ORCID

James W. Watts: 0000-0002-4872-4986

Document Type

Article

Date

Fall 2005

Keywords

ritual, religion, hermeneutics, Torah, Judaism, ancient laws, scripture, authority, ancient cultures

Language

English

Disciplines

Biblical Studies | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Description/Abstract

In this essay, James W. Watts explains the interdependence of texts and rituals with regard to ancient religions. Specifically, he outlines patterns of practice and developments in the ritual use of texts and the texual authorization of rituals in antiquity.

Watts also makes the case that beyond the interplay of texual authority and ritual legitimacy that most ancient cultures engaged in, Judaism was unique in elevating the Torah along with its other laws and stories to special "scriptural" status.

Additional Information

Links to entire Journal of Biblical Literature 124.3 (2005). Article is pp. 401-417.

Source

local input

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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