History of Religion Commons^™

Exorcism And Violence: Contexts Internal And External, Yohanan Petrovsky-Stern

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

This presentation discusses projections of violence and social values in a mystical text from eastern Europe.

The Murder Of A Travel Companion. Violence, Gender And Living Conditions Of Servants In 18th Century Prussia, Noa Sophie Kohler

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Jews are often portrayed as non-violent and therefore as powerless victims. Highlighting and examining cases of Jews as violent perpetrators not only refutes this stigmatization of Jews, it also reveals much about day to day life, about personal and social conflicts both within Jewish society and in encounters with the Christian society.

Discussed here sections of a legal document from the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin Dahlem cover a court case against the Jewish servant, Samuel Saul, who was suspected of having murdered the Jewish maid Zierle in Prussia in 1791.

A Jewish Perspective On The Execution Of 'Jew Süss': 4 February 1738, Yair Mintzker

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

“The Story of the Passing of Joseph Süss, of Blessed Memory,” which appears here in full in English for the first time, is an extraordinary document. It concerns the arrest of Joseph Süsskind Oppenheimer in March 1737, his 11-month incarceration, his encounter with two Jews in prison and his execution the following day.

Oppenheimer, who already during his imprisonment began to be known derisively as “Jew Süss,” was born in Heidelberg to a middle-class Jewish family, probably in 1698. Starting in the third decade of the 18th century, Oppenheimer served as a court Jew to several German princes. In 1732 …

Big Blows On A Small Stage: Records Of Violence In Jewish Communal Registers, Altona 1765-1776, Elisheva Carlebach

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The incidents of interpersonal violence discussed here were recorded in semi-private registers kept by communal scribes across a period of approximately a decade during the second half of the eighteenth century in the Ashkenazic community of Altona. The Ashkenazic “triple” community, AHW, whose center was Altona, then under the Danish crown, is richly represented by surviving internal and archival records for the early modern period.

The questions explored address the meaning of this level of physical violence and the means by which it was addressed. Was violence tolerated as a way of keeping disputes within the community? How did it …

Jewish Violence In Polish Laws And Courts, Jerzy Mazur

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

This presentation looks at violence in law and in courts in late medieval Poland.

La Mala Sangre: Daily Violence Within The Western Sephardic Diaspora, Daniel Strum

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Recurrent private acts of violence within dense and homogenous communities, or diasporas, illustrate a tension between powerful gossip transmission and imperfect translation of such power into efficient social control.

This presentation explores the manifestation of private violence in the daily life of the Western Sephardic Diaspora in the early seventeenth century, examining inquisitorial sources from Portugal and notarial records from the Netherlands. These sources indicate that as much as group members expected mutual responsibility, trustworthiness and compliance with social norms from their fellow group members. Yet when they felt disappointed, they expressed their resentment aggressively. Aggression took shape of offenses …

Rome, 1571: A Body And A Murder Investigation In The Ghetto, Serena Di Nepi

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The 1571 story of Sabato del Corsetto tells about violence in the Roman ghetto in the second half of Sixteenth Century. It concerns many issues related to violence: family violence; verbal violence; physical violence; violence among women; violence arisen both for economic and personal reasons and even attempt made by the Jewish community to manage violence and violent people.

Eschatological Avengers Or Messianic Saviors? Violence And Physical Strength In The Vernacular Legend Of The Red Jews, Rebekka Voss

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The vernacular legend of the Red Jews allows us to explore the relationship of violence, physical strength and power during the early modern period, extending the traditional treatment of Jews and violence in that era. Violence is often linked to power and physical strength. Violence is typically associated with ruling authorities and the realm of the majority, rather than in the hands of an oppressed minority, as in case of Diaspora Jewry, which has been identified with victimhood. Moreover, in historiography, the perception of Jews as targets of aggression perpetrated by “the other,” whether Christian or Muslim, corresponds to the …

Plague And Violence Against Jews In Early Modern Europe, Samuel Cohn

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Based on Italian chronicles and archival sources Samuel Cohn examined questions of violence against Jews during plague.

Killed Or Be Killed. Realities And Representations Of Violence In Seventeenth-Century Ukraine, Adam Teller

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

Based on sources related to the 1648 Chmielnicki Uprising, Adam Teller examined "The Realities and Representations of Violence in Seventeenth Century Ukraine"

2013 Emw: Jews And Violence In The Early Modern Period, Emw 2013

Early Modern Workshop: Resources in Jewish History

The 2013 Early Modern Workshop on “Jews and Violence in the Early Modern Period” sought to contextualize the violence involving Jews in the early modern period in order to understand this crucial aspect of their experience. Participating scholars tried to complicate not only the over-simplified notion of Jews as solely victims of violence in the premodern period, but also examined complexities of the question of Jews as victims of violence.

Keynote address by Robert Davis of Ohio State University, "Typologies of Violence in Early Modern Europe"

To The Jew First: A Socio-Historical And Biblical-Theological Analysis Of The Pauline Teaching Of `Election' In Light Of Second Temple Jewish Patterns Of Thought, Anthony Thornhill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Paul's "doctrine" of election has remained a controversial and enigmatic topic for centuries. Few studies, however, have approached Paul's doctrine through the context of Second Temple Judaism. This study examines Paul's view of election through the lens of Second Temple Jewish texts written prior to 70 CE. In doing so, it is argued that the best framework through which to view Paul's discussion of election is through a primarily corporate model of election. While such a model is rooted in Judaism, Paul departs from his Jewish contemporaries in arguing that the locus of election is in God's Messiah, Jesus.

The Qur'anic Jesus: A Study Of Parallels With Non-Biblical Texts, Brian C. Bradford

Dissertations

This study examines which texts and religious communities existed that could well have contributed to Muhammad’s understanding of Jesus. The most important finding is that the Qur’anic verses mentioning Jesus’ birth, certain miracles, and his crucifixion bear close resemblance to sectarian texts dating as early as the second century. Accordingly, the idea that such verses from the Qur’an involving Jesus are original productions of the seventh century should be reconsidered.

The research covers a series of significant topics that support these findings. They include theological conflicts in third century Arabia; the interaction between Christian monks, Saracens, Arabs, and Ishmaelites; sectarian …

For Such A Time As This: The Impact Of Christian Missionaries On The Birth Of Reform Judaism In Charleston, South Carolina, 1824-1846, Ashley Goldberg

All Theses

The first generation of Americans born after the Revolution found themselves in uncharted territory, defining what it meant to be an American in a country that did not yet know itself. The impact was far reaching, as old institutions struggled to adapt to changing mores. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, the city of Charleston, South Carolina was home to the largest Jewish population in America; it too found itself in the midst of the struggle between the old ways and the new. How should Judaism adopt or adapt to the customs of a new country, one dominated …

The Life And Thought Of Mormon Apostle Parley Parker Pratt, Andrew James Morse

Dissertations and Theses

In 1855 Parley P. Pratt, a Mormon missionary and member of the Quorum of the Twelve, published Key to the Science of Theology. It was the culmination of over twenty years of intellectual engagement with the young religious movement of Mormonism. The book was also the first attempt by any Mormon at writing a comprehensive summary of the religion's theological ideas. Pratt covered topics ranging from the origins of theology in ancient Judaism, the apostasy of early Christianity, the restoration of correct theology with nineteenth century Mormonism, dreams, polygamy, and communication with beings on other planets. For nearly fifty years …

The Urge To Merge, Mark A. Granquist

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ecclesiastical Homogeny And Splintering Spirituality: White Ecumenical Christianity And The Church In Norfolk Virginia's Civil Rights Movement, Joshua Wesley Wilson

History Theses & Dissertations

The Norfolk, Virginia school closing crisis of 1958-1959 has served as a painful symbol of the Civil Rights political and social violence that gripped the region in the 1950s and 1960s. As political battles and legislative actions designed to prolong segregation made their way through the halls of Virginia government institutions, thousands of secondary school students were left without a formal public education program for months in the city, Extensive research has been conducted on the political rhetoric and government posturing but has often ignored the sentiments of Christian religious bodies functioning throughout the city and the region. This thesis …

The Development Of Early Christology, David Wyman

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

From Demonic Possession To Conversion Disorder: A Historical Comparison, Laura Hatchman

Honors Scholar Theses

My thesis compares analyses of early-modern understandings of demonic possession in the West to discussion of modern cases of mass conversion disorder, specifically focusing on episodes involving large groups of affected individuals. My research on the early modern period includes a literature review of the famous seventeenth-century case of mass possession at Loudun and a lengthy examination of possession from the vantage point of key societal players. On a parallel track, I have identified and recent psychological and medical literature pertaining to modern cases of what is called “mass hysteria,” “epidemic hysteria,” “conversion disorder,” and “mass psychogenic illness.” By examining …

Perceptions Of Retention Indicators In Athletic Training, Laura Juzeszyn

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.