Educating Father Abraham: The Meaning of Fatherhood

by Leon R. Kass

Abraham’s education as father and . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Dec 1994

Educating Father Abraham: The Meaning of Wife

by Leon R. Kass

It is not exactly traditional to speak about the education of Abraham. Pious tales of the patriarch regard him as a precocious monotheist even before God calls him, a man who smashed his father’s idols, a man who sprang forth fully pious and knowledgeable about the ways of God. But, in my view, a . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Nov 1994

A Primer on the Devil

by Walter Sundberg

As modern religionists, we face a curious predicament when we think of the Devil. On the one hand, we know that the forests and glens of Western culture have been cleared of the spirits and goblins that frightened our ancestors. When we are sick, we take a pill. When we are scared by some . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 1993

“J” in Bloom

by Joseph Blenkinsopp

The J of the title was discovered in 1711 by Henning Bernhard Witter, an obscure Lutheran pastor of Hildesheim, so obscure, in fact, that his role in the naming of this source of the Pentateuch was only rediscovered in the present century by the French biblical scholar Adolphe Lods. In the writings . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 1991