bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A View from the Twenty‐First Century
Authors: Machado Daisy L. 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
The very scant and meager records that tell about Disciples work among the Mexican‐Texans point to San Antonio as the site for the first mission, which met for the first time in 1899. However, when reviewing the history of these early Disciples Mexican‐Texan missions, a very significant practice stands out. In all the new missions, the Disciples ministers assigned to be pastors were from Mexico. This dependence upon Mexico to provide the leadership for Disciples churches in Texas proved to be highly detrimental with long‐lasting negative results. An examination of the missionary writings from this period reveals a sense that the Mexican Disciples in Texas were not like the Euro‐American Disciples, not really American and not really Protestant.
Moses in America
Authors: Wright Melanie Jane 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis book is about the representation of Moses and the Exodus narrative in three North American texts: Moses in Red by Lincoln Steffens; Moses, Man of the Mountain (1926), by Zora Neale Hurston (1939), and Cecil B. DeMille's film, The Ten Commandments (1956). It does not seek to judge the merits of these works, but rather to ask why and how they recast the biblical narrative as they did, and how their images of Moses were received. The study holds in tension the roles of producers and consumers, valuing both as interpreters and creators of the Moses story.Drawing on insights from cultural studies the books and the film are located in the “religious” contexts of their day (e.g., in relation to changing attitudes to biblical interpretation and authority, and to popular movements within American religion) and in broader political frameworks (e.g., in relation to conflicts like the Cold War, or vis‐a‐vis ethnic or gender issues). In examining Steffens's, Hurston's and DeMille's Moses images, this book lays bare the dynamics involved in the afterlife of a figure who remains central to the identity of American civilization. It also argues that the scope of biblical studies should develop to embrace more fully, the critical study of popular culture and the ways in which “ordinary people” think about the Bible.
Introduction
Authors: Wright Melanie J. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter outlines the theory and methodology that underpins the rest of the study. It touches on the history of literary and artistic representations of Moses. It then describes cultural studies, approaches to religion, and the discipline of reception studies, both of which inform the study. Finally, it discusses the contemporary expansion of the concerns of biblical studies, and sketches key features of American religious life as they relate to the study – more particularly, the use of Exodus typology in American public life.
Back to the Future
Authors: Wright Melanie J. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter discusses muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens's 1926 book Moses in Red in relation to developments in historical criticism, and social gospel Christianity. It also looks at Steffens's identification of Moses with Lenin, and the Promised Land with Soviet Russia. It discusses the difficulties surrounding the publication and promotion of the book, particularly in relation to similar, yet popular competitors such as Bruce Barton's The Man Nobody Knows, and argues that Moses in Red (from its author's standpoint) unexpectedly failed because it breached the cultural agreement about the meanings of the Exodus story in 1920s America.
Coming in from the Cold (War)
Authors: Wright Melanie J. 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter examines Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 biblical epic film The Ten Commandments. The analysis of the film and its reception draws on insights from cinema studies, particular in relation to the history and status of the motion picture industry in mid‐twentieth‐century America. The Hollywood epic has typically been characterized as superficial and banal by biblical scholars and film critics alike, but this study argues for the rehabilitation of DeMille's Moses as a complex example of innovative biblical interpretation, shaped by DeMille's desire to champion American values in the context of Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union.
Conclusions
Authors: Wright Melanie J. 
Published: October 2003

