Experientia: Inquiry Into Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Christianity
- ISBN-10
- 1589833686
- ISBN-13
- 9781589833685
- Pages
- 261
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2008
- Publisher
- Society of Biblical Lit
- Authors
- Rodney Alan Werline, Colleen Shantz, Frances Flannery
Description
This collection investigates the phenomenon of religious experience in early Judaism and early Christianity. The essays consider such diverse phenomena as scribal inspiration, possession, illness, ascent, theurgy, and spiritual transformation wrought by reading, and recognize that the texts are reflective of the lived experiences of ancient religious peoples, which they understood to be encounters with the divine. Contributors use a variety of methodologies, including medical anthropology, neurobiology, and ritual and performance studies, to move the investigation beyond traditional historical and literary methodologies and conclusions to illuminate the importance of experience in constructions of ancient religion. The contributors are Celia Deutsch, Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Frances Flannery, Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Robin Griffith-Jones, Richard A. Horsley, John B. F. Miller, Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte, Rollin A. Ramsaran, Nicolae Roddy, Alan F. Segal, Colleen Shantz, Steven M. Wasserstrom, and Rodney A. Werline.
