Religious Foundations of Western Civilization: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - Softcover

Neusner, Jacob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0687332028 ISBN 13: 9780687332021

Verlag: Abingdon Press, 2006

Inhaltsangabe

World Religions Religious Foundations of Western Civilization introduces students to the major Western world religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—their beliefs, key concepts, history, as well as the fundamental role they have played, and continue to play, in Western culture. Contributors include: Jacob Neusner, Alan J. Avery-Peck, Bruce D. Chilton, Th. Emil Homerin, Jon D. Levenson, William Scott Green, Seymour Feldman, Elliot R. Wolfson, James A. Brundage, Olivia Remie Constable, and Amila Buturovic.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jacob Neusner is Distinguished Service Professor of the History and Theology of Judaism; Senior Fellow, Institute of Advanced Theology, Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

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Religious Foundations of Western Civilization

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

By Jacob Neusner

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2006 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-687-33202-1

Contents

Preface Jacob Neusner, 
Part One DEFINING THE TERMS, 
1. What Do We Mean by "Religion" and "Western Civilization"? William Scott Green, 
Part Two RELIGIONS OF THE WEST, 
2. Judaism Jacob Neusner, 
3. Christianity: What It Is and How It Defines Western Civilization Bruce Chilton, 
4. Islam: What It Is and How It Has Interacted with Western Civilization Th. Emil Homerin, 
Part Three HISTORIC COMMON INTERESTS, 
5. Religion, Politics, Culture, Law, and Society, 
6. Philosophy: Averroes, Maimonides, and Aquinas Seymour Feldman, 
7. Mysticism as a Meeting Ground: Seeing the Unseen Elliot R. Wolfson, 
Part Four HISTORIC ENCOUNTERS, 
8. Latin Christianity, the Crusades, and the Islamic Response James A. Brundage, 
9. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Spain from the Eighth to the Fifteenth Centuries Olivia Remie Constable, 
10. Christianity and Islam in the Balkans from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Centuries Amila Buturovic, 
11. Zionism, Imperialism, and Nationalism, 
Part Five MODERNITY AND RELIGION IN THE WEST: NEGOTIATING CHANGE, 
12. The Modernization of Christianity Bruce Chilton, 
13. The Modernization of Judaism Jacob Neusner, 
14. The Modernization of Islam Th. Emil Homerin, 
Part Six RELIGION AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, 
15. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Their Contemporary Encounters, 
Notes, 
Contributors, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

What do We Mean by "Religion" and "Western Civilization"?

William Scott Green

On September 11, 2001, nineteen men hijacked four American airplanes and engaged in devastating terrorist attacks against basic governmental and commercial institutions and centers of the United States. The attacks resulted in the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City and caused extensive damage to the Pentagon, the center of the American military. The fourth plane, which was forced down by American passengers, was believed to be destined for the White House. The attacks murdered more than three thousand people, from nearly all backgrounds and persuasions. All the evidence suggests that the people who sponsored and carried out the attacks did so because they deeply oppose what they see as the behavior and values of America and the West and that their opposition in significant ways was motivated by, and expressed in the religious language of, a particular strain of Islam. The events of September 11 made people in America and the West look at ourselves afresh. They show us how and why the questions in this book matter to our lives today.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the American author Robert Stone wrote in the New York Times: "We witnessed ... the violent assault of one narrative system upon another.... The power of narrative is shattering, overwhelming. We are the stories we believe; we are who we believe we are." Stone suggests that the events of September 11 are the result of divergent stories that recount and explain who America and the West and their enemies "are." That is, the events of September 11 are the result of conflicting narratives about our conceptions of ourselves and about the meaning of the way we conduct our lives. Stone's observations raise the key questions this book and this course intend to examine.

Because the "narrative" of the West is under assault, it is important to ask what is at stake in that narrative. What is Western civilization, and what is the story that it tells? Equally, since the assault on that civilization is in some basic sense religious, what is the place of religion in Western civilization? In what sense can we say religion grounds a Western worldview? Finally, since the assault on the Western narrative system was made in the name of Islam, how does Islam fit into the framework of Western civilization and Western religion?

Defining "Western Civilization"

To guide us in thinking about the meaning of Western civilization, we turn to Professor Samuel P. Huntington, whose book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, is among the most important meditations on the nature of today's global politics. Professor Huntington's basic theme is "that culture and cultural identities, which at the broadest level are civilization identities, are shaping the patterns of cohesion, disintegration, and conflict in the post–Cold War world."

Huntington explains that we should think of civilization as an integrated "cultural entity." He writes, "Civilizations are the biggest 'we' within which we feel culturally at home as distinguished from all the other 'thems' out there." A civilization, therefore, grounds peoples' sense of who they are and provides a framework that helps them distinguish themselves from others. In Stone's terms, we might think of a civilization as people's most comprehensive story, their "big picture," what Huntington calls their "broadest level of identification." Being part of a civilization, therefore, is fundamental to being human. Huntington notes that civilizations are adaptable and long-lasting, though they can disappear. He explains that "the crucial distinctions among human groups concern their values, beliefs, institutions, and social structures, not their physical size, head shapes, and skin colors." Therefore, civilizations transcend race, ethnicity, governments, and nations. He suggests that there are eight "major contemporary civilizations": Sinic, Japanese, Hindu, Islamic, Orthodox, Western, Latin American, and African. Of special importance for this book. Huntington points out that "religion is a central defining characteristic of civilizations." In the pages to come, we will explore the meaning of this last generalization for the West.

What, precisely, is the meaning of "West" or "Western civilization"? Huntingon astutely observes that although "the West" sounds like a geographic location, it cannot be. Unlike "north" and "south," "east" and "west" have no fixed reference points. They are relative locations. Rather, "historically, Western civilization is European civilization," and "the West" refers to what was once called "Western Christendom." In modern times, "Western civilization is Euroamerican or north Atlantic civilization." This designation will serve as a useful guide for the rest of our study. A useful corollary to Huntington is supplied by an author whose work we will read in the next chapter. Professor Harold Berman, perhaps the leading scholar of the Western legal tradition, has views similar to those of Huntington, with some additions particularly useful for this project. Berman's succinct statement follows:

The West ... is not to be found by recourse to a compass.... The West is, rather, a cultural term, but with a very strong diachronic dimension. It is not, however, simply an idea; it is a community. It implies both a historical structure and a structured history. For many centuries it could be identified very simply as the people of Western Christendom. Indeed, from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries the community of those people was manifested in their common allegiance to a single spiritual authority, the Church of Rome.

As a historical culture, a civilization, the West is to be distinguished not only from the East but also from...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Abingdon Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2006
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0687332028
• ISBN 13: 9780687332021
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 704
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland