The perfect Torah [electronic resource]

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BRILL, 2003 - 206 páginas
"The perfect Torah" is the medium through which the one, unique God makes himself known. The Judaic statement of monotheism comes to expression in Scripture as perfected by the Oral Torah in its native category-formations, Halakhah, norms of behavior, and Aggadah norms of belief. The Halakhah of the oral Torah conveys monotheism in a philosophical mode, and the Aggadah, monotheism in a mythic mode. What is perfect about the dual Torah, written and oral, is the perfect match between the message and the medium, Halakhah for the philosophical monotheism, Aggadah for the mythic statement of the same monotheism. Chapters One and Two explain the former, Chapters Three and Four the latter. The question answered here concerns how one canonical corpus perfects its companion and produces in consequence perfection: the realization of the initial intent and program of the Written by the Oral Torah. That is addressed by the construction of large exemplary structures of comparison and contrast in the shank of the book. Four principles are established: [1] the perfection through the systematization of the law of the Written Torah by the Oral Torah, in Chapter One; [2] the perfection of the medium of the Halakhah for the message of philosophical monotheism, in Chapter Two; [3] the perfection of Scripture's anomalous writings through the dismantling of one document and the systematic recasting of another, in Chapter Three; [4] the perfection of the medium of Aggadah in its form of narrative for the message of theology concerning God's personality and activity, in Chapter Four.
 

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Contenido

Baba Batra and Scripture
20
Does the Halakhah of the Oral Torah set forth in
27
The Imperfection of the Written Torah the Perfection
33
The Match of Message and Medium 1 Halakhic
39
The Halakhic Method
60
The Theological Structure
77
The Match of Message and Medium 2 Aggadic
127
Index of Subjects
197
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Acerca del autor (2003)

Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He is a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and a Member of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton NJ.

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