| What Is Scripture? Contributor(s): Smith, Wilfred Cantwell (Author) |
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ISBN: 0800626087 ISBN-13: 9780800626082 Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishing OUR PRICE: $37.05 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2000 Annotation: W.C. Smith's vastly erudite work asks how it is that certain texts have so seeped in to human life-in a rich, complex, and powerful way-as to be deemed sacred. Examining the history and use of scripture in the world's major religious traditions, he shows how and why scripture continues to carry momentous and at time appalling power in human affairs. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Comparative Religion - Religion | Theology |
| Dewey: 291.82 |
| LCCN: 93-27795 |
| Series: Political Thought |
| Physical Information: 1.23" H x 5.37" W x 8.52" (0.93 lbs) 400 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Scripture is no longer an absolute. In the last two centuries, as Westerners have become more keenly conscious of the flatly historical character of their own biblical documents, they have also realized the normative function of scripture in other traditions. W. C. Smith's vastly erudite work asks how it is that certain texts have so seeped into human life - in a rich, complex, and powerful way - as to be deemed sacred. Examining the history and use of scripture in the world's major religious traditions, he shows how and why scripture continues to carry momentous and at times appalling power in human affairs. In the end, Smith's creative proposal is valuable not only for showing what it means to hold a text as sacred, or to treasure another's scripture, but also for the light it sheds in a troubled culture on what it means to be human. |