What Is Scripture?: A Comparative Approach (Political Thought)

Smith, Wilfred Cantwell

ISBN 10: 0800626087 / ISBN 13: 9780800626082

Published by Fortress Press, 1994

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: What Is Scripture?: A Comparative Approach (Political Thought)
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0800626087
• ISBN 13: 9780800626082
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

"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.

About the Author

Wilfred Cantwell Smith is professor Emeritus of the Comparative History of Religion, Harvard University, where he also served for nine years as Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions and then as chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion.