testament. What is often lost in the process is the poststructuralist framework within which intertextuality arose and acquired its distinct meaning. In this essay I argue that intertextuality, as it is commonly understood in the poststructuralist context, is inimical to current historical critical inquiry. I present three major characteristics of intertextuality which historical critics have often failed to consider whenever they appropriate the term: (1) the ideological context wherein the term was coined; (2) the inherently related concept of text; and (3) the distinction between influence and intertextuality.
Strategies of Concentration and Diffusion in Isaiah 61
Authors: Landy Francis 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article analyses the rhetorical strategies of Isaiah 6 and their relationship to the paradoxical commission to speak so that the audience should not understand. In particular, I look at strategies of concentration and diffusion, how the chapter directs attention to the prophet and his initiatory experience, and directs attention away from the vision of God, the moment of encounter, and the consciousness of the people. I divide the chapter into three parts (w. 1-4, 5-8, 9-13), respectively characterized by divergence, convergence, and divergence again. In the third part, the rhetorical technique is more complicated, in that the centrifugal dynamic is reinforced by failed attempts at focus. Throughout, synecdoche is the preeminent instrument both for directing attention to the participants and away from them. In the last verse, there is a shift from metonymy to metaphor as the principal poetic device, and thus a transference from a narrative, historical paradigm to a diffused alterity. The chapter is thereby decentred; since it is generally regarded as a key chapter in the book of Isaiah, the book itself is unstable. I conclude by discussing the commission as a model for the reading process, and wondering whether the metaphorical equivalence of fullness and emptiness subverts the entire rhetorical structure I have delineated.
Wrongdoers, Wrongdoing and Righting Wrongs in Micah 21
Authors: Ben Zvi Ehud 
Published: April 2008

AbstractMicah 2 explains the "loss of the land" in terms of the wrongdoing of powerful groups in the monarchic period, but also conveys sure hope for a new beginning. Defamiliarization, polysemy and other literary techniques are at the service of these communicative goals in this text. Micah 2 is fashioned in such a way that it both allows the intended (re)readers to identify the wrongdoers with multiple referents and facilitates rereading. Neither Micah 2 nor its literary subunits is constructed with a mimetic, literary pattern in mind, nor does the text attempt to imitate the "natural" language of an actual, oral interchange. Micah 2 is not a reliable source for the reconstruction of the social conditions in the eighth century BCE. However, it does shed light on the world of a group of (post-monarchic) literati who considered their text to be .
Judicial Divorce At the Wife's Initiative: the SharīcFa Courts of Egypt, 1920-1955
Authors: Shaham Ron 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIslamic law defines divorce as a unilateral act of a husband. In Egypt, modernist statutory legislation (1920 and 1929) improved the legal status of women by granting them four grounds for judicial divorce based on Mālikī doctrine: a husband's defects and diseases; his nonprovision of maintenance; his prolonged absence; and injury caused by him to his wife. This study, based on seventy decisions of the sharīca courts issued between 1920 and 1955, attempts to determine which of these four grounds was more frequently used and to clarify the attitude of the qādīs toward the reform. The qādīs interpreted the term injury (darar) broadly, thereby enabling women to complain of a wide range of physical and mental abuses. The qādīs were capable of adapting their decisions to the changing social environment and they generally supported the liberal expectations of the Egyptian legislator.
Kadijustiz or Qadī-Justice? a Paternity Dispute From Fourteenth-Century Morocco
Authors: Powers David S. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSometime after the year 1312-13 a paternity dispute was brought before a qādī serving in an undetermined location in the northern part of the Western Maghrib. The claimant asserted that he was the son of a local notable, whereas the latter's legally recognized children asserted that he was the child of a slave-girl who belonged to the notable's daughter. Before issuing his judicial decision, the qādī wrote a detailed letter to a distinguished Fāsī mufti in which he presented a summary transcription of the testimonial evidence and asked the mufti to issue a fatwā corroborating his handling of the case. In the following essay, I seek to shed light on the operation of qādī-justice under the Mārinids in the fourteenth-century by studying the qādī¸s familiarity with legal doctrine, his ability to manipulate legal discourse, and the "art" of his judicial narrative.
Some Reflections On the Relationship Magic-Religion
Authors: Versnel H.S. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe well-known substantialist-'Frazerian'-definitions of magic as distinct from religion by its immediate and individual goals, the concomitant manipulative and coercive attitude, the instrumental and mechanical type of action etc., have been under attack for more than half a century. Anthropologists in particular have argued that no meaningful contrast between religion and magic can be gained from this approach and that our notion 'magic' is a modern-western biased construct which does not fit representations of other cultures. Consequently, in the view of some of them, the term 'magic' should be altogether avoided. Furthermore, with respect to the ancient and early modern world, in which the opposition religion-magic is supposed to have originated, it is argued that magic and religion function exclusively as value-judgments, terms indicating 'magic' being exploited to stigmatize illegitimate or undesired (religious) behaviour of socially or culturally deviant groups. In the present article it is argued that-although admittedly this functionalist approach has yielded remarkable and lasting results-rejection of the term 'magic' will soon turn out to be unworkable and, in fact, is putting the cart before the horse. From an etic point of view-which in the view of the author is the only possible way to conduct scholarly discourse-it will be impossible to do cultural research without the aid of heuristic instruments such as-at least broad, polythetic or prototypical-definitions. And, if possible at all, it would be utterly unpractical to completely eliminate religion as one of the obvious models of contrast. This position is substantiated with some practical instances from the Graeco-Roman world. It is shown that, at least in the context of (magical) curse-tablets and-related but clearly distinct-(religious) prayers for justice or vengeance, the ancient authors were clearly aware of the very same distinctions modern people normally associate with the notions of magic and religion.