AbstractPrevious chapters in this book have considered in depth how Lincoln Steffens, Zora Neale Hurston, and Cecil B. DeMille represented Moses and the exodus in twentieth century America. These studies were capable of being read as discrete units and contain their own interim conclusions. This final chapter outlines conclusions that arise from the book in toto. It touches on the currency and contestedness of the biblical text in modern America; it also argues for an expansion of the concerns of biblical studies, to include popular cultural forms and nonelite readings. This move at once enhances and relativises the position of the professional biblical interpreter.
The Press as Shaper of Events
Authors: Jamieson Kathleen Hall , Waldman Paul 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
In the dispute over Florida's vote in the 2000 election, Al Gore and George W. Bush fought a fierce battle to determine the press frames that would govern the debate. Bush was far more successful, pushing frames including “chaos” and “military ballots” to the forefront. Subsequent analyses reveal that had press coverage been different, Gore could have won Florida and the presidency.
The Press as Patriot
Authors: Jamieson Kathleen Hall , Waldman Paul 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
In times of crisis, the press acts in a patriotic role, fostering national unity and defending American institutions. After George W. Bush was inaugurated, the press ignored evidence that Al Gore had as much of a claim to be the victor in Florida as Bush, shaping stories about postelection analyses of the Florida vote to make only a Bush victory seem legitimate. On September 11, journalists filled in rhetorical gaps in Bush's performance, then changed the criteria by which the president was judged.
Minding the Matter of Necessity: A Paradox Regarding Causation
Authors: Russell Paul 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
Hume's views on the subject of free will rest on his specific interpretation of the nature of causation and necessity. In this chapter, I provide an interpretation of Hume's “two definitions” of causation. I argue that the two definitions of causation must be interpreted in terms of Hume's fundamental ontological distinction between perceptions and (material) objects. Central to Hume's position on this subject is the claim that, while there is a natural tendency to suppose that there exist (metaphysical) causal powers in objects themselves, this is a product of our failure to distinguish perceptions and objects. Properly understood, our idea of causation involves no suggestion that there is anything more to causation among objects themselves than constant conjunction.
The Naturalism of Hume's “Reconciling Project”
Authors: Russell Paul 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
In this chapter, I provide a “naturalistic” interpretation of Hume's “reconciling project.” According to Hume, to hold a person responsible is to view them as the object of a moral sentiment, which is a calm form of love or hate (which are indirect passions). One of the major objectives of his “science of man” was to discover under what circumstances people are felt to be responsible and to describe the “regular mechanism” that produces these passions. Hume's specific arguments showing why “liberty of indifference” would make morality impossible, and why “necessity” is essential to it, must be interpreted, within the framework of his account of the mechanism that generates the moral sentiments. Clearly, then, Hume's arguments on this subject are very different in nature from those associated with the central tenets of classical compatibilism.
Hume's Naturalism and Strawson's Reconciling Project
Authors: Russell Paul 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
The best way to reveal the contemporary relevance and interest of the naturalistic interpretation of Hume's “reconciling project” is to show the striking affinities between it and P. F. Strawson's influential views on this subject. Whereas the classical interpretation presents Hume as an obvious and notable target of Strawson's criticisms, the naturalistic interpretation presents Hume as anticipating the general strategy that Strawson advances in his influential paper “Freedom and Resentment.” There are, however, several significant points of contrast, as well as resemblance, between Hume and Strawson, and this includes Hume's more detailed concern with the relevance of necessity for the actual operation of the moral sentiments.
The Involuntary Nature of Moral Character
Authors: Russell Paul 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
Hume claims that we are responsible for those qualities of mind or character that affect others and ourselves in pleasurable or painful ways. Insofar as our action and deportment express our character, to that extent we are accountable for it. This brings us to the question of the extent to which our traits of character are shaped and conditioned by our own choices and willings. Hume maintains that our ability to shape or control our moral character is very limited, and that in this respect we are all inescapably subjected to “moral luck.” My discussion of these issues also covers Hume's controversial view that we are morally accountable for our natural abilities.
Liberty, Equality, and Abortion
Authors: Shrage Laurie 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe standard civil liberty defenses of a woman's right to abort involve principles that justify a right somewhat narrower than the right defined by Roe v. Wade. In particular, freedom from social coercion, involuntary servitude, or nonconsensual bodily use do not require six months of unrestricted access to abortion, when women have access to a full range of effective contraceptives, including backup early abortion. Because public opinion on abortion varies in accordance with the gestational stage at which abortions are performed, decreasing the time span for unrestricted abortion, while simultaneously removing restrictions that block women's access to effective birth control and therapeutically necessary abortions, would help to make abortion more widely acceptable. Winning broad public support for legal abortion will not be accomplished by clarifying its constitutional justifications – e.g., the right to privacy, to deny help, or to self‐defense – but rather by promoting women's greater access to reproductive healthcare while simultaneously adopting a moderate regulatory scheme restricting abortions that most offend public sensibilities – especially second‐trimester nontherapeutic abortions.
A Law Book for the Diaspora
Authors: Van Seters John 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe foundation for all scholarly study in biblical law is the shared assumption that the Covenant Code, as contained in Exodus 20:23–23:33, is the oldest code of laws in the Hebrew Bible and that all other laws are later revisions of that code. This book strikes at that foundation by arguing that those laws in the Covenant Code that are similar to Deuteronomy and the Holiness Code are in fact later than both of these, dependent upon them as sources, and therefore do not constitute the oldest code and cannot be taken as the foundation of Hebrew law. The first chapter reviews the history of research on the Covenant Code that led to the conviction that it was the oldest code and why that view is called into question. In successive chapters, Van Seters defends his radical hypothesis with a systematic comparison of the Covenant Code with the other legal codes and the broader ethical traditions of the Hebrew Bible. The book first examines the legal framework of the Covenant Code, its opening laws and closing epilogue, and the code's place within the narrative of the Sinai pericope. The author next considers the corpus of the code's civil laws in comparison with both the Babylonian law codes and the parallel laws in the other biblical codes. Finally, the laws consisting mostly of humanitarian demands, general religious obligations, and the regulations for Sabbath and festivals are those containing the most parallels with the other biblical codes. From this detailed comparison of laws, Van Seters concludes that the Covenant Code must be placed in the time of the Jews’ Babylonian exile as a code for the diaspora with minimal cultic requirements, strong humanitarian concerns that include social contact with non‐Jews, and laws for a semiautonomous community within the larger imperial rule. The Covenant Code was never an independent legal corpus but was an integral part of the literary work known as the Yahwist. The effect of this reading is to challenge not only the traditional dating of law codes in the Hebrew Bible but also the conventional understanding of the history of ancient Israel.
The History of Research on the Covenant Code
Authors: Van Seters John 
Published: October 2003

AbstractIn a review of past research on the Covenant Code, this chapter addresses the relationship of the code to the E source of the Documentary Hypothesis and the use of form criticism of law and tradition history as arguments for the primitive character of this law code. It examines the more recent studies of redaction criticism that treat the Covenant Code as an originally independent entity with a long development. And it considers the various evolutionist/typological and historical/diffusionist methods of comparison between this biblical code and similar Near Eastern codes as arguments for the Covenant Code's early date. This review concludes that all these approaches have failed to establish the priority of the Covenant Code in the development of Hebrew law.
The Civil Laws, or Mishpatim
Authors: Van Seters John 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter deals with civil laws of the casuistic type most common in Near Eastern codes and one of these, having to do with the Hebrew slave (Exod 21:2–11), occurs also in both Deuteronomy and the Holiness Code and is therefore key to the relative dating of these laws. Some of the casuistic laws are closely paralleled in the Hammurabi Code, such as injury to a pregnant woman or the law of the goring ox, but others are supplemented by material from Deuteronomy or extensions of a Deuteronomic law, as in the law regarding the violation of the unmarried virgin. Still other laws of the apodictic type (participial prohibitions) are more Hebraic in form and must be viewed within the context of similar laws in the Holiness Code and Ezekiel. The use of lex talionis within the Covenant Code shows evidence of borrowing from both the Hebrew and Babylonian laws, thus suggesting that throughout the civil laws, there is a constant interweaving of the Babylonian and Hebrew legal traditions.
Ethical Demands and Religious Obligations
Authors: Van Seters John 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
Within the second half of the code are social and humanitarian commandments concerned with the poor, the widow and orphan, and the stranger who are not to be exploited, but must be supported by social welfare. These concerns are expressed in regulations regarding the practice of usury, fair treatment in a court of law, fair labor practices, and animal welfare. There are various apodictic prohibitions and injunctions on religious matters, including one that has been linked to the practice of child sacrifice, to which special attention is given. The last group of religious injunctions deals with the Sabbath and festival laws. Many of the laws within this half of the Covenant Code have their counterparts within the other biblical codes, as well as the larger biblical tradition, which call for careful comparative analysis.
Finite and Infinite Goods
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe book proposes a framework for ethics that is organized around a transcendent Good and its relation to the many finite goods of our experience. Two main themes are the central role of the Good in ethics and the transcendence of the infinite Good, which is identified with God. Part One (Chs. 1–4) is devoted to the nature of the Good, arguing that a theory that assigns to God a role as definitive archetype of Good, analogous to the role of the Form of the Good in Plato, is the most satisfactory metaphysics of morals and compatible with the most plausible semantics of morals. Among types of good, it assigns the primacy to intrinsic excellence, and argues that human well‐being and the value of persons as persons are best understood in terms of excellence. The conception of excellence advocated here is closely connected with the idea of love. Part Two (chapters 5–9) focuses on the question of how it is good to love the Good, addressing relationships between God's love and ours, and between love for the Good as such and love for particular goods. Part Three (chapters 10–14) takes up the place of obligation and the related concepts of right and wrong in an ethical framework in which the Good rather than the right is the primary ethical concept. It argues for a social conception of the nature of obligation in which morally valid requirements are authorized by divine commands. It also addresses questions about the political implications of an excellence‐centered framework for ethics. Part Four (chapters 15–16) proposes a doxastic practice epistemology for ethics, and deals with questions about the place of revelation and faith, in ethics.
Well‐Being and Excellence
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
Intrinsic excellence holds a primary place among types of value in the theory developed here. Today, many moralists are reluctant to grant such a place to excellence. Well‐being (what is good for a person) is a much more popular type of value. In vindication of the centrality of excellence, this chapter argues that well‐being is actually best understood in terms of excellence, as a life characterized by enjoyment of the excellent; whereas currently the most influential type of theory of well‐being, in terms of desire‐satisfaction, cannot adequately account for the ways in which people often desire what is not good for them.
The Sacred and the Bad
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

