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  • Sectarianism in early Judaism: sociological advances

    About The File:
    File Format | PDF
    File Size | 1.57 MB
    Pages | 278
    Language | English
    Category | Judaism
    Description:  This volume takes advantage of the latest sociological perspectives on sect formation and development and applies them to the study of Early Judaism, providing fresh insights on early Jewish sectarianism. The studies in this volume lay the groundwork for further application of sociological models in the study of ancient sects and are a timely contribution to social-scientific research in biblical studies, an increasingly important discipline in the field. This book presents eight new and path-breaking studies, which explore the phenomenon of sects in ancient Judaism and the history of sociological theorizing of sectarian movements.

    Contributors draw on a full range of classical and contemporary sources in the sociology of religion including the work of Max Weber, Ernest Troeltsch, Bryan Wilson, Stark and Bainbridge, and Mary Douglas. The book represents a self-conscious foregrounding of sociological issues that the authors apply to their deep knowledge of the history and texts of the so-called sectarian communities. Critical consideration is given to the contexts in which Jewish sectarianism is to be understood, layers of redaction in the texts, the trajectories of sectarian groups, the location of sectarianism within a long term history of Judaism as well as in the context of the Second Temple; the relations between sects and the wider society, between themselves and between other religious and political movements are considered. 
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