Torah And Sophia

The century following the death of Maimonides (1204) witnessed widespread upheaval and turmoil as anti-rationalist Jews attempted to ban the study of philosophy. For such rationalist philosophers as Shem Tov ibn Falaquera (c. 1225-1291), however, Judaism could not be restricted to the confines of the spiritual and intellectual ghetto; the free minds of Jews could not be shackled in the name of Judaism. In many respects, Falaquera epitomizes the way in which philosophy succeeded in finding a home in Judaism in the Middle Ages. The pioneering philosophical efforts of earlier luminaries made an enduring impact on the course of Jewish history and the religious and intellectual life of the Jewish people through their Hebrew translation and cultural consolidation at the hands of Jewish philosophers like Falaquera. As a prolific Hebrew poet, translator, popularize of science and philosophy, encyclopedist, defender of Maimonides, Bible commentator, historian of philosophy, and philosopher in his own right, Falaquera manifested a loving commitment to both Torah and secular wisdom (hokhmah, Sophia) and the conviction that both Torah and Sophia ultimately must be in harmony, if not identical. Raphael Jospe's exhaustive study of the life and thought of Shem Tov ibn Falaquera provides students of medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy for the first time with a systematic and comprehensive presentation of Falaquera's philosophy. Reflecting Falaquera's own philosophic and curricular priorities, the book focuses in particular depth on his psychology, in light of and in comparison to his Arabic sources. In the tradition of scholarly text analysis, the book also offers a critical Hebrew edition and annotated English translation of Falaquera's systematic psychological study, Sefer Ha-Nefesh (Book of the Soul), as well as a critical and annotated edition of his previously unpublished ethical work, Shelemut Ha-Ma'asim (Perfection of Actions), and - also for the first time - the surviving fragments, with English translation, of Falaquera'a Bible commentary.

Thomas Schipflinger traces the concept of Sophia--Holy Wisdom--throughout history in Scripture; art and literature; in the writing of Sophia scholars; in Russian iconography and architecture; and in the images and incarnations of Sophia in Eastern traditions. The common thread running throughout the work is the belief that Sophia appears as the Virgin Mary.

In this groundbreaking book, Sally Douglas excavates biblical and early Christian understandings of Jesus as the female divine. Drawing from her expertise as a New Testament scholar and theologian, Douglas accessibly sets out the evidence for Jesus Sophia and then explores its practical implications, both for the church—often suffocated by God-as-male imagery—and for our day-to-day lives. Questions about discipleship, biblical interpretation, and theology are investigated in relation to Jesus Sophia’s hospitality, friendship, anger, non-retaliation, and care for all things. In this process understandings of the cross are revisited, female imagery for God is reclaimed and celebrated, fresh and ancient practices of faith are offered, and inclusive, exquisite liturgies are shared. With dynamism, humor, faithfulness, and creativity, Douglas encourages, unsettles, and supports readers, as they discover Jesus Sophia for themselves.

This unique volume, nearly 2000 pages in length and handsomely printed on Bible paper, is perhaps the most comprehensive scholarly work of our time on the translation and interpretation of the Bible. At its core are papers presented to an international symposium in Ljubljana in September 1996 to mark the publication of the new Slovenian version of the Bible, a landmark in Slovene identity and cultural life. In addition, its distinguished editor, Joze Krasovec, has commissioned a wide range of contributions devoted to translations of the Bible in many languages, including the Slavonic languages, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish and the Scandinavian languages. The 82 chapters in this work, mostly in English, are divided into three parts. Part I, on ancient translations and hermeneutics of the Bible, contains contributions by M.-E. Boismard, S.P. Brock, K.J. Cathcart, R.P. Gordon, L.J. Grech, M. Hengel, O. Keel, J. Lust, E. Tov and others, with a notable comprehensive bibliographic survey of oriental Bible translations from the first millennium by M. van Esbroeck. Part II, on Slavonic and other translations of the Bible, includes the first detailed study of the history of the Slavonic Bible, by Francis J. Thomson (over 300 pp.). Part III, with essays by such scholars as J.H. Charlesworth, D.J.A. Clines, J. Gnilka, M. G÷rg, N. Lohfink and A.C. Thiselton, concerns the interpretation of the Bible in translation, philosophy, theology, art and music. In an appendix, a complete list of printed Bibles in languages throughout the world is presented for the first time.

This feminist approach to the Gospel of John explores the issue of the role of women in the Johannine Christian community. The author first examines in detail the relationship between the Jewish figure of Wisdom, known by the Greek name Sophia, and the Jesus of the Fourth Gospel. Secondly, he investigates what effect the use of a female figure as a basis for christological reflection have on the way in which women were portrayed in the Gospel. The deliberate choice of the feminine name Sophia caused problems for the writer of the Fourth Gospel in seeking to identify the exclusively female figure with the male Jesus.

The Grace of Sophia reaches out to Korean North American women, including former victims of severe religious and cultural suffering in Korea and current casualties of racism, classism, and sexism in North America. By sharing her own views on racism, the patriarchal Korean society, and multifaith understandings of wisdom, author Grace Ji-Sun Kim offers strength for the journey to empowerment and hope in the search for a liberative Korean North American women's Christology.

This book reveals how Moses ibn Ezra, Judah Halevi, Moses Maimonides, and Shem Tov ibn Falaquera understood metaphor and imagination, and their role in the way human beings describe God. It demonstrates how these medieval Jewish thinkers engaged with Arabic-Aristotelian psychology, specifically with regard to imagination and its role in cognition. Dianna Lynn Roberts-Zauderer reconstructs the process by which metaphoric language is taken up by the imagination and the role of imagination in rational thought. If imagination is a necessary component of thinking, how is Maimonides’ idea of pure intellectual thought possible? An examination of select passages in the Guide, in both Judeo-Arabic and translation, shows how Maimonides’ attitude towards imagination develops, and how translations contribute to a bifurcation of reason and imagination that does not acknowledge the nuances of the original text. Finally, the author shows how Falaquera’s poetics forges a new direction for thinking about imagination.

This Festschrift honours Günter Stemberger on the occasion of his 75th birthday on 7 December 2015 and contains 41 articles from colleagues and students. The studies focus on a variety of subjects pertaining to the history, religion and culture of Judaism – and, to a lesser extent, of Christianity – from late antiquity and the Middle Ages to the modern era.