Theology

How did people in ancient Israel perceive God, the world, and themselves? Bernd Janowski explores Old Testament aesthetics using the concept of perception (aisthesis) and substantiates this through analyses of basic concepts such as beauty and glory, as well as the main themes of space/time experiences, the vision of God (visio Dei), etc.

How did the Persian period shape Old Testament language and thought? Alexandra Jacobsen shows how an editorial layer reworked the early Holiness Code (Lev 17-26) and called for integrating »foreigners.« She also offers a new view of Pentateuchal formation and post-exilic self-understanding.

Samuel L. Voo examines certain types of allusions called »composite allusions« in the Fourth Gospel and compares these to similar phenomena in other ancient Jewish literature. The author employs methods from three different sub-fields: literary criticism, ancient Jewish exegesis, and ancient media criticism.

While past scholarship has emphasized graphic imagery, Matthew Michael engages in the soundscape of the book of Revelation. Blending biblical studies with sound theory, he shows the strategic use of sound, noise, and weeping scenes in challenging Rome's power and the re-imagination of a new world.