The Just War And Jihad: Violence in Judaism, Christianity, And Islam / Edition 1

by R. Joseph Hoffmann

Overview

The articles collected in this volume represent the independent and considered thinking of internationally known scholars from a variety of disciplines concerning the relationship between religion and violence, with special reference to the theories of "just war" and "jihad," technical terms that arise in connection with the theology of early medieval Christianity and early Islam, respectively.

The contributors include Hector Avalos, Charles K. Bellinger, Bahar Davary, Carol Delaney, J. Harold Ellens, Reuven Firestone, R. Joseph Hoffmann, Judith Lichtenberg, Pauletta Otis, Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, Laura Purdy, Joyce E. Salisbury, Regina M. Schwartz, and Robert B. Tapp.

In the present global and political climate, the significant conversation about why religions provoke conflict and whether any religion is truly "harmless" cannot be ignored.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591023715
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/02/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	303
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

R. Joseph Hoffmann is the author of many books on early Christianity including Julian's Against the Galileans and Porphyry's Against the Christians. He is Campbell Professor of Religion at Wells College, New York, and chair of the Council for the Scientific Examination of Religion. He has taught at the University of Michigan, Oxford University, and the American University of Beirut.

Editorial Reviews

Edited by Hoffman (religion, Wells Coll., NY; Julian's Against the Galileans), this collection gathers papers from a recent meeting of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion, an organization of religion scholars who tend to approach the study of religions through naturalistic, cultural, sociological, and psychological lenses. The conference statement at the end of the book registers the participants' concern about religiously motivated violence, and many of the papers share the perspective of Iowa State University's Hector Avalos that "the best way to deal with religious violence is to undermine religion itself." More useful is Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez's (ed., Encyclopedia of Religion and War) observation that "religion has a constructive, though not necessarily causal, role in the generation of violence." While most of the articles are not sympathetic to religious claims, they raise significant issues about the role of religion in political violence. The title is a misnomer as, apart from the introduction, jihad takes a back seat to war theory. Also, the book lacks notes on the contributors. Nonetheless, this is an intriguing read aimed at general readers.-Steve Young, McHenry Cty. Coll., Crystal Lake, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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