Biblical Studies

Forskningsöversikten är till huvudsak ett litteraturstudium som spänner över perioden 1962-2011 och syftar till att frilägga den värdegrund på vilka läroplanerna vilar. Studiet innefattar en genomgång av de huvudsakliga källorna som berör ämnet läroplan och läroplanskod i form av artiklar och avhandlingar. Studiet bearbetar inte primärt inte de läroplanstexter den angivna litteraturen avhandlar men analyserar den värdegrund som återspeglas i läroplanerna i de artikeltexter och avhandlingar som används. Studiet visar att de svenska läroplanerna från Lgr 62 till Lgr 11 tydligt använder en demokratisk grundidé som värdegrundade fundament men att vad denna demokratiska grundidé innefattar varierar något över tid i relation till samhällsutveckling och förändringar i samhället. Tre viktiga bakomliggande påverkansfaktorer lyfts fram i studiet. 1) Varje läroplan är ett barn av sin tid varvid läroplanen är den arena där skolan för en pågående dialog med de övergripande stora förändringar som...

This study pioneers the use of insights from cognitive sciences, such as evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and developmental psychology, as heuristic tools for interpreting ancient texts. The approach could be described as ‘psycho-biological’. The focus is on emotions in the various Pentateuchal legal collections. Kazen discusses the role of disgust, empathy, fear, and a sense of justice, for particular moral and ritual issues: purity and holiness; humanitarian concern for vulnerable categories; ethnocentrism and xenophobia; divine punishment and demonic threat; revenge, compensation, and ransom (kofer), together with removal (kipper) rites.

The book consists of two main parts, framed by an introductory chapter and a concluding discussion. In the first part, Kazen explores cognitive foundations, including biological and neuroscientific underpinnings for basic affects, and the role of culture in shaping both conventional morality and ritual behaviour. Four particular emotions are then outlined. In the second part, these insights from cognitive science are applied in analyses of particular texts. After an overview of the Pentateuchal legal collections, each of the four emotions is dealt with in a separate chapter. Kazen constantly relates a cognitive science approach to more traditional source and redaction-critical analysis, regarding them as complementary.

As a result, the Pentateuchal legal collections are seen as emotional texts, expressing strong affects—which influences our understanding of the character of Israelite ‘law’. Kazen suggests that interaction and conflict between various emotions can explain discrepancies and tensions between humanitarian concerns and ethnocentrism, and between empathy and justice. He also demonstrates that viewing emotions as common denominators contains a potential for solving some difficult and long-standing conundrums. He argues that a focus on the human embodied experience rather than on theological convictions and theoretical ideas may avoid some interpretative dead ends and open up new avenues for understanding ancient texts.

Thomas Kazen is Professor of Biblical Studies at Stockholm School of Theology, Sweden

In this volume of collected articles and papers on impurity and purification in early Judaism, Kazen focuses primarily on questions of the impurity of discharges and the practice of hand-washing before meals. Kazen uses both literary and historical methods, as well as approaches based on cognitive science; the analysis covers texts from the Pentateuch, Qumran, the New Testament, and some Jewish Hellenistic authors.

Some chapters are based on unpublished papers, and others have been recently published in various journals; Yet others are specially written for this volume. Several of the essays relate to or complement each other, thus making this collection very convenient for the reader interested in the topic.

Reviews:
"The range of this collection means that it will be useful to scholars working in an equally wide range of areas, and it is certainly a valuable addition to the ever-expanding literature on purity in ancient Judaism."—D. W. Rooke in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 35.5.

"This collection does well in positioning Kazen within the ongoing conversation of impurity and purification in early Judaism and the relationship of Jesus and purity. The topic of impurity has been a source of vibrant scholarship in recent years, and Kazen’s articles are a fine contribution to this conversation. This book is not for someone looking for a general introduction to impurity in early Judaism, but, for those with a general knowledge, it will be a welcome addition to current scholarship on diverse issues of impurity in early Judaism and on the relationship of Jesus to purity issues."—John W. Fadden, University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology in Review of Biblical Literature, September 2011.