Tag Archives: higher criticism

Voegelinian Vagaries

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Abigail

In last week’s column, I mentioned that Eric Voegelin is a political philosopher whom I approach – in advance and in principle – with a high degree of respect. Unlike most contemporary thinkers about life at the political level, he is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, bad faith, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romanticism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Abigail L. Rosenthal's A Good Look at Evil, Abigail L. Rosenthal's Spoiling One's Story: The Case of Hannah Arendt, anti-Semitic question, apocalypse, audience Q & A, Auguste Comte, before and after, Bible and history, Biblical canon, biblical Israel, Biblical narrative, Biblical source criticism, Center for Process Studies, changing opinions, Christian Jewish competition, Claremont University, collegial respect, cultural change, cultural change and personal change, culturally derived views, daily journaling, Deuteronomy, divine and human guidance, divine commands, divine providence, Eric Voegelin, erudite scholar, eschatology, Exodus, expertise on nazism, gnostic movements, God gives the words, guilt and innocence on the timeline, hearing God’s word, heckler at lecture, higher criticism, Holocaust, how to live in history, inspiration in action, journal keeping, keeping the past relevant, life in culture, life in history, live and learn, living in time, living with God in history, Marxism, mental health, Moses at the burning bush, Nazi canards, nazi rhetoric, players in history, players in the human story, political philosopher, political philosophy, prayer guidance, professional respect, providence and history, providential footprints, providential incident, reconceiving the past, reversing opinions, self monitoring, self tracking, supersessionist assumptions, testimony under oath, the Bible as literature, the gift of the Jews, time and justice, Torah, Voegelin's inspiration, Voegelin's Israel and Revelation, Voegelin's misunderstandings, Voegelin's Order and History, who drew first | 2 Comments

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Abigail

*Erratum: The location of the Archives for Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion is Cincinnati, not Cleveland.* My Grandfather, Rav Tsair I almost never think about him. He died when I was about ten, when other supports of a safe … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Academe, Action, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, books, Childhood, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Femininity, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Mortality, nineteenth-century, non-violence, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Renaissance, Roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a biblical character, abstract universalism, Albert Einstein, ancestral protection, antisemitism, Archiving, assistant professor of Philosophy, believing Jews, Bible as history, biblical mindset, bitzaron, careers open to talents, Chaim Tchernowitz (pen name Rav Tsair "the Young Rabbi"), chief rabbi of Odessa, classical Hebrew, countering pogroms, ethics of the prophets, European Jews, evolution of oral law, exile as mission, family prestige, Felix Frankfurter, German doctorate in Judaica, grandfather, Hebraist literary renaissance, Hebrew Union College, higher criticism, Jewish ancient homeland, Jewish cultural leaders, Jewish destiny, Jewish Institute of Religion, Jewish jurisprudence, Jewish marriage, Jewish mission, Jewish political independence, Jewish public intellectuals, Jewish scholarship, Jewish system of meaning, Jewish wars, Jews as a people, Judaism as a religion, light unto the nations, marvelous stories, national renewal, Odessa, Oral Law, over-interllectualized, pogroms, pre-modern views of Jews, professor of Talmud, protected childhood, quietism, rabbinic quietism, rabbinical seminaries, Rav Tsair, realistic fear, secular Jews, secular Zionism, sophisticated young woman, Stephen Vincent Benet’s The King of The Cats, supreme court justice, Talmudics, The Covenant, The Covenant in history, the Holocaust, the scriptural canon, the Zionist project, thought and action fused, universalism and particularism, universalism of the prophets, women’s other-directedness, yichus, young girls | 2 Comments

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Abigail

My Grandfather, Rav Tsair I almost never think about him. He died when I was about ten, when other supports of a safe childhood were also falling away. The destiny of a young girl loomed just around the corner, with … Continue reading →

