In Search of the Spirit: Selected Works, Volume Two: The Spirit and Early Jewish Literature

by John R Levison

Overview

"In his trailblazing studies of the spirit in Jewish and Christian Antiquity, John R. (Jack) Levison shatters theological and exegetical taxonomies. Should the spirit be understood as breath or Spirit--or both? Is the spirit directed to creation or salvation--or both? Is the spirit a force or an angel--or both? Does the spirit inspire ecstasy or wisdom--or both?"

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725290563
Publisher:	Cascade Books
Publication date:	09/12/2024
Pages:	330
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

John R. Levison holds the W. J. A. Power Chair of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He has received grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, National Humanities Center, National Endowment for the Humanities, Lilly Fellows Program, Louisville Institute, International Catacomb Society, Sam Taylor Foundation, and Rotary Foundation. He has been married for over forty years to his colleague and best friend Priscilla Pope-Levison.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Jack Levison’s first volume of essays on the Spirit was devoted to canonical texts. His second volume is devoted to Jewish writings of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. Levison is one of the few scholars who is equally adept with Hebrew and Greek, with the Dead Sea Scrolls and Philo. The three essays on Philo in this volume amount to the most sustained treatment available of the philosopher’s view of inspiration.”

—John J. Collins, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Yale Divinity School



“Taking the reader on a grand journey through early Jewish writings in search of the Spirit, Jack Levison decisively and once and for all proves all those wrong who have claimed with Hermann Gunkel that ancient Judaism is bereft of the Spirit. A masterful, authoritative, and inspiring treatment of the diverse notions of the Spirit in ancient Judaism. Levison puts the Spirit back to where it belongs, at the center of our reading of ancient Judaism.”

—Matthias Henze, professor of Hebrew Bible and early Judaism, Rice University



“Jack Levison’s masterful work will invite you to take seriously the biblical roots of Christian pneumatology. The result is an invitation to think about pneumatology first from below, from the core of all that is meant to be human, rather than from the heights of trinitarian dogma. This is a provocative read from start to finish.”

—Frank D. Macchia, professor of systematic theology, Vanguard University

Editorial Reviews

Jack Levison’s first volume of essays on the Spirit was devoted to canonical texts. His second volume is devoted to Jewish writings of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. Levison is one of the few scholars who is equally adept with Hebrew and Greek, with the Dead Sea Scrolls and Philo. The three essays on Philo in this volume amount to the most sustained treatment available of the philosopher’s view of inspiration.”

—John J. Collins, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Yale Divinity School



“Taking the reader on a grand journey through early Jewish writings in search of the Spirit, Jack Levison decisively and once and for all proves all those wrong who have claimed with Hermann Gunkel that ancient Judaism is bereft of the Spirit. A masterful, authoritative, and inspiring treatment of the diverse notions of the Spirit in ancient Judaism. Levison puts the Spirit back to where it belongs, at the center of our reading of ancient Judaism.”

—Matthias Henze, professor of Hebrew Bible and early Judaism, Rice University



“Jack Levison’s masterful work will invite you to take seriously the biblical roots of Christian pneumatology. The result is an invitation to think about pneumatology first from below, from the core of all that is meant to be human, rather than from the heights of trinitarian dogma. This is a provocative read from start to finish.”

—Frank D. Macchia, professor of systematic theology, Vanguard University

From the Publisher