In Search of the Spirit: Selected Works, Volume Two
The Spirit and Early Jewish Literature
Imprint: Cascade Books
In his trailblazing studies of the spirit in Jewish and Christian antiquity, John R. (Jack) Levison shatters theological and exegetical taxonomies. Should the spirit be understood as breath or Spirit--or both? Is the spirit directed to creation or salvation--or both? Is the spirit a force or an angel--or both? Does the spirit inspire ecstasy or wisdom--or both? When Levison transfers the starting point of pneumatology from the New Testament to the Hebrew Bible, from Christianity to Judaism, questions swell, assumptions detonate, and expectations flourish. Consequently, Levison's studies are considered "impressive and provocative" (Review of Biblical Literature), "delightful, engaging" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly), "impressive" (Journal of Ancient Judaism) and "a significant shift in research on understandings of the spirit in Judaism" (Journal of Theological Studies), with "profound ramifications for both Jewish and New Testament Studies" (Journal of Jewish Studies). Now, for the first time, selections of his breathtaking array of studies are available in three accessible volumes. In this volume, you will encounter Levison's unprecedented and probing studies of the spirit in early Judaism in the context of Greek and Roman thought, from Sirach to the Tosefta, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to Philo of Alexandria, from Judith to Josephus. As they engage, readers will understand why Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion forecasts that "Levison will continue to be at the center of our most fruitful discussions of pneumatology."
John R. Levison holds the W. J. A. Power Chair of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He has received grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, National Humanities Center, National Endowment for the Humanities, Lilly Fellows Program, Louisville Institute, International Catacomb Society, Sam Taylor Foundation, and Rotary Foundation. He has been married for over forty years to his colleague and best friend Priscilla Pope-Levison.
“Jack Levison’s first volume of essays on the Spirit was devoted to canonical texts. His second volume is devoted to Jewish writings of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. Levison is one of the few scholars who is equally adept with Hebrew and Greek, with the Dead Sea Scrolls and Philo. The three essays on Philo in this volume amount to the most sustained treatment available of the philosopher’s view of inspiration.”
—John J. Collins, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Yale Divinity School
“Taking the reader on a grand journey through early Jewish writings in search of the Spirit, Jack Levison decisively and once and for all proves all those wrong who have claimed with Hermann Gunkel that ancient Judaism is bereft of the Spirit. A masterful, authoritative, and inspiring treatment of the diverse notions of the Spirit in ancient Judaism. Levison puts the Spirit back to where it belongs, at the center of our reading of ancient Judaism.”
—Matthias Henze, professor of Hebrew Bible and early Judaism, Rice University
“Jack Levison’s masterful work will invite you to take seriously the biblical roots of Christian pneumatology. The result is an invitation to think about pneumatology first from below, from the core of all that is meant to be human, rather than from the heights of trinitarian dogma. This is a provocative read from start to finish.”
—Frank D. Macchia, professor of systematic theology, Vanguard University
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