In this Book
- Memory and Covenant: The Role of Israel's and God's memory in Sustaining the Deuteronomic and Priestly Covenants
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
- Series: Emerging Scholars
summary
Memory and Covenant combines a close reading of texts in the deuteronomic, priestly, and holiness traditions with analysis of ritual and scrutiny of the different terminology used in each tradition regarding memory. Ellman demonstrates that the exploration of the concept of memory is critical to understanding the overall cosmologies, theologies, and religious programs of these distinct traditions. All three regard memory as a vital element of religious practice and as the principal instrument of covenant fidelity—but in very different ways. Ellman shows that for the deuteronomic tradition, memory is an epistemological and pedagogical means for keeping Israel faithful to its God and God’s commandments, even when Israelites are far from the temple and its worship. The priestly tradition, however, understands that the covenant depends on God’s memory, which must be aroused by the sensory stimuli of the temple cult. The holiness school incorporates the priestly idea of sensory memory but places responsibility for remembering on Israel. A subsequent layer of priestly tradition revives the centrality of God’s memory within a thorough-going theology uniting temple worship with creation.
Table of Contents
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- Abbreviations
- pp. xiii-xvi
- 1. Introduction
- pp. 3-32
- 3. What Is “Memory”?
- pp. 49-72
- 6. Israel’s Memory in the Priestly Tradition
- pp. 123-146
- 8. Signs for God
- pp. 161-168
- 9. Conclusion and Comments
- pp. 169-172
- Bibliography
- pp. 173-202
- Index of Subjects and Names
- pp. 203-210
- Back Cover
- p. 240
Additional Information
ISBN
9781451469592
Related ISBN(s)
9781451465617
MARC Record
OCLC
868834900
Pages
192
Launched on MUSE
2014-01-17
Language
English
Open Access
No