Harvard Theological Review articles from January 2007

Harvard Theological Review archives from January 2007

Ethics and scholarship.
January 1, 2007... Within the precincts of Harvard University, one can still hear an ardent defense of the venerable distinction between "facts" and "values," or, as sometimes put, between "description" and "evaluation." Arguments over this distinction go to...

The mark of Cain--revealed at last?
January 1, 2007... Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. (Gen 4:15) (1) "And the LORD put a mark on Cain." What exactly...

The anarchic principle of Christian eschatology in the Eucharistic tradition of the Eastern Church *.
January 1, 2007... Theology in the 20th century witnessed a shift in emphasis: The talk about the last things did not have to come last any more as the traditional handbooks of systematic theology would have it; eschatology was no longer one branch of theology...

Let's be realistic: evolutionary complexity, epistemic probabilism, and the cognitive science of religion.
January 1, 2007... John Dewey famously argued that Darwin had introduced a new conceptual vocabulary that would completely overhaul the traditional philosophical enterprise. His sense was that the kinds of monumental metaphysical questions that philosophy...

"Half God, half man": Kazantzakis, Scorsese, and The Last Temptation.(Nikos Kazantzakis )(Critical essay)
January 1, 2007... You may have heard of the Blessed Mountain. It is the highest mountain in our world. Should you reach the summit you would have only one desire, and that to descend and be with those who dwell in the deepest valley. That is why it is called...

A review of Bernard McGinn's The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany (1300-1500) *.
January 1, 2007... Mysticism is on the rise as a topic of cultural interestand as a part of the burgeoning interest in "spirituality" that has defined the cultural temperament of our times. This shift has had a predictable effect on the kinds of students...

J. Todd Billings [Th.D. 2006]: Calvin, Participation, and the Gift: The Activity of Believers in Union with Christ.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... How do theologies of God's saving relation to humanity relate to social models of girls and gift exchange? Building upon the cumulative (and conflicting) work of Marcel Mauss, Jacques Derrida, and Jean Luc Marion, the contemporary "Gift"...

Laura Elizabeth Bugg [Th.D. 2006]: Baptism, Bodies, and Bonds: The Rhetoric of Empire in Colossians.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... Although the letter of Colossians runs a mere four chapters, its exegetical, hermeneutical, and theological problems are many and complex. The authorship of the letter, its meaning and theology, and those to whom it is addressed are all...

Gregory Wayne Schmidt Goering [Th.D. 2006]: To Whom Has Wisdom's Root Been Revealed? Ben Sira and the Election of Israel.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This study interprets the theme of election in the book of Sirach. A central problem in the interpretation of Sirach concerns the relation of wisdom and Torah. Many scholars interpret Ben Sira's correlation of the universal wisdom tradition...

Paul Dafydd Jones [Ph.D. 2006]: The Humanity of Christ in Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This study detects a remarkable description of Jesus Christ's humanity and human agency within Barth's Church Dogmatics. Using textual analysis and systematic argumentation, and setting Barth in conversation with various theologians and...

Tamara Suzanne Jackson Lanaghan [Ph.D. 2006]: Transforming the Seat of the Goddess into Visnu's Place: The Complex Layering of Theologies in the Karavira Mahatmya.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This is a study of a medieval Sanskrit text called the Karavira Mahatmya "Greatness of Karavira" and how it constructs the greatness of Kolhapur, a small city located in southern Maharashtra. Home to the Hindu goddess Sri Mahalaksmi and her...

Christian Robert Lange [Ph.D. 2006]: Executing Justice in Sunni Islam: Historical, Poetical, Eschatological and Legal Dimensions of Punishment under the Saljuqs (1055-1194 C.E.).(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This dissertation studies the theory and practice of punishment in medieval Islam in the context of Saljuq society in Iraq and Persia during the fifth century A.H./eleventh century C.E. and the sixth century A.H./twelfth century C.E....

Christopher G. Llanos [Th.D. 2006]: Catholic Social Thought, Regional Economic Integration, and Immigration Policy: Reconstructing Catholic Social Thinking Regarding the Right to Freedom of Movement.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This thesis discusses how modern Catholic social thought (CST) might incorporate the reality of regional economic integration, exemplified by accords like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), into its thinking regarding...

Fay Anne Martineau [Th.D. 2006]: Envisioning Heaven with Faith, Imagination, and Historical Relevance: Selected Writings from Early and Medieval Christianity.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... Literary descriptions of Heaven constitute a still undervalued collection, which requires more systematic study. The authors, faith-driven and richly imaginative, engaged dynamically with the world, which they viewed from the perspective of...

Lyn J. Miller [Th.D. 2006]: Divinity, Sexual Difference, and Democracy: A Critical Materialist Reading of Luce Irigaray's Politics of Incarnation.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This dissertation critically evaluates the thought of French philosopher Luce Irigaray for its capacity to support a global radical democratic ethos. Irigaray proposes a politics of incarnation and love that aspires to heal Western,...

Catherine Anne Playoust [Th.D. 2006]: Lifted Up From the Earth: The Ascension of Jesus and the Heavenly Ascents of Early Christians.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... Many Early Christians used Jesus' ascension to reflect upon their own heavenly ascents. Scholars of Jesus' ascension have often neglected this link, overemphasizing both the role of Luke-Acts in the development of ascension belief and the...

Sarah Bowen Savant [Ph.D. 2006]: Finding Our Place in the Past: Genealogy and Ethnicity in Islam.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... It has been argued that Islam is unique among the world's religious traditions for the diversity of peoples who have embraced it as members of a single, worldwide Muslim community. This study contributes to studies of conversion to Islam by...

John Randall Short [Th.D. 2006]: The Story of David's Rise as Political Apology: A Reconsideration.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... Modern biblical scholars have increasingly characterized the story of David's rise to kingship as stemming from an originally independent and unified source that was composed in the Jerusalemite royal court for the purpose of legitimizing...

Christopher Daniel Tirres [Ph.D. 2006]: John Dewey and the Dynamics of Moral Faith: An Assessment and Reconstruction.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... In his small but significant book, A Common Faith (1934), John Dewey differentiates between a naturally occurring sense of "the religious" and institutional "religion." Whereas "the religious" refers to a pervasive and shared quality of...

Raquel Margalit Ukeles [Ph.D. 2006]: Innovation or Deviation: Exploring the Boundaries of Islamic Devotional Law.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... How did medieval Muslim jurists deal with popular devotional practices that lacked an explicit source in the Qur'an and Hadith? Most contemporary scholars--both Western and Muslim--assume that jurists uniformly rejected all innovations (bida;...

Deborah F. Whitehead [Th.D. 2006]: A Mediating Way of Thinking: Rhetoric, Gender, and Religion in the American Pragmatist Tradition.(Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations)
January 1, 2007... This dissertation addresses the topic of pragmatism and feminism through an analysis of the intersecting themes of rhetoric, gender, and religion in the pragmatist tradition. Many explanations for the current pragmatist renaissance situate...

Books received.
January 1, 2007... Aaron, David H. Etched in Stone." The Emergence of the Decalogue. New York: T&T Clark, 2006. 352 pp. $39.95 pb. Adam, A. K. M. Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006. 193 pp....