Indigenous Eroticism and Colonial Morality in Mexico: the Confession Manuals of New Spain
Authors: Marcos Sylvia 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article explores the impact of the Conquest on eroticism and the place of the feminine in 16th century indigenous society in Mexico. It shows how this most intimate area of human experience became the battleground of a war that amounted in part to a cultural annihilation. The article analyses one aspect of the missionaries' well-intentioned "battle to save people's souls". Like in previous, internal forms of violent subjugation of one culture by another, the Spaniards destroyed local gods and temples. However, unlike previous "conquerors" who superimposed their beliefs upon local customs, the newcomers demanded a complete eradication of those customs, as if they only could save the Indians by destroying their identity, their culture's relation to reality and their very concept of time, space and of the person. By condemning indigenous erotic practices and imposing unprecedented restraints on them, the missionaries altered the roots of ancient Mexican perceptions of the body and the cosmos. Particuliar attention is paid to the confession manuals, written as an answer to the Spaniards' discovery "that lust was the Indian's most frequent sin". These manuals are considered here as instruments of the alteration of indigenous perceptions. In these manuals the repetition of the same excruciating questions tended to graft guilt onto the Mesoamerican conscience and thus eradicate the Indians perception of eroticism in its sacred and vitalizing dimension. Commentaries of the old song of the women of Chalco attempt to recapture, through the playful voices of women speaking openly, some of the flavor of a very different symbolic universe.
Public Attitudes Toward Animal Research: Some International Comparisons
Authors: Pifer Ralph , Shimizu Kinya , Pifer Linda 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA comparative analysis was made of the public's attitudes toward the use of animals in scientific research in 15 different nations. The intensity of opposition to animal research was found to vary from relatively low levels in Japan and the United States to much higher levels in France, Belgium, and Great Britain. More women than men were opposed to animal research in all 15 nations. Scientific knowledge, or the lack of knowledge, was not found to have a consistent relationship with attitudes toward animal research. Concern about the environment was found to be related to opposition to animal research in some western European nations, in particular West Germany. Cluster analysis was used to group the nations into four patterns based on intensity of opposition, level of opposition, gender differences in opposition, and the relationship between attitudes toward animal research and both environmental concern and scientific knowledge.
Marketing Deviance: The Selling of Cockfighting
Authors: Darden Donna K. , Worden Steven K. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractWe use conventional marketing concepts to examine the marketing of the deviant and stigmatized activity of cockfighting and show how the two differ. Our research is based on several years of active participant observation with cockfighters and the examination of several publications devoted to the sport. We find a paradoxical situation wherein people who compete with each other in an illegal activity must also establish their reputations for honesty and trustworthiness. Aspects of a gerontocracy characterize this deviant world.
New Places for "Old Spots": The Changing Geographies of Domestic Livestock Animals
Authors: Evans Nick , Yarwood Richard 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper considers the real and imagined geographies of livestock animals. In doing so, it reconsiders the spatial relationship between people and domesticated farm animals. Some consideration is given to the origins of domestication and comparisons are drawn between the natural and domesticated geographies of animals. The paper mainly focuses on the contemporary geographies of livestock animals and, in particular, "rare breeds" of British livestock animals. Attention is given to the spatial relationship these animals have with people and the place of these animals in the British countryside today. The paper concludes by highlighting why it is important to consider livestock animal breeds as part of on-going research into the geographies of domestic livestock animals.
Animal Abuse in Childhood and Later Support for Interpersonal Violence in Families
Authors: Flynn Clifton P. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA survey of university students tested whether committing animal abuse during childhood was related to approval of interpersonal violence against children and women in families. Respondents who had abused an animal as children or adolescents were significantly more likely to support corporal punishment, even after controlling for frequency of childhood spanking, race, biblical literalism, and gender. Those who had perpetrated animal abuse were also more likely to approve of a husband slapping his wife. Engaging in childhood violence against less powerful beings— animals—may generalize to the acceptance of violence against less powerful members of families and society—women and children. This paper discusses the implications of this process.
