Sacrifice, Scripture, and Substitution: Readings in Ancient Judaism and Christianity

by Ann W. Astell (Editor), Sandor Goodhart (Editor)

Overview

This collection of essays focuses on sacrifice in the context of Jewish and Christian scripture and is inspired by the thought and writings of René Girard. The contributors engage in a dialogue with Girard in their search for answers to key questions about the relation between religion and violence.

The book is divided into two parts. The first opens with a conversation in which René Girard and Sandor Goodhart explore the relation between imitation and violence throughout human history, especially in religious culture. It is followed by essays on the subject of sacrifice contributed by some of the most distinguished scholars in the field, including Bruce Chilton, Robert Daly, Louis Feldman, Michael Fishbane, Erich Gruen, and Alan Segal. The second part contains essays on specific scriptural texts (Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 and the book of Job in the Jewish tradition, the Gospel and Epistles in the Christian tradition). The authors explore new ways of applying Girardian analysis to episodes of sacrifice and scapegoating, demonstrating that fertile ground remains to further our understanding of violence in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

Contributors: Sandor Goodhart, Ann W. Astell, René Girard, Thomas Ryba, Michael Fishbane, Bruce Chilton, Robert Daly, S.J., Alan F. Segal, Louis H. Feldman, Erich S. Gruen, Stuart D. Robertson, Matthew Pattillo, Stephen Stern, Chris Allen Carter, William Morrow, William Martin Aiken, Gérard Rossé, Christopher S. Morrissey, Poong-In Lee, Anthony Bartlett

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268020385
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	06/30/2011
Series:	Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	490
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Sandor Goodhart is associate professor of English and Jewish Studies at Purdue University.

Ann W. Astell is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Sandor Goodhart and Ann W. Astell, "Substitutive Reading: An Introduction to Girardian Thinking, Its Reception in Biblical Studies, and This Volume" 1

Part 1 Sacrifice

1 "Mimesis, Sacrifice, and the Bible: A Conversation with Sandor Goodhart" René Girard 39

2 "Bloody Logic: The Biblical Economy of Sacrificial Substitution and Some of Its Eucharistic Implications" Thomas Ryba 70

3 "Aspects of the Transformation of Sacrifice in Judaism" Michael Fishbane 114

4 "The Eucharist and the Mimesis of Sacrifice" Bruce Chilton 140

5 "Eucharistic Origins: From the New Testament to the Liturgies of the Golden Age" Robert Daly, S.J. 155

6 "Life after Death: Violence, Martyrdom, and Academic Life in Western Religions" Alan F. Segal 179

7 "Anti-Judaism, Josephus, and the Hellenistic-Roman Period" Louis H. Feldman 208

8 "Beyond Anti-Judaism: Louis Feldman and the ?Lachrymose Version' of Jewish History" Erich S. Gruen 227

9 "Mimesis, Scapegoating, and Philo-Semitism: Reading Feldman and Girard" Stuart D. Robertson 232

Part 2 Scripture

Hebrew Scripture: Genesis 22

10 "Creation and Akedah: Blessing and Sacrifice in the Hebrew Scriptures" Matthew Pattillo 240

11 "The Unbinding of Isaac" Steven Stern 261

12 "Binding and Blessing: A Response to Pattillo and Stern" Sandor Goodhart 284

Holy Writings: The Book of Job

13 "Mimesis, Sacrifice, and the Wisdom of Job" Chris Allen Carter 294

14 "The Expulsion of Complaint from Early Jewish Worship" William Morrow 311

15 "The Book of Job and the Problem of Evil: Reading from Theodicy to the Ethical" Sandor Goodhart 329

Christian Gospel: Matthew, Luke, and John

16 "Luke and the Opportune Time: Reading the Temptation Story as Preface to Kingdom and Prologue to Passion" William Martin Aiken 360

17 "A Gospel That Preaches Nonviolence and Yet Provokes Violence" Gérard Rossé 384

18 "Exilic' Identities, the Samaritans, and the ?Satan' of John" Ann W. Astell 397

Christian Epistles: Colossians and Hebrews

19 "Aristotle's ?Natural Slaves' and Colossae's Unnatural ?Scythians': A Generative Exegesis of Colossians 3:11" Christopher S. Morrissey 410

20 "Is an Anti-sacrificial Reading of Hebrews Plausible?" Poong-In Lee 424

21 "Hermeneutics, Exegesis, and René Girard: A Response to Christopher Morrissey and Poong-In Lee" Anthony W. Bartlett 445

Contributors 450

Indes of Scriptural Citations 455

General Index 462

Editorial Reviews

Ultimately, this book serves as an excellent introductory conversation into mimetic theory and sacrifice. This collection of essays is a good starting point for a beginning student, but also will function as a tool for the researcher.” —Religious Studies Review

“The ground-breaking work of René Girard on the theme of violence and mimesis in religion is the inspiration for this collection of twenty-one essays. The impact of Girard’s thinking is particularly felt in biblical studies, as this volume demonstrates. The first nine essays address some aspect of biblical sacrifice itself; the rest focus on explicit biblical passages that treat the topic. . . . This is a very readable treatment of an important yet unresolved topic.” —The Bible Today

“The introduction . . . expounds René Girard’s theory that every culture is founded on the collective murder of a surrogate victim. . . . In Girard’s view, the Hebrew Bible reflects a profoundly anti-sacrificial development, and Christianity extends it by positing Jesus’ sacrifice as the supreme sacrifice that ends all sacrifices. . . . This volume . . . puts his theory at work, in two main ways, to which the two parts of the book are devoted.” —Bryn Mawr Classical Review

“This important book consists of twenty-one essays that are knowing, critical, and venturesome. . . . The intent of the collection is to understand better the ancient relationship of Judaism and Christianity. The accent of the volume, variously explored, expanded, appreciated, and in small ways critiqued, is the work of René Girard, to whom, along with his wife, the book is dedicated.” —Journal of Ecumenical Studies

"This volume first presents a 'conversation' between R. Girard and Goodhart on mimesis, sacrifice, and the Bible. Then it presents twenty essays on specific scriptural texts." —New Testament Abstracts

"A distinctive contribution of this volume is the focus of many of its essays on Judaism and Jewish readings of the Hebrew Bible. Girard's Christian focus has left his thought open to the criticism that it is a recycled form of supersessionism. Though I do not think that this book will put that issue completely to rest, its engagement with Jewish history and Jewish thinkers is welcome and an important advance." —James W. Watts, Syracuse University

"In increasing numbers, scholars are turning to the mimetic theory espoused by René Girard for answers to key questions about religion and violence. For the first time, the editors of this volume place in conversation with each other scholars who, from the perspective of Christian and Jewish traditions and scholarship, engage via mimetic theory the sacrificial and anti-sacrificial features of ancient Judaism and early Christianity and explore their subsequent trajectories." —Martha Reineke, University of Northern Iowa

“The articles constitute a lively and diverse discussion of sacrifice.” —Journal of Theological Studies

From the Publisher