The essays in this volume address key aspects of Israelite religious development. Cross traces the continuities between early Israelite religion and the Canaanite culture from which it emerged; explores the tension between the mythic and the historical in Israel's religious expression; and examines the reemergence of Canaanite mythic material in the apocalypticism of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
#1517278 in Books Harvard University Press 2012-04-09Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.83 x .80 x 5.33l; .71 #File Name: 0674064445224 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Reconsidering the AbolitionistsBy Ed MWere the abolitionists irresponsible radicals who caused a bloody Civil War or religious visionaries who brought an end to the blight of slavery -- or perhaps both? This set of lectures; with lead and closing essays by the multi-talented Andrew Delbanco; forces the reader to confront these varied interpretations.Delbanco sets the framework for the discusssion by contrasting major literary figures of the nineteenth century such as Hawthorne and Melville; who hated slavery but feared the abolitionists' fire; with the later abolitionists who sought to eradicate the institution of slavery root and branch; forsaking the compromising approachs of politicians like Webster and Clay. These later abolitionists were "immediatists" who sought to eradicate evil now; rather than tomorrow. (23;59)Delbanco notes how twentienth century events such as the Cold War; Vietnam; and the pro-life movement have caused the evangelical abolitionists to be viewed more critically in some segments of American society; mainly because of their uncompromising approach and their religious fervor; which secularists abhor.Delbanco concludes in the words of Adam Kirsch that "many-mindedness is a better endowment than ardent simplicity" (163); while at the same time acknowledging that without the evangelical fervor of the later abolitionists; the inhuman subjugation of slavery would have lasted much longer.The other papers in this book are uneven; but Wilfred McClay's "Abolition as Master Concept" is superb. Echoing Delbanco; he points out that abolitionism can serve as emblematic of "a certain distinctive and enduring reform temper - radical and comprehensive in its character; religious in its origins and intensity; tough and uncompromising in its manner- which seems to have been implanted in certain parts of American society; operating as a stimulative and provocative force within the larger context of American reform." (139)This wonderful book will provoke the reader to reconsider both the abolitionists and those other reform movements such as the Tea Party which relentlessly pursue their objectives despite the opposition of gradualists and political leaders of both parties. Such movements will typically contain both good and bad elements (think of the Populists of the late nineteenth century); but like William Lloyd Garrison; they accurately proclaim that they "will be heard." (10)