Therapy from the Jews

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Abigail

Therapy from the Jews Have the Jews anything to offer the world today in their capacity as Jews? The remarkable plasticity and resilience of anti-semitism doesn’t answer my question about being a Jew: what the hell good is it? Let’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, Christianity, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Freedom, Friendship, Gnosticism, Hegel, hegemony, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Memoir, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, Propaganda, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, secular, self-deception, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Zeitgeist | Tagged Alber Camus, anti-semitism, assimilation, authorship by committee, being modern. modernity, Bibical record, Bible, Bible as metaphor, Brooklyn College, chronological experience, conventional conduct, covenant, cultural baggage, dialectical life, documentary hypothesis, dogmatism, erasing personhood, escapism, ethnic identity, false transcendence, God as energy, God as Person, God of history, higher criticism, History, human wholeness, human/divine relations, intersectionality, Jewish mind-set, Jewish orthodoxy, Jewish practices, linear thinking, literary reading of Bible, living one’s time, mechanical conformity, merger with the Absolute, Mysticism, observant Jews, Oral Law, Orthodox students, personal God, personhood, pragmatism, pretentiousness, principle of charity miracles, problem-solving, providential interventions, realm of action, religious identity, religious pretense, role of chronology, saintliness, scientism, self-correction, signing on to the covenant, Sinaitic covenant, supersessionism, Talmud, the Biblical record, The Examined Life, The Jewish Review of Books, Thomas Cahill’s The Gift of the Jews & How the Irish Saved Civilization, thought experiment, universality, Utopianism, world without Jews | Leave a comment

Is the Bible True?

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Abigail

Is the Bible True? Two questions: Why should any educated person care? Whaddya mean by “true”? Who could care? Of course, people whose identities (sense of who they are) are bound up with particular views about the Bible will care … Continue reading →

Posted in Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Childhood, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Faith, Fashion, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, Guilt and Innocence, Heroes, hidden God, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Judaism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, memory, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, nineteenth-century, Past and Future, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, Power, presence, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, scientism, self-deception, Sex Appeal, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged allegorical reading, Bible, Bible in Western Culture, biblical battle plans, biblical inconsistencies, biblical influence, Biblical literalism, biblical warrant, Book of Judges, Book of Numbers, British Army, Catholic identity, death bed consolation, Divine actor, Divine Author, Divine command, documentary hypothesis, empirical warrant, Eric Voegelin's Israel and Revelation, ethnic identity, Greco-Roman civilization, Hebrew Scripture, higher criticism, hillbilly gospel, Hindu temple, Israel Defense Force, J E P and D, Japanese flower arrangement, Japanese tea room, Jewish identity, Jewish miracle, Jewish scholar, Jewish theologians, Jon Levinson's Creation and The Persistence of Evil, Jonah and the whale, Julius Wellhausen, Manhattan, meditative state, Michael Walzer's In God's Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible, miracle of the quail, moral truth, Moses as author, New Testament, Ninevites, Numbers 11, Old Testament, pagan civilization, Pentateuch, personal identity, philosophy, philosophy as pagan, prophecy, Protestant identity, psalms as consolation, Psalms of David, rabbinic view, religious identity, religious wars, Robert Alter, spiritual practice, supernatural v natural, symbolic reading, symbolic truth, tea ceremony, The Covenant, Torah, Toraya, world civilization, world of action | Leave a comment

“Presence”

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Abigail

“Presence” Our rabbi, whom our temple can no longer afford to employ, will be gone in a few more weeks. This Friday, the temple is holding a service in his honor and I am one of those in the lineup … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Chivalry, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Jews, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, Memoir, memory, Mortality, motherhood, Mysticism, non-violence, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, politics, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Seduction, self-deception, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, Theism, Theology, Time, twenty-first century, Utopia, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "be here now", "being here now", 1776, absence, America, American covenant, Biblical covenant, biblical criticism, biblical Israel, chagrin, clock time, covenant, Declaration of Independence, employment contract, Eternity, farewells, feminine side of God, Femininity, forefathers, Fourth of July, frustration, hail and farewell, half-absence, higher criticism, History, homesickness, Independence Day, insolvency, Jewish continuity, Jewish memory, Jewish scholarship, Jewish temporality, Jewish theology, Jon D. Levenson, Jon D. Levenson's Sinai & Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible, living in the now, loss, maternal love, meditation, memory, moral courage, Mother, past present and future, patriotism, pop psychology, presence, Rabbi, rabbinate, sabbath, Shabbat, Shekinah, spirituality, temporality, Torah Study | 4 Comments

	Abigail on The Divine Name
	Romola Chrzanowski on The Divine Name
	Abigail on Voegelinian Vagaries
	Judy Dornstreich on Voegelinian Vagaries
	Abigail on New Year’s Day 2023

Tag Archives: higher criticism

Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column

Email Abbie!

We’re Social.

Recent Posts

Recent Comments and Replies

Archives

A picture is worth…

Category Cloud

Follow Dear Abbie on Twitter!