Beholders of Divine Secrets

Beholders of Divine Secrets
Author: Vita Daphna Arbel
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0791486850

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Beholders of Divine Secrets provides a fascinating exploration of the enigmatic Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, the Jewish mystical writings of late antiquity. Vita Daphna Arbel delves into the unique nature of the mystical teachings, experiences, revelations, and spiritual exegesis presented in this literature. While previous scholarship has demonstrated the connection between Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism and parallel traditions in Rabbinical writings, the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocalyptic, early Christian, and Gnostic sources, this work points out additional mythological traditions that resonate in this literature. Arbel suggests that mythological patterns of expression, as well as themes and models rooted in Near Eastern mythological traditions are employed, in a spiritualized fashion, to communicate mystical content. The possible cultural and social context of the Hekhalot and Merkavah mysticism and its composers is discussed.

Paradise Now

Paradise Now
Author: April D. De Conick
Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit
Total Pages: 482
Release: 2006
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1589832574

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The Mystery of God

The Mystery of God
Author: C. C. Rowland
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 717
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004175326

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This book brings together the perspectives of apocalypticism and early Jewish mysticism to illuminate aspects of New Testament theology. The first part begins with a consideration of the mystical character of apocalypticism and then uses the Book of Revelation and the development of views about the heavenly mediator figure of Enoch to explore the importance of apocalypticism in the Gospels and Acts, the Pauline Letters and finally the key theological themes in the later books of the New Testament. The second and third parts explore the character of early Jewish mysticism by taking important themes in the early Jewish mystical texts such as the Temple and the Divine Body to demonstrate the relevance of this material to New Testament interpretation.

Experientia

Experientia
Author: Frances Flannery
Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2008
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1589833686

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An investigation of religious experience in early Judaism and early Christianity.

Jewish Mysticism

Jewish Mysticism
Author: Rachel Elior
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2007-05-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1786949881

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The corpus of Jewish mystical writings has developed over thousands of years in different parts of the world. Its creators sought to discover hidden realms that would shed light on existing reality. The literature they created, one of the central sources of inspiration of religious thought, comprises hundreds of volumes. This masterly investigation of the Jewish mystical phenomenon, from antiquity to the twentieth century, contextualizes it in the spiritual and historical circumstances in which it evolved.

The Open Secret

The Open Secret
Author: Alister E. McGrath
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2011-09-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1444358065

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Natural theology, in the view of many, is in crisis. In this long-awaited book, Alister McGrath sets out a new vision for natural theology, re-establishing its legitimacy and utility. A timely and innovative resource on natural theology: the exploration of knowledge of God as it is observed through nature Written by internationally regarded theologian and author of numerous bestselling books, Alister McGrath Develops an intellectually rigorous vision of natural theology as a point of convergence between the Christian faith, the arts and literature, and the natural sciences, opening up important possibilities for dialogue and cross-fertilization Treats natural theology as a cultural phenomenon, broader than Christianity itself yet always possessing a distinctively Christian embodiment Explores topics including beauty, goodness, truth, and the theological imagination; how investigating nature gives rise to both theological and scientific theories; the idea of a distinctively Christian approach to nature; and how natural theology can function as a bridge between Christianity and other faiths

Divine Scapegoats

Divine Scapegoats
Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2015-02-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1438455844

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Divine Scapegoats is a wide-ranging exploration of the parallels between the heavenly and the demonic in early Jewish apocalyptical accounts. In these materials, antagonists often mirror features of angelic figures, and even those of the Deity himself, an inverse correspondence that implies a belief that the demonic realm is maintained by imitating divine reality. Andrei A. Orlov examines the sacerdotal, messianic, and creational aspects of this mimetic imagery, focusing primarily on two texts from the Slavonic pseudepigrapha: 2 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham. These two works are part of a very special cluster of Jewish apocalyptic texts that exhibit features not only of the apocalyptic worldview but also of the symbolic universe of early Jewish mysticism. The Yom Kippur ritual in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the divine light and darkness of 2 Enoch, and the similarity of mimetic motifs to later developments in the Zohar are of particular importance in Orlov's consideration.

Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla's Hermeneutics

Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla's Hermeneutics
Author: Elke Morlok
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2011
Genre: Cabala
ISBN: 9783161502033

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A revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Hebrew UniversityJerusalem, 2008.

Prayer as Divine Experience in 4 Ezra and John’s Apocalypse

Prayer as Divine Experience in 4 Ezra and John’s Apocalypse
Author: David Seal
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2017-06-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0761869263

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Do humans have a special capacity designed to foster experiences of God? What role do specific bodily actions or emotions play in the cultivation of a divine experience? Prayer as Divine Experience in 4 Ezra and John’s Apocalypse: Emotion, Empathy, and Engagement with God explores these questions in a systematic study of the emotions in two apocalyptic texts. The book of 4 Ezra, an ancient Jewish apocalypse, and the book of Revelation, an ancient Christian Apocalypse written by John, are examined with a focus on the emotional language of the prayers and prayer preludes contained in this literature. Both texts were composed in the first-century of the Common Era, a time when most people exposed to literature heard the content as it was recited. The emotive language in these writings could potentially arouse similar emotions in the readers or hearers of these texts, allowing the person to have access to the divine experiences, which are described by the seer in 4 Ezra and are expressed by the angelic choir in John’s Apocalypse. Prior to examining the prayers, Prayer as Divine Experience will describe the neurological processes that cause a person to mirror the emotions expressed by another individual, thereby prompting an imitation of the experience that is perceived.

The Secret in Medieval Literature

The Secret in Medieval Literature
Author: Albrecht Classen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2022-11-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1666917877

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The Secret in Medieval Literature explores the many secret agents, actions, creatures, and other beings influencing human existence. Medieval poets had a clear sense of the alternative dimension (the secret) and allowed it to enter quite frequently into their texts.