In the thousand years before the rise of Islam; two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. What's Divine about Divine Law? untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition―Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo; the community at Qumran; Paul; and the talmudic rabbis―struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy.Christine Hayes shows that for the ancient Greeks; divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality; truth; universality; and immutability; while for the biblical authors; divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality; conformity to truth; universality; or immutability. Hayes describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period; and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. She shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers; from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria; were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law; while Paul; in his letters to the early Christian church; sought to widen it. Hayes then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path; insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West.A stunning achievement in intellectual history; What's Divine about Divine Law? sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought; and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.
#900791 in Books Princeton University Press 2009-11-01 2009-11-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.10 x .65 x 6.10l; .80 #File Name: 069114429X256 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Kate PageAccessible and simultaneously critically brilliant.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A standard social historyBy CustomerIt lacked feeling for the religiosity of Japanese Buddhists7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Reality Check for Soto BuddhismBy Crazy FoxThis book was a fine example of scholarship in many ways; especially in the way it brings Soto Zen Buddhism down to earth and helps fill in the gaps in our knowledge of Tokugawa Period Buddhism (usually ignored as "decadent"--an ahistorical slur that sheds no light on the issues). In some ways it reminded me of the fine work Gregory Schopen has done with Indian Buddhism; or with what Bernard Faure might achieve if he would learn to write and stop dropping names of French Postmodernists.Sometimes the author gets a bit too dismissive of the "great Zen masters" style of history. Granted he's trying to make a point and balance the distorted emphasis on the latter; still I don't think one needs to disparage other styles and approaches to do so.I highly recommend this book to anyone going to Japan who is interested in Buddhism; especially Zen. Years ago when I went to Japan I had already avidly read some stuff about Dogen (the founder of Soto Zen) and was really excited that there were several Soto Zen Temples near where I lived. Of course I was immediately thrown for a loop because what was going on at these temples was like 1% related to what I had read. If I had read this book beforehand; I would have had a much better idea what to expect and been able to make more of the experience.