AbstractBadness is not understood here, in parallel with goodness, as resemblance to a transcendent Bad. Rather it is understood in relation to the Good, as privation of goodness, more gravely as opposition to goodness, or in the most horrifying cases as violation of something sacred. This chapter takes a widely shared sense of moral horror at certain actions as a clue in developing the relevant concepts of violation (here preferred to that of defilement) and the sacred. The treatment of the sacred in terms of images of God provides a context for an account of the special value of persons as persons.
Eros
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThis chapter argues that Eros is an intrinsically excellent as well as beneficial form of love that deserves a place in our conception of God's love and in our ideal of human love. As Eros is conceived here, its central feature is relational desire: the lover desires or prizes, for its own sake, some relationship with the beloved, where the beloved is typically a person but may be an impersonal object such as mathematics or philosophy. It is argued that Eros is not always selfish or even self‐interested, though it is essentially an agent‐centered motive.
Idolatry
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

AbstractNot all devotion to good things is good. Under the heading of idolatry, this chapter offers a partial anatomy of good motives gone bad. This subject is discussed (1) in relation to priorities and excessively consuming passions, (2) in relation to inappropriate “needs” and the sense that life would not be worth living without particular finite goods, and (3) in relation to misidentification of finite goods with the supreme Good.
Obligation
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter argues that obligation (unlike goodness or value) is essentially social, being a matter of what is required of persons by persons in a context of social relationship. The social nature of obligation is discussed in relation to social and psychological sanctions, to guilt, and to the reasons, which valuing one's social bonds gives one to take social requirements seriously. The chapter also argues, however, that human societies are not good enough for their requirements to define morally binding obligations.
Divine Commands
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter defends a divine command theory of obligation, proposing God as the one whose requirements are good enough to define morally binding obligations. It discusses (1) the history of divine command metaethics, (2) the reasons for treating divine commands as morally binding, (3) the advantages of conceiving of obligation in terms of divine “commands” rather than divine will, (4) the nature and epistemology of divine commands, and (5) the compatibility of divine commands with human autonomy.
Abraham's Dilemma
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter addresses the greatest fear about divine commands – that God may command something evil – focusing on a modernized version of Genesis 22 (influenced by Kierkegaard), in which Abraham finds it difficult to reject any of the following jointly incompatible beliefs: (1) whatever God commands is not morally wrong to do, (2) God commands me to kill my son as a sacrifice, (3) such human sacrifice is morally wrong. It argues that divine command theorists should not reject (1) but that in any cultural and religious context in which the dilemma can be taken seriously, (2) is the belief to reject.
Politics and the Good
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

Abstract
This chapter argues, contrary to some leading versions of political liberalism, that considerations of excellence have a legitimate place in political ethics, and even in the most plausible grounding of the civil rights that most concern liberals. It defends the pursuit of excellence from charges that it must offend against a reasonable egalitarianism. It argues also for a type of separation of church and state, and for contextually sensitive state action to promote and protect widely recognized goods involving excellence.
Moral Faith
Authors: Adams Robert Merrihew 
Published: October 2003

AbstractTheistic metaethics has been suspected of imposing on morality a need for faith. This chapter argues that morality has such a need in any case, with or without theism. It argues this with regard both to faith in morality itself and to faith in moral ends (for instance, faith that human life and the moral life are worth living). It explores cognitive, volitional, and emotional aspects of moral faith.
Freedom and Indeterminism
Authors: O'Connor Timothy 
Published: October 2003

AbstractThe author considers versions of two types of indeterminist accounts of free will: simple indeterminism, on which an agent's control over his own action is entirely noncausal, and causal indeterminism, on which control is exercised through the indeterministic causation of one's action by one's reasons. He argues that neither approach gives a plausible account of the kind of freedom that is required for moral responsibility. The work of Ginet, Nozick, McCall, and Kane are discussed.