The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs contain nuanced discussions of the nature of sin, which is invariably associated with both demonic forces and the human body. The senses are portrayed as human spirits. These senses, when used inappropriately, can allow the spirits of deceit to overcome a person and lead them to sin. Seeing, tasting and…[Read more]

This essay explores the meaning of the word glōssa, the tongue, in Acts. The focus of my study will be Acts 2:1-13, the Pentecost narrative, where the reader first interacts with tongues of fire and with the experience of glossolalia, speaking in tongues. I read this passage exegetically (but playfully) while I consider the meaning and usage of…[Read more]

Al tratar de disolver la neta separación entre una mente racional y la materia inerte abogada por el dualismo Cartesiano, el monismo lucha por reunificar estas distintas realidades ontológicas. Tal como para Claude Lévi-Strauss y Baruch Spinoza, esa dicha unificación no puede prescindir de la trascendencia de la mente humana como locus del pen…[Read more]

Mahishasur was the mythological hero of the Bahujan communities of India. According to D.D. Kaushambi, Mahishasur’s realm was Mahoba in Bundelkhand. In connection with the research for my book, I reached Mahoba on 2 October 2015. Mahishasur’s memories still survive in the folk traditions of Mahoba. He is known as Maikasur, Kaaras Dev, Gwal Bab…[Read more]

We wrote this report in December 2015. In this report, we have tried to bring out the ideology of the organisers of Mahishasur Day, and their strategy for cultural-social change.
When, on 25 October 2011, a handful of students of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University celebrated Mahishasur Martyrdom Day for the first time, no one could have i…[Read more]

दिल्ली के जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय में मुट्ठी भर अन्य पिछड़ा वर्ग और दलित छात्रों ने जब 25 अक्टूबर, 2011 को पहली बार ‘महिषासुर शहादत दिवस’ मनाया था, तब शायद किसी ने सोचा भी नहीं होगा कि यह दावनल की आग सिद्ध होगा। 2015 तक, महज चार सालों में ही इन आयोजनों ने न सिर्फ देशव्यापी सामाजिक आलोडऩ पैदा कर दिया था, बल्कि ये आदिवासियों, अन्य पिछडा वर्ग…[Read more]

This article reassesses the metaphors found in Isa 49.26a and 63.6 in their historical and socio-religious context of alcohol production. Using interdisciplinary approaches from archaeology and anthropology, traditional interpretations that have emphasised a context of alcohol consumption and drunkenness, rather than wine production, are…[Read more]

This article reassesses the metaphors found in Isa 49.26a and 63.6 in their historical and socio-religious context of alcohol production. Using interdisciplinary approaches from archaeology and anthropology, traditional interpretations that have emphasised a context of alcohol consumption and drunkenness, rather than wine production, are…[Read more]

This essay examines the Book of Revelation in dialogue with the films of Christopher Nolan, with particular attention to the use of nonlinear narrative. The approach taken to Nolan’s work is that of auteur theory, a pattern theory which traces the distinctive technical and artistic voice of the director across a wide range of films (e.g. M…[Read more]

This essay examines the Book of Revelation in dialogue with the films of Christopher Nolan, with particular attention to the use of nonlinear narrative. The approach taken to Nolan’s work is that of auteur theory, a pattern theory which traces the distinctive technical and artistic voice of the director across a wide range of films (e.g. M…[Read more]

This article concentrates on the affective impacts of the relationship between the bodies of the father and his daughter in Sirach. It relies on gender studies as well as affect theory to explore how intensities pass from body to body in the biblical text, and also to the bodies of those who read it. The father’s body is marked by gynophobic a…[Read more]

“The Bible” does not exist as material reality, and yet as a cultural icon “the Bible” animates institutions and enterprises devoted to it. This article assesses the short history of scholarship on one such institution, the controversial Museum of the Bible (MOTB) in Washington, D.C., in order to highlight and critique the fantasy of “the Bi…[Read more]

“The Bible” does not exist as material reality, and yet as a cultural icon “the Bible” animates institutions and enterprises devoted to it. This article assesses the short history of scholarship on one such institution, the controversial Museum of the Bible (MOTB) in Washington, D.C., in order to highlight and critique the fantasy of “the Bi…[Read more]

This essay examines select Priestly texts that describe the roles of leaders from the northern and southern tribes in the wilderness cult: the texts of Exod 25–31, 35–40 that concern the sanctuary artisans Bezalel (from the tribe of Judah) and Oholiab (from the tribe of Dan), chosen to lead the construction of the wilderness shrine; the des…[Read more]

This essay examines select Priestly texts that describe the roles of leaders from the northern and southern tribes in the wilderness cult: the texts of Exod 25–31, 35–40 that concern the sanctuary artisans Bezalel (from the tribe of Judah) and Oholiab (from the tribe of Dan), chosen to lead the construction of the wilderness shrine; the des…[Read more]

The purpose of this essay is threefold. First we will attempt to define the problem of supersessionism (also known as ‘Replacement Theology’), both by responding to the calls of the Roman Catholic Church within Vatican II to change theologies of supersession, but likewise by addressing the current weaknesses in eschatological though within the Rom…[Read more]

The purpose of this essay is threefold. First we will attempt to define the problem of supersessionism (also known as ‘Replacement Theology’), both by responding to the calls of the Roman Catholic Church within Vatican II to change theologies of supersession, but likewise by addressing the current weaknesses in eschatological though within the Rom…[Read more]