John F. A. Sawyer

The first systematic and comprehensive attempt to identify and analyze the role of Isaianic language and imagery in literature, art, and music Using reception history as its basis for study, Isaiah Through the Centuries is an unprecedented exploration of the afterlife of the Book of Isaiah, specifically in art, literature, and music. This is a commentary that guides the reader through the Book of Isaiah, examining the differing interpretations of each phrase or passage from a variety of cultural and religious perspectives, Jewish, Christian and Muslim. Clearly structured and accessible, and richly illustrated, the book functions as a complete and comprehensive educational reference work. Isaiah Through the Centuries encourages readers to learn with an open mind and to understand how different interpretations have helped in the teaching and comprehension of the Bible and Isaiah’s place in it. As part of the Wiley-Blackwell Bible Commentaries series, which is primarily concerned with reception history, the book emphasizes that how people interpret the prophet—and how they’ve been influenced by him—is often just as important as the sacred text’s original meaning. Uses reception history to study the renowned prophet Provides a historical context for every use or interpretation discussed Offers essential background information on authors, artists, musicians, etc. in its glossary and biographies Minimizes historical details in order to focus as much as possible on exegetical matters Presents the role of Isaiah and the Bible in the creative arts Will be useful to multiple disciplines including theology and religion, English literature, art history and the history of music, not just Biblical Studies Comprehensive in scope, Isaiah Through the Centuries is a much-needed resource for all those interested in the influence of the Bible on Western culture, and presents unique perspectives for anyone interested in the Bible to discuss and debate for many years to come.

Isaiah Through the Centuries

Including revisions, corrections, and an updated bibliography, this is a lucid discussion of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible.

Prophecy and the Biblical Prophets

Siobhán Dowling Long

There have been numerous publications in the last decades on the Bible in literature, film, and art. But until now, no reference work has yet appeared on the Bible as it appears in Western music. In The Bible in Music: A Dictionary of Songs, Works, and More, scholars Siobhán Dowling Long and John F. A. Sawyer correct this gap in Biblical reference literature, providing for the first time a convenient guide to musical interpretations of the Bible. Alongside examples of classical music from the Middle Ages through modern times, Dowling Long and Sawyer also bring attention to the Bible’s impact on popular culture with numerous entries on hymns, spirituals, musicals, film music, and contemporary popular music. Each entry contains essential information about the original context of the work (date, composer, etc.) and, where relevant, its afterlife in literature, film, politics, and liturgy. It includes an index of biblical references and an index of biblical names, as well as a detailed timeline that brings to the fore key events, works, and publications, placing them in their historical context. There is also a bibliography, a glossary of technical terms, and an index of artists, authors, and composers. The Bible in Music will fascinate anyone familiar with the Bible, but it is also designed to encourage choirs, musicians, musicologists, lecturers, teachers, and students of music and religious education to discover and perform some less well-known pieces, as well as helping them to listen to familiar music with a fresh awareness of what it is about.

A Dictionary of Songs, Works, and More

The Bible in Music

Diana Lipton

David M. Gunn

Paul M. Joyce

"I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is informative, thought-provoking, and - despite being a commentary - holds the reader's attention. It made me appreciate Lamentations in a new way. To be recommended." The Swedish Exegetical Yearbook 2014, 1 October 2014 One of the shortest books in the Bible, Lamentations exercises a disproportionately powerful cultural influence. As an unflinching account of the devastation wreaked by war, it has been called upon again and again by Jews, Christians, and others in their responses to catastrophes as varied as the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, the Great Fire of London, the Holocaust and 9/11. Covering two-and-a-half millennia of liturgy and literature, theology and psychology, art, music and film, this volume explores the astonishing variety of cultural and religious responses to Lamentations, taking in the New Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Yehudah Halevy, John Calvin, and Thomas Tallis, as well as the startling interpretations of Marc Chagall, Cynthia Ozick, Alice Miller, and Zimbabwean junk sculpture. Viewed through this kaleidoscope of sources, the ancient biblical text acquires a vital and resonant new life. Lamentations Through the Centuries is published within the Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries series. Further information about this innovative reception history series is available at www.bbibcomm.info.

Lamentations Through the Centuries

John Frederick Adam Sawyer

A ravishing medieval demon slayer arrives in twenty-first century New York to brave a strange new world - and a man who will be her destiny.

The Blackwell Companion to the Bible and Culture providesreaders with a concise, readable and scholarly introduction totwenty-first century approaches to the Bible. Consists of 30 articles written by distinguished specialistsfrom around the world Draws on interdisciplinary and international examples toexplore how the Bible has impacted on all the major social contextswhere it has been influential – ancient, medieval and modern,world-wide Gives examples of how the Bible has influenced literature, art,music, history, religious studies, politics, ecology andsociology Each article is accompanied by a comprehensivebibliography Offers guidance on how to read the Bible and its manyinterpretations

John F. A. Sawyer

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