Jacob Neusner on Religion The Example of Judaism [Paperback]

Jacob Neusner was a prolific and innovative contributor to the study of religion for over fifty years. A scholar of rabbinic Judaism, Neusner regarded Jewish texts as data to address larger questions in the academic study of religion that he helped to formulate. Jacob Neusner on Religionoffers the first full critical assessment of his thought on the subject of religion. Aaron W. Hughes delineates the stages of Neusners career and provides an overview of Neusners personal biography and critical reception. This book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in Neusner specifically, or in the history of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, and philosophy of religion more broadly.

Preface. Introduction. Biographical Sketch. Chapter One: Biography. Chapter Two: History. Chapter Three:Literature. Chapter Four:Religion. Chapter Five:Theology. Chapter Six:Assessment. Glossary. Summary of Major Intellectual Accomplishments. Summary of Major Criticisms. Annotated Bibliography. References. Subject Index. Name Index.

This is a masterful analysis of a very important topic that can still illumine the path of religious studies scholars who grapple with the problem of the universal and the particular, the shared and the singular.

Elliot Wolfson, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

Aaron Hughes is to be commended for his thoughtful analysis of Jacob Neusners significant contributions to the academic study and teaching of religious traditions in todays secular universities. Hughes examines central themes in Neusners prodigious body of scholarship on rabbinic Judaism and details his development of text-based methodologies that consider historical and cultural context and modes of literary expression, as well as the spiritual motivations that produced these documents.