Sectarianism in Early JudaismSociological Advances
Edited by: David J. Chalcraft
Series: BibleWorld Hardback Price £60.00/$95.00 Paperback Price £15.99/$26.95 |     |
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, Mary Douglas. The book represents a self-conscious foregrounding of sociological issues which 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.
Critical approaches are adopted to the reception and application of Weber’s ideas and for the first time a comprehensive survey of the contributions of Weber and Bryan Wilson, rooted in the development of their own work across time, is provided. The limits as well as the potentialities of their typologies and sociological theories are considered. Overall the book breaks out of a non reflective and non informed use of sociological typologies to ground conceptualization of sects and their histories in a purposeful sociological context, making controlled use of sociological theory, concepts and substantive findings of other sectarian movements. The book does not argue for any one sociological method or typology but only leads by example by showing the need to be cautious with the use of comparative material, and to ground theorizing in the very texts of the sociological theorist studied just as careful attention needs to be paid to the textual, historical and material evidence that remains.
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, Mary Douglas. The book represents a self-conscious foregrounding of sociological issues which 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.
Critical approaches are adopted to the reception and application of Weber’s ideas and for the first time a comprehensive survey of the contributions of Weber and Bryan Wilson, rooted in the development of their own work across time, is provided. The limits as well as the potentialities of their typologies and sociological theories are considered. Overall the book breaks out of a non reflective and non informed use of sociological typologies to ground conceptualization of sects and their histories in a purposeful sociological context, making controlled use of sociological theory, concepts and substantive findings of other sectarian movements. The book does not argue for any one sociological method or typology but only leads by example by showing the need to be cautious with the use of comparative material, and to ground theorizing in the very texts of the sociological theorist studied just as careful attention needs to be paid to the textual, historical and material evidence that remains.
Reviews
'This is one of the most important books recently compiled for the improved understanding of Judaism in the late Second Temple period. Most significantly, all the contributors, but especially David Chalcraft in his introduction and Part One (on Weber), are methodologically astute. Here the social sciences are understood and applied on their own terms and with an eye to the history of their development as a set of disciplines, not as a way of providing models for filling gaps in our knowledge. The results are striking and sophisticated, based on a range of approaches from the consideration of ideal types to the creative use of the sociological imagination and with the application of comparative methods along the way. The authors especially make a major contribution to how the communities reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls should be located in a broader social, cultural and historical framework. Not only is this a fine and timely volume, but also it is very well written and its vibrant ideas all the more accessible as a result.'
George J. Brooke
Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis
University of Manchester
'While many books continue to be published by biblical scholars and scholars of early Judaism which make use of sociological theory - some well, some ill - few set out to review their data with a theoretically explicit sociological agenda, and fewer still do so with the active co-operation of a professional sociologist. The participants in this exemplary instance of interdisciplinary synergism ...move well beyond traditional understandings of sectarian identity and the four "philosophies" of Josephus. One line of inquiry of particular interest is the relation of the sect to the parent body, what it can tell us about the particular form of Second Temple Judaism from which it seceded or from which it was coercively dissociated.
This collection of papers should not be missed by anyone seriously interested in the emergence of Judaism in its different configurations, the intellectual and religious history of the Second Temple period, the Qumran sectarian writings, and the sociology of religion in general.'
Joseph Blenkinsopp
John A. O'Brien Professor Biblical Studies Emeritus
University of Notre Dame
An important book on early Judaism, edited by a professional sociologist
International Review of Biblical Studies/IZBG
Specifications
| ISBN-10 (Hardback) | 1845530837 |
| ISBN-13 (Hardback) | 9781845530839 |
| Price (Hardback) | £60.00/$95.00 |
| ISBN-10 (Paperback) | 1845530845 |
| ISBN-13 (Paperback) | 9781845530846 |
| Price (Paperback) | £15.99/$26.95 |
| Publication Date | September 2007 |
| Pages | 256 |
| Size | 234 x 156mm |
| Search All Books
| ||
|
Recently Published Books
|
||
| Forthcoming Books
|
||
| Browse by Series | ||
|
||
Browse by Subject |
||
Publish with Us |
||
|
||
 |
