De-demonising the Old Testament

De-demonising the Old Testament

Author: Judit M. Blair

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9783161501319

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Judit M. Blair challenges the common view that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are names of 'demons' in the Hebrew Bible, claiming that major works on the subject proceed from the assumption that these terms were demons in the ancient Near East and /or later, or that they were deities who became 'demonised' by the authors of the Hebrew Bible. Without questioning the validity of traditional methods she supplements the existing works by making an exegesis based on a close reading of all the relevant texts of the Hebrew Bible in which these five terms occur. Close attention is paid to the linguistic, semantic, and structural levels of the texts. The emphasis is on a close examination of the immediate context in order to determine the function of each term. The author notes different signals within the texts, especially the use of the various poetical/rhetorical devices: personification, parallelism, similes, irony, and mythological elements.


Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace

Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace

Author: Gerrit C. Vreugdenhil

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-07-13

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 9004427899

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In Psalm 91 and Demonic Menace Gerrit Vreugdenhil offers a thorough analysis of Psalm 91, a text that already in its earliest interpretations has been associated with the demonic realm.


The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology

The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology

Author: Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2015-11-02

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 9004306218

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In The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influence, Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum investigates for the first time the concept of the daimon (daemon, demon), normally confined to religion and philosophy, within the theory and practice of ancient western astrology (2nd century BCE – 7th century CE). This multi-disciplinary study covers the daimon within astrology proper as well as the daimon and astrology in wider cultural practices including divination, Gnosticism, Mithraism and Neo-Platonism. It explores relationships between the daimon and fate and Daimon and Tyche (fortune or chance), and the doctrine of lots as exemplified in Plato’s Myth of Er. In finding the impact of Egyptian and Mesopotamian ideas of fate on Hellenistic astrology, it critically examines astrology’s perception as propounding an unalterable destiny.


Nightmares with the Bible

Nightmares with the Bible

Author: Steve A. Wiggins

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-11-16

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1978703198

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Demons! Nightmares with the Bible views demons through two lenses: that of western religion and that of cinema. Sketching out the long fear of demons in western history, including the Bible, Steve A. Wiggins moves on to analyze how popular movies inform our beliefs about demonic forces. Beginning with the idea of possession, he explores the portrayal of demons from ancient Mesopotamia and the biblical world (including in select extra-biblical texts), and then examines the portrayal of demons in popular horror franchises The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, and Paranormal Activity. In the final chapter, Wiggins looks at movies that followed The Exorcist and offers new perspectives for viewing possession and exorcism. Written in non-technical language, this book is intended for anyone interested in how demons are perceived and how popular culture informs those perceptions.


The Materiality of Power

The Materiality of Power

Author: Brian B. Schmidt

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2016-05-03

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9783161533020

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"Were there countervailing cosmic realms ruled by Yahweh and Asherah in late pre-exilic Israel? Brian B. Schmidt presents five case studies corroborating the existence of a daimonic realm replete with intermediary protecticve spirits and a pandemonium that wreaked havoc upon both the living and dead. Having converged with Egypt's protective deities Bes and Beset, YHWH and Asherah also possessed the enhanced powers to govern a counteractive apotropaic realm from which Asherah mediated divine portections for humanity." -- bck cover


Evil, Spirits, and Possession

Evil, Spirits, and Possession

Author: David L Bradnick

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-08-28

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 9004350616

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In Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic David Bradnick develops a multidisciplinary view of the demonic, using biblical-theological, social-scientific, and philosophical-scientific perspectives. Building upon the work of Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong, this book argues for a theology informed by emergence theory, whereby the demonic arises from evolutionary processes and exerts downward causal influence upon its constituent substrates. Consequently, evil does not result from conscious diabolic beings; rather it manifests as non-personal emergent forces that influence humans to initiate and execute nefarious activities. Emergentism provides an alternative to contemporary views, which tend to minimize or reject the reality of the demonic, and it retains the demonic as a viable theological category in the twenty-first century.


Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology

Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology

Author: John H. Walton

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-05-10

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 1725249510

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Some people believe that a battle of cosmic proportions is raging as Satan and his demons seek to destroy Christians and undermine God's plans. Others believe that all talk of demons in the Bible and theology only reflects pre-modern superstitions that should be re-interpreted in philosophical and psychological terms. Despite their contrasts, both believe that the Bible directly or indirectly intends to teach readers about reality. Another path is possible. What if references to demons in the Bible are similar to references about the shape and structure of the cosmos representing the beliefs familiar to the ancient audience but used only as a framework for teaching about the plans and purposes of God? This approach is here worked out through detailed examination of hermeneutical method, the ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman contexts, each of the biblical terms and passages, and the essentials of biblical and systematic theology. Unlike many scholarly treatments of demons, readers will not find an assessment of the metaphysical realities. Instead they will be introduced to a hermeneutical, exegetical, and theological feast regarding what the Bible, understood in its ancient context, teaches.


Demons in Early Judaism and Christianity

Demons in Early Judaism and Christianity

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-09-19

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 9004518142

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This volume sheds light on how Jews and Christians in Antiquity understood the nature and characteristics of demons. The contributions cover a wide range of corpora and explore aspects of continuity and change as ideas flowed between groups and cultures.


Atonement and Purification

Atonement and Purification

Author: Isabel Cranz

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2017-05-05

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9783161549168

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Biblical scholars frequently attempt to contextualize the Priestly ritual corpus by comparing it to other ancient Near Eastern ritual traditions. This comparative approach tends to detect a hidden polemic at work in the Priestly Source (P) which was meant to highlight its distinctly monotheistic outlook. Isabel Cranz reframes current understandings of P by comparing Priestly rituals of atonement to their Assyro-Babylonian counterparts. In this way she shows how the Priestly ritual corpus is highly specialized and concerns itself primarily with sanctuary maintenance. Viewing P in this new light in turn helps to demonstrate that the authors of P were not interested in discrediting foreign rituals or pushing a monotheistic agenda. Instead P primarily aimed to confirm the Aaronide priests as the only legitimate priestly group fit for service at the altar. Subsequently if a polemical agenda is present in P it can be shown to be directed against rivals and critics of the Aaronide priesthood, not other rituals of the ancient Near East.


The Witch

The Witch

Author: Ronald Hutton

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2017-01-01

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0300229046

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This book sets the notorious European witch trials in the widest and deepest possible perspective and traces the major historiographical developments of witchcraft