Estive lendo a introdução do livro de LEMCHE, N. P. Changing Perspectives 3: Biblical Studies and the Failure of History. New York: Routledge, 2013, 352 p. – ISBN 9781781790175 – Ebook Kindle na Amazon do Brasil.
Os 21 capítulos deste livro de Niels Peter Lemche retomam textos publicados em revistas e obras coletivas entre 1974 e 2003. Estão em ordem cronológica.
A introdução é de John Van Seters. E começa assim:
The author of the collection of essays in this third volume of the Changing Perspectives series is widely known as the founder of the ‘Copenhagen School,’ a term that has become synonymous with rather radical and ‘minimalist’ views to many in biblical scholarship, especially in North America, and often without any clear idea about Lemche’s contributions to scholarship. Niels Peter Lemche conducted his theological studies and graduate research at the University of Copenhagen during the period of 1964 to 1978, and from there he had his first teaching appointment at the University of Aarhus, during 1978 to 1986. It was there that he published his very important doctoral thesis, Early Israel: Anthropological and Historical Studies on the Israelite Society before the Monarchy (in Danish, 1984, and English, 1985), and shortly thereafter became Professor of Theology at the University of Copenhagen (1987), where he has remained even since. It was primarily through this work, Early Israel, with its strong emphasis on anthropological and sociological approaches to Israelite history, that he became known to the English-speaking world of scholarship.
I wish to call special attention to this period of the mid-1980s because in the chapters that follow in this collection, this time period constitutes a significant divide between the first six, which would appear to most scholars as rather conservative in method and conclusions, and the rest, which reflect the various themes for which he is now famous [sublinhado meu]. In this way this division reflects Lemche’s own ‘change in perspective’ and the fact that during this early period in his career he was fully conversant with all of the biblical scholarship that was associated with the pre-monarchical origins of ‘early Israel’ and the possibility of Late Bronze Age traditions being reflected in biblical texts. The fact is that because of the prevailing trend in biblical scholarship during the 1960s and 1970s, it was expected that one have expertise in Akkadian and Ugaritic, in addition to the biblical languages, as well as a command of the history and civilization of the Near East back to the third millennium, and this is reflected very well in these opening articles, in which he is a master of this material. It is to this first group of articles that we will now turn.
Para ler toda a introdução clique, na página da Routledge, em View Inside this Book.
Sobre o livro, diz a editora:
Until the 1970s biblical studies belonged to the historical-critical school and had reached a point where all problems were believed to have been solved. Then all assumptions began to be turned on their head. Previously, historical studies constituted the backbone of biblical studies; now, every aspect of biblical history began to be questioned. The idea of the Old Testament as a source of historical information was replaced by an understanding of the texts as a means for early Jewish society to interpret its past. Biblical Studies and the Failure of History brings together key essays which reflect the trajectory of this scholarly shift in order to illuminate the state of biblical studies today. The early essays present historical-critical studies tracing historical information. Further essays employ a more critical and interpretive perspective to examine seminal issues ranging from the Hellenistic contexts of biblical tradition to the functioning of Old Testament society.
Um aviso: alguns livros publicados pela Equinox foram para a Acumen em 2012. Estes livros estão agora na Routledge, que adquiriu a Acumen. É o caso dos estudos bíblicos.
Some books previously published by Equinox moved to Acumen Publishing in late 2012 as part of a demerger. Books affected by this now reside with Routledge following their acquisition of Acumen.
