How Repentance Became Biblical: Judaism, Christianity, and the Interpretation of Scripture

Winner of the AAR's 2016 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Textual Studies How Repentance Became Biblical tells the story of repentance as a concept. Many today, in both secular and religious contexts, assume it to be a natural and inevitable component of our lives. But, where did it originate? How did it become so prominent within Western religious traditions and, by extension, contemporary culture? What purposes does it serve? The book identifies repentance as a product of th...