Mind, Morality and Magic
Cognitive Science Approaches in Biblical Studies
1st Edition
Published on 1. September 2013
Book
Hardback
324 pages
978-1-84465-733-9 (ISBN)
Description
The cognitive science of religion that has emerged over the last twenty years is a multidisciplinary field that often challenges established theories in anthropology and comparative religion. This new approach raises many questions for biblical studies as well. What are the cross-cultural cognitive mechanisms which explain the transmission of biblical texts? How did the local and particular cultural traditions of ancient Israel and early Christianity develop? What does the embodied and socially embedded nature of the human mind imply for the exegesis of biblical texts? "Mind, Morality and Magic" draws on a range of approaches to the study of the human mind - including memory studies, computer modeling, cognitive theories of ritual, social cognition, evolutionary psychology, biology of emotions, and research on religious experience. The volume explores how cognitive approaches to religion can shed light on classical concerns in biblical scholarship - such as the transmission of traditions, ritual and magic, and ethics - as well as uncover new questions and offer new methodologies.
Reviews / Votes
'...the editors and contributors have succeeded in publishing a highly readable, introductory volume with practical case studies, which can be recommended to anyone interested in delving deeper into the description of scientific tools pertinent to the study of historical ideas and beliefs.' - Vojtech Kase, University of Helsinki, Finland and Masaryk University, Czech Republic in Journal of Cognitive HistoriographyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Durham
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
658 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84465-733-9 (9781844657339)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Istvan Czachesz | Risto Uro
Mind, Morality and Magic
Cognitive Science Approaches in Biblical Studies
E-Book
10/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Istvan Czachesz | Risto Uro
Mind, Morality and Magic
Cognitive Science Approaches in Biblical Studies
E-Book
10/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Persons
Istvan Czachesz is Adjunct Professor of Protestant Theology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and Kate Hamburger Kolleg Visiting Research Fellow at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. Risto Uro is University Lecturer of New Testament Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Content
Preface 1. The Cognitive Science of Religion: A New Alternative in Biblical Studies, Istvan Czachesz & Risto Uro 2. Past Minds: Evolution, Cognition and Biblical Studies, Luther H. Martin Part I: Memory and the Transmission of Biblical Traditons 3. How Religions Remember: Memory Theories in Biblical Studies and in the Cognitive Study of Religion, Petri Luomanen 4. Rethinking Biblical Transmission: Insights from the Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory, Istvan Czachesz 5. The Interface of Ritual and Writing in the Transmission of Early Christian Traditions, Risto Uro 6. Computer Modeling of Cognitive Processes in Biblical Studies: The Primacy of Urban Christianity as a Test Case, Istvan Czachesz & Anders Lisdorf 7. "I was El Shaddai, but now I'm Yahweh": God Names and the Informational Dynamics of Biblical Texts, Gabriel Levy Part II: Ritual and Magic 8. Is Judaism Boring? On the Lack of Counterintuitive Agents in Jewish Rituals, Tamas Biro 9. Ritual System in the Qumran Movement: Frequency, Boredom and Balance, Jutta Jokiranta 10. A Cognitive Perspective on Magic in the New Testament, Istvan Czachesz 11. From Corpse Impurity to Relic Veneration: New Light from Cognitive and Psychological Studies, Risto Uro Part III: Altruism, Morality, and Cooperation 12. Why Do Religious Cultures Evolve Slowly? The Cultural Evolution of Cooperative Calling and the Historical Study of Religions, Joseph Bulbulia, Quentin Atkinson, Russell Gray & Simon Greenhill 13. Empathy and Ethics: Bodily Emotion as Basis for Moral Admonition, Thomas Kazen 12. A Socio-Cognitive Perspective on Identity and Behavioral Norms in Ephesians, Rikard Roitto 13. Emotion, Cognition, and Social Change: A Consideration of Galatians 3:28, Colleen Shantz Notes Bibliography