Purity and Monotheism: Clean and Unclean Animals in Biblical Law
(Paperback, NIPPOD)
Publishing Details
Purity and Monotheism: Clean and Unclean Animals in Biblical Law
By (Author) Rev. Dr. Walter J. Houston
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Sheffield Academic Press
1st November 2009
NIPPOD
United Kingdom
Classifications
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Criticism and exegesis of sacred texts
Bibles
Judaism
Worship, rites, ceremonies and rituals
296.730901
Physical Properties
Paperback
314
Width 156mm, Height 234mm
484g
Description
The distinction between clean and unclean animals, probably originating in tensions between shepherds and farmers, is in the biblical laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 transformed into an important theological principle. In this wide-ranging and elegantly written study, Houston argues that the avoidance of 'unclean' foods is a mark of the exclusive devotion of Israel to one god. In a concluding chapter, it is suggested that the abolition of the distinction in early Christianity corresponds to the universal horizon of the new faith.
Author Bio
The Rev. Dr Walter J. Houston is Fellow Emeritus at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, and Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester, UK. He is a contributor to the Oxford Bible Commentary and Eerdmans Bible Commentary.