The Interpretation of Exodus Xxiv 9-11
Authors: Nicholson E.W. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract(1) Exodus xxiv 9-11 is identifiable as a separate unit of tradition within the Sinai pericope. Of the present introduct on to these verses in Exodus xxiv 1-2, verses 1b-2 are not original. Whether verse 1a forms the original introduction will be discussed in a later article. (2) The tradition in Exodus xxiv 9-11 neither knows of nor implies the existence of a covenant between Israel and 'the God of Israel'. It is a theophany tradition and the expression at its conclusion, 'they ate and drank', is best understood, as in other cultic contexts in the Old Testament, as meaning that those who experienced this remarkable manifestation of God 'rejoiced' or 'worshipped' in the presence of God. (3) This theophany tradition is unique among and independent of other theophany traditions contained elsewhere in the Sinai narrative: it knows nothing of the mountain of the theophany being enwrapped in cloud, smoke, etc.; though it implies that the usual consequences of seeing God were fatal (verse 11a), it states in the most direct manner that a delegation of Israel's ancestors saw God, whereas in other theophany traditions in the Sinai narrative the hiddenness of God from human view is emphasised; finally, the figure of Moses in this tradition is strikingly 'reduced' when compared with the dominating role he plays in other theophany traditions. Here in Exodus xxiv 9-11 he cannot even be said to be primus inter pares.
The Numbers of Genesis V 3-31: a Suggested Conversion and Its Implications
Authors: Etz Donald V. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn summary, the development of the numbers for these nine patriarchs may have proceeded as follows: 1. A set of plausible numbers was invented. 2. Each lifespan except Enoch's was increased by 300 years. Enoch's lifespan was increased by only 100 years. 3. All the numbers were multiplied by 2.5 (or multiplied by 10 and divided by 4), and rounded down to whole numbers if necessary. It is not likely that one person performed all three steps with the final set of numbers in mind. If someone had begun with the requirement to invent 27 numbers within the desired range, he would probably have invented them in the final form. They might for convenience have all been multiples of 5 or 10, but it is highly improbable that they would have been reducible by fairly simple arithmetical operations to a set of plausible numbers. It is more likely that the final author or editor used an existing list that included numbers at stage 2, and multiplied them by 2.5 because this gave lifespans in the desired range. It remains an open question at what point the explicit lifespans became part of the set.
Respecting Nature: a Maori Perspective
Authors: Patterson John 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper presents a distinctively Maori version of the idea that we should respect all creatures. At the heart of this philosophy is the concept of mauri, a life force which unites all creatures and enables them to flourish. By acknowledging this sort of connectedness we accept limitations to human domination of the environment: our actions must respect or enhance the quality of natural items, not simply further human or personal interests. A philosophy of respect for mauri asks us to respect and even enhance the essence or character of each creature and of each habitat. For this we need to understand them. While respect for mauri does not prevent us from using other creatures for food and other real needs, we humans are not seen as sovereign over nature, there being no fundamental dichotomy. According to this philosophy we should seek to live in harmony with nature, not to dominate it, harming other creatures only when we really need to. I end by arguing that those who find the idea of mauri hard to accept can work instead through the more familiar idea of mana, as the mauri of a creature would not be thought to matter unless its mana were acknowledged. Further, both mauri and mana involve an acknowledgment of the unity of all things, as well as their individual importance. The mana or standing of any creature depends on that of many others. The central thread of this Maori philosophy for the environment then is that we acknowledge and care about the special character of each creature, its mana and its mauri.
The Pacific Northwest Forest Debate: Bringing Religion Back In?1
Authors: Porter Samuel C. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper puts into relief the religious dimension of the fierce fight over the federal forests in Oregon. My purpose is to describe and comment on some of the religiously based normative pictures that underlie the institutional dynamics of the dispute. Oregon's religious contours are sketched as backdrop. Strands of civil religion Oregon style are teased out. Oregon Lutheran and Catholic visions are examined. Based on field observations, interviews and analysis of public documents, the essay finds a vital, though marginalised, religious dimension to the debate. Yet, moral vocabularies of a religious nature, evident in the personal convictions of forest debate participants, tend to drop out in public discourse, especially at the level of policy. While preserving the Enlightenment critique of religion, I argue, religion should be brought back in to the public square to give voice to religious persons and groups. Citizens and national forest policy makers must create the conditions in which religious voices are heard along with biological and economic ones. Not doing so violates a fundamental principle of political liberalism: inclusion. Suggestions are made as to how public debates, which include religious voices, might proceed.
The Struggle for Environmental Philosophy in Australia
Authors: Plumwood Val 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAustralian settler philosophy needs to create the basis for two important cultural dialogues, with the philosophy of Aboriginal people on the one hand, and with the land the settler way of life is destroying on the other. Through these interconnected dialogues we might begin the process of resolving in a positive way the unhappy anxieties surrounding Australian identity. Mainstream Australian academic philosophy has certainly not provided fertile ground for such dialogues, and its dominant forms could hardly be further away from Australian indigenous philosophies or from land-sensitive forms of environmental philosophy. It is a paradox that in a continent where Australian Aboriginal people have given land spirituality what is perhaps the world's most powerful and integrated development, settler philosophy contrives to provide what is probably the world's strongest dismissal of other ways to think about the land than those legitimated by western reductionism and rationalism. This paradox, I suggest, can be explained through understanding the ascendancy of ex-colonial masculinity in Australian culture and academic philosophy.