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Apologia Report 12:13
April 5, 2007
Subject: Religious Literacy: How Significant?
In this issue:
CHURCH HISTORY - the "momentous foundational shift" from roll to codex that marked the birth of Christianity
ISLAM - progressive Muslim writes an introduction to the Qur'an
OCCULTISM - "The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture"
RELIGION, GENERAL - Newsweek shines a spotlight on the significance of religious literacy
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CHURCH HISTORY
Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea, by Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams [1] -- Eamon Duffy's review tells us how extraordinary it was "that from its very first emergence Christianity deliberately chose the form of the codex rather than the roll for its sacred writings. ...
"Why should the new religion have adopted this down-market and unfashionable book technology? The codex, it is true, has obvious practical advantages. Being written on both sides of the page, it is more economical than the roll, it can be readily indexed, it can be leafed through quickly to find a particular place, and it is more robustly portable. But these practical advantages, which certainly contributed to its eventual adoption as the normative form of the book, do not adequately explain the early Christians' exclusive preference for the form, even for their copies of the Jewish scriptures, which must of course have been transcribed from rolls. Historians have speculated that *difference* from Judaism may have been the point - that the codex was adopted to distance the emergent Church from its origins within the religion of Israel, or perhaps in an attempt to signal that its foundational texts were indeed a sort of sacred stenography, the living transcript of apostolic experience, taken from the mouths of the first witnesses.
"However that may be, until recently surprisingly little has been made of this momentous foundational shift to a new book technology. ... In Christianity and the Transformation of the Book, Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams seek to rectify that omission, by exploring the work of two seminal figures in the history of third- and fourth-century Christianity, Origen of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, the innovative form of whose writings would profoundly shape the intellectual and material culture of the Roman Empire, soon to be Christianized, and later, of medieval and early modern Europe. ...
"Grafton and Williams bring their own distinctive insistence on the centrality of innovations in book production and book distribution to the formation of momentous new patterns of thought. Their book is often speculative, and the pluralist values and objectives they attribute to their two heroes are sometimes suspiciously redolent of the twenty-first-century Western academy rather than of the ancient world. ... [T]hey convey vividly the intellectual daring involved in these pioneering attempts to articulate and define Christianity alongside and against the Jewish and the classical worldviews."
Actually, Duffy's is a joint review which also discusses, to a lesser degree, The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship [2], an earlier work by Williams. New York Review of Books, Mar 29 '07, pp10, 12-13.
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ISLAM
The Qur'an: A Short Introduction, by Farid Esack [3] -- in this brief review, F. Peter Ford explains that "Although there are a number of worthwhile books about the Qur'an by Western scholars, very few modern Muslim authors have produced such works for a general audience. Thus, Farid Esack has made a very valuable contribution to this field. The author is a progressive South African Muslim, known for his involvement in issues of human rights. ...
"One of the more helpful features of the book is the manner in which Esack begins: by examining the various approaches to the Qur'an taken by Muslims and non-Muslims and by considering the function which the Qur'an serves in the lives of ordinary believers. Only then does he move on to deal with the important technical matters: the formation of the Qur'an in the life of Muhammad and its 'collection' following his death; its structure and features; theological issues surrounding the text; and its interpretation by Muslim scholars throughout history. The book ends with an excellent but brief presentation of the major doctrinal and social themes of the Qur'an.
"Throughout the work, Esack provides both traditional and modern Muslim perspectives on the issues. The result is a fine introduction for anyone interested to know not only what the Qur'an says, but also (and perhaps more importantly) the crucial role it plays in the life and faith of Muslim believers - whatever their particular context." Theological Review, 27:2 - 2006, p114.
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OCCULTISM
Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture, by Bill Ellis (English and American studies professor at Pennsylvania State Univ., Hazelton) [4] -- reviewer Glenn W. Shuck opens with an approving nod to an earlier book by Ellis, Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media [5], which Ellis also ties to a context of Western folklore and folk traditions.
Ellis acknowledges his own Christian orientation in each of his books. Shuck responds: "I am not a practicing Christian myself, but I find Ellis's foregrounding of his own faith refreshing because - despite decades and even centuries of thought to the contrary - there is no such thing as a 'view from nowhere.' Ellis informs the reader of his background and unabashedly brings his experience to bear. This is a bold and admirable move.
"Ellis deploys a highly readable yet undeniably academic style. He frames his discussion with references to the megapopular Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowland [sic], constantly referring back to Harry Potter and its terminology. He captures author Rowland's frustration with the constant distortions of her books by evangelical Christians who suggest they are witchcraft grimoires, and Ellis's sense of humor comes through in his subtle upbraiding of those who too easily embrace urban legends such as those that surround the novels.
"He continues with a thorough, chapter length discussion of the following themes: historical witchcraft, spellbooks and their history, chain letters, magical fetishes (rabits' feet), table-tapping [tipping?] and Ouija board activity, and concludes with a section on the understudied Welsh revivals of the first decade of the twentieth century. With the kind of dexterity only mastery of one's subject matter can bring, Ellis weaves these themes together, explaining how magical practices originated, as well as how prevalent they remain in contemporary America across cultures. His discussion of folklore practices such as drawing magical circles and feuds involving witchcraft between different families connects easily with my own knowledge and experience of folklore, fed by a rural upbringing as well as my own studies. I had not realized how widespread such magical practices remain. Indeed, they are quite possibly growing with the rise of modernity and the invasion of urban areas into retreating rural landscapes. Ellis makes this paradoxical point, and I find it spot on.
"Moreover, Ellis finds that magical practice allows room for young adults and those on the margins of culture to act out deviant 'antiplays,' actions that often allow youngsters, especially, to grow into an increasingly complicated world, so long as their 'play' does not become criminal, which it unfortunately sometimes does. But for the games to be successful, Ellis points out, the risks must be perceived as genuine. At heart I also believe a lot of American adults want magic and mystery to remain in their world as a defense against the encroachments of modernity. We want the benefits of modernity, of course, but a little 'legend-tripping,' as Ellis calls it, seems of sociocultural value." Church History, 76:1 - 2007, pp230-231.
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RELIGION, GENERAL
"Are Americans Ignorant About Religion? A Boston University professor argues that Americans, though 'spiritual,' are woefully ignorant about religion" by Lisa Miller -- introduces the book Religious Literacy, by Stephen Prothero [6], which had its genesis in the author's "giving religious literacy quizzes to his students, and, subsequently, to everyone he knew. Almost everybody failed." Does this observation not suggest that the communication gap between religion professionals and average folks is vast?
Miller raises another point that should give us pause, matter-of-factly observing that we live "in a world where nearly every political conflict has a religious underpinning." Is this observation really so universally accepted? If so, it certainly supports the value of religious literacy. Speaking to this point: "When Harvard decided recently not to make religion part of its core curriculum, 'it missed an opportunity,' [Prothero] says. ...
"The book proposes a solution that is at once controversial and familiar: teach religion in public schools." A brief (6-question) sample literacy quiz is included. Newsweek, Mar 12 '07, p50. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17439043/site/newsweek>
Visiting the above web page provides the link, "Got religion?," to a 15-question quiz. (You'll likely be stunned by the simplicity of these tests. After you take one of them, consider the implications, if indeed, most people fail the test.)
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Sources, Monographs:
1 - Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea, by Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams (Belknap, 2006, hardcover, 384 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674023145/apologiareport>
2 - The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship, by Megan Hale Williams (Univ of Chicago Prs, 2006, hardcover, 312 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0226899004/apologiareport>
3 - The Qur'an: A Short Introduction, by Farid Esack (Oneworld, 2001, paperback, 224 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1851682317/apologiareport>
4 - Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture, by Bill Ellis (Univ Prs of Kentucky, 2003, hardcover, 288 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813122899/apologiareport>
5 - Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media, by Bill Ellis (Univ Prs of Kentucky, 2000, hardcover, 332 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813121701/apologiareport>
6 - Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - And Doesn't, by Stephen Prothero (HarperSanFrancisco, 2007, hardcover, 304 pages) <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060846704/apologiareport>
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