Marianne Bjelland Kartzow

Liv Ingeborg Lied

Esther Brownsmith

This volume explores the idea of the unruly book, from books now known by their titles alone to books that subverted structures of power and gender. The contributors show how these books functioned as “sticky” objects, and they examine the story of what such books signified to the people who wrote, read, discussed, yearned for, or even prohibited them. The books examined are those of the first millennium of the Common Era, and the writings of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and related traditions. In particular, the contributors examine the bounty of books within this period that are hard to pin down, whether extant, lost, or imagined-books that challenge modern scholars to reconceptualize our notions of books (biblical or otherwise), religion, manuscript culture, and intellectual history. Through the critical analyses presented in this volume, the contributors negotiate the diverse stories told by unruly books and show that by listening to the stories that books tell, we learn more about the worlds that imagined and discussed them.

Rethinking Ancient and Academic Imaginations of Religious Texts

Unruly Books

Anne Hege Grung

Anna Rebecca Solevag

This stimulating collection of essays by prominent scholars honours Turid Karlsen Seim. Bodies, Borders, Believers brings together biblical scholars, ecumenical theologians, archaeologists, classicists, art historians, and church historians, working side by side to probe the past and its receptions in the present. The contributions relate in one way or another to Seim's broad research interests, covering such themes as gender analysis, bodily practices, and ecumenical dialogue. The editors have brought together an international group of scholars, and among the contributors many scholarly traditions, theoretical orientations, and methodological approaches are represented, making this book an interdisciplinary and border-crossing endeavour. A comprehensivebibliography of Seim's work is included.

Ancient Texts and Present Conversations

Bodies, Borders, Believers

The frequent comments about gossip in the Pastoral Epistles are noteworthy, and it often has gender implications. Insights from the growing field of gossip studies from multiple disciplines help to interpret what role gossip plays, especially in relation to how power and authority are distributed and promoted. A presentation of various texts from antiquity shows that the relation between gossip and gender is multiple and complex: to gossip was typical for all women and risky for elite men who constantly had to defend their masculinity. The ancient gossip discourse helps to understand more of the social dynamics of early Christianity, to fill in the imaginative picture and generate ideas to how Christian identity and theology were constructed.

Othering of Speech in the Pastoral Epistles

Gossip and Gender

This book examines an undertheorized topic in the study of religion and sacred texts: the figure of the neighbor. By analyzing and comparing this figure in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts and receptions, the chapters explore a conceptual shift from "Children of Abraham" to "Ambiguous Neighbors." Through a variety of case studies using diverse methods and material, chapters explore the neighbor in these neighboring texts and traditions. The figure of the neighbor seems like an innocent topic at the surface. It is an everyday phenomenon, that everyone have knowledge about and experiences with. Still, analytically, it has a rich and innovative potential. Recent interdisciplinary research employs this figure to address issues of cultural diversity, gender, migration, ethnic relationships, war and peace, environmental challenges and urbanization. The neighbor represents the borderline between insider and outsider, friend and enemy, us and them. This ambiguous status makes the neighbor particularly interesting as an entry point into issues of cultural complexity, self-definition and identity. This volume brings all the intersections of religion, ethnicity, gender, and socio-cultural diversity into the same neighborhood, paying attention to sacred texts, receptions and contemporary communities. The Ambiguous Figure of the Neighbor in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Texts and Receptions offers a fascinating study of the intersections between Jewish, Christian and Islamic text, and will be of interest to anyone working on these traditions.

The Ambiguous Figure of the Neighbor in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Texts and Receptions

This stimulating collection of essays by prominent scholars honors Turid Karlsen Seim. Bodies, Borders, Believers brings together biblical scholars, ecumenical theologians, archeologists, classicists, art historians, and church historians, working side by side to probe the past and its receptions in the present. The contributions relate in one way or another to Seim's broad research interests, covering such themes as gender analysis, bodily practices, and ecumenical dialogue. The editors have brought together an international group of scholars, and among the contributors many scholarly traditions, theoretical orientations, and methodological approaches are represented, making this book an interdisciplinary and border-crossing endeavor. A comprehensive bibliography of Seim's work is included.

Marianne Bjelland Kartzow

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