Francesca Aran Murphy

Seth Daniel Kunin

Helen Katharine Bond

This textbook offers a general introduction to the subject area of religious studies and theology. Based on the core components of a RS theology degree, it aims to be the main text for beginning students to use throughout their degree.

A Companion to Religious Studies and Theology

A Structuralist Analysis of Hebrew Mythology

The Logic of Incest

The myths of Genesis are the foundation for hundreds of texts written at later diachronically distinct and datable periods. Seven texts-Genesis itself, Genesis Rabbah, Pirke deRabbi Eliezer and mediaeval compilations-are examined here, with five interrelated questions in focus: Can structuralist theory be applied usefully to societies conscious of history and change? What is the relationship between continuity and trasformation as a mythological tradition develops diachronically? What role does diachronic development within a myth play in relation to its underlying structure? What is the synchronic structure of Israelite (or rather, biblical) myth? Are there identifiable patterns of transformation and continuity between biblical myth and the three diachronically distinct levels of rabbinic myth?

Written for students of comparative religion, this volume introduces Judaism through the exploration of ten core themes ranging from the depiction of the divine to the role of sacred texts.

Themes and Issues in Judaism

In We Think What We Eat, Seth Kunin presents both an appreciation and critique of Professor Mary Douglas' classical work on Israelite food rules. He places her arguments into the context of related anthropological approaches and suggests a new interpretation of the food rules system based on a rigorous application of structuralist theory. Kunin then goes on to extend this analysis to other areas of Israelite culture. Through detailed analysis of texts from Genesis, Exodus and Judges, he demonstrates that the same structural pattern found in the first section in respect of ritual is also characteristic of the mythological material. This section of the book also takes up the issue of structural transformation. It examines the processes found as the myths move from the Israelite context to that of the rabbis, the authors of the New Testament and of the Book of Mormon. The arguments presented demonstrate that as the myths move from culture to culture diachronically and geographically while the same mythological elements are retained they are restructured and organized based on the structural needs of the new cultural context. Kunin is also interested in issues of structuralist theory. Thus, he addresses issues related to the processes of structural transformation - suggesting processes that lead to changes in structural emphasis and those relating to more significant transformations. This is volume 412 in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement series. >

Structuralist Analysis of Israelite Food Rules and Other Mythological and Cultural Domains

We Think What We Eat

Juggling Identities is an extensive ethnography of the crypto-Jews who live deep within the Hispanic communities of the American Southwest. Critiquing scholars who challenge the cultural authenticity of these individuals, Seth D. Kunin builds a solid link between the crypto-Jews of New Mexico and their Spanish ancestors who secretly maintained their Jewish identity after converting to Catholicism, offering the strongest evidence yet of their ethnic and religious origins. Kunin adopts a unique approach to the lives of modern crypto-Jews, concentrating primarily on their understanding of Jewish tradition and the meaning they ascribe to ritual. He illuminates the complexity of this community, in which individuals and groups perform the same practice in diverse ways. Kunin supplements his ethnographic research with broader theories concerning the nature of identity and memory, which is especially applicable to crypto-Jews, whose culture resides mainly in memory. Kunin's work has wider implications, not only for other forms of crypto-Judaism (such as that found in the former Soviet Union) but also for the study of Judaism's fluid nature, which helps adherents adapt to new circumstances and knowledge. Kunin draws fascinating comparisons between the intricate ancestry of crypto-Jews and those of other ethnic communities living in the United States.

Identity and Authenticity Among the Crypto-Jews

Juggling Identities

Jonathan Miles-Watson

This book provides a comprehensive selection of readings that relate to and explore the definition of religion. The texts come from a wide range of approaches, unified both by the questions they address and their broadly social scientific perspective. The disciplines covered include anthropology, phenomenology, psychology and sociology. The editors have also included some key texts relating to the feminist approach to and critique of religion. The initial section of the book includes some of the foundational texts, such as materials by Marx, Freud, and Durkheim. The remaining sections look at more recent discussions of the issues from the different disciplinary perspectives. Each reading is introduced by a biographical sketch of the author. The book also includes introductory discussions to each section that both raise the key issues developed in a particular discipline and address the disciplinary approaches from a more critical stance. Theories of Religion: A Reader is an invaluable critical resource, accessible to a broad audience as well as students of theology and religious studies.Seth D. Kunin, dean of Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Durham, is author of Religion: the Modern Theories, coeditor of A Companion to Religious Studies and Theology, and editor of Themes and Issues in Judaism. Jonathan Miles-Watson is lecturer in anthropology at the University of Wales Swansea.

Seth Daniel Kunin

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