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Ritual Legitimacy And Scriptural Authority, James W. Watts
Ritual Legitimacy And Scriptural Authority, James W. Watts
Religion - All Scholarship
In this essay, James W. Watts explains the interdependence of texts and rituals with regard to ancient religions. Specifically, he outlines patterns of practice and developments in the ritual use of texts and the texual authorization of rituals in antiquity.
Watts also makes the case that beyond the interplay of texual authority and ritual legitimacy that most ancient cultures engaged in, Judaism was unique in elevating the Torah along with its other laws and stories to special "scriptural" status.