Religion, Science and Magic: In Concert and in Conflict - Hardcover

Neusner, Jacob

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195056035 ISBN 13: 9780195056037

Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, 1989

Synopsis

This is a collection of contributed papers arising from a conference held at Brown University in 1987. Every culture makes the distinction between "true religion" and magic. One action and its result are termed "miraculous", while another is rejected as the work of the devil. The 10 essays in this book examine the history of this distinction in Christianity and Judaism. Their underlying premise is that by understanding how a social group sorts out approved from disapproved practices and beliefs we gain insight into that group's mode of self-definition. One significant recurring theme is that "magic" is the insider's term for the outsider's religion. Social, cultural and anthropological explanations are advanced for the prominence of the magical in certain periods. There are some broad theoretical essays as well as in-depth studies of magic in particular literatures and periods. Among the contributors are Jacob Neusner, Hans Penner, Howard Kee, Tzvi Abusch, Susan R. Garrett and Moshe Idel. Topics considered include Babylonian witchcraft, Jesus the Magician, magic in Hasidism and the Kabbalah, and magic in Anglo-Saxon England.

About this title

Review

This book is both interesting and a valuable contribution to the study of magic in its relationship to learning. (The Heythrop Journal)

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195056035
• ISBN 13: 9780195056037
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 306