Mary Douglas - two responses but not the text??
MJ. Smith
MVP Posts: 54,603 
1. Leviticus as Literature Revised Edition
by Mary Douglas ISBN 978-0199244195
Amazon blurb: This first full-scale account of Leviticus by a world renowned anthropologist presents the biblical work as a literary masterpiece. Seen in an anthropological perspective Leviticus has a mystical structure which plots the book into three parts corresponding to the three parts of the desert tabernacle, both corresponding to the parts of Mount Sinai. This completely new reading transforms the interpretation of the purity laws. The pig and other forbidden animals are not abhorrent, they command the same respect due to all God's creatures. Boldly challenging several traditions of Bible criticism, Mary Douglas claims that Leviticus is not the narrow doctrine of a crabbed professional priesthood but a powerful intellectual statement about a modern religion which emphasizes God's justice and compassion.
2. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (Routledge Classics)
by Mary Douglas ISBN 978-0415289955
Amazon blurb: Is