Rethinking Authority in Late Antiquity Authorship Law and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition 1st Edition A. J. Berkovitz And Mark Letteney 1351063405 9781351063401

Rethinking Authority in Late Antiquity Authorship Law and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition 1st Edition A. J. Berkovitz And Mark Letteney – Ebook Instant Download/Delivery ISBN(s): 1351063405, 9781351063401

Product details:

• ISBN 10: 1351063405
• ISBN 13: 9781351063401
• Author: A. J. Berkovitz, Mark Letteney

The historian’s task involves unmasking the systems of power that underlie our sources. A historian must not only analyze the content and context of ancient sources, but also the structures of power, authority, and political contingency that account for their transmission, preservation, and survival. But as a tool for interpreting antiquity, “authority” has a history of its own. As authority gained pride of place in the historiographical order of knowledge, other types of contingency have faded into the background. This book’s introduction traces the genesis and growth of the category, describing the lacuna that scholars seek to fill by framing texts through its lens. The subsequent chapters comprise case studies from late ancient Christian and Jewish sources, asking what lies “beyond authority” as a primary tool of analysis. Each uncovers facets of textual and social history that have been obscured by overreliance on authority as historical explanation.

Table of contents:

1 Authority in contemporary historiography

2 Reading beyond authority

3 Authenticity and authority: the case for dismantling a dubious correlation

4 Beyond attribution and authority: the case of Psalms in rabbinic hermeneutics

5 Correcting the gospel: putting the titles of the gospels in historical context

6 Glimpses from the margins: re-telling late ancient history at the edges of the law

7 Concealing the law: the limits of legal promulgation among the rabbis of Babylonia

Part III Authority and transmission

8 Truth and doubt in manuscript discovery narratives

9 The orthodox transmission of heresy

10 Consuming texts: women as recipients and transmitters of ancient texts

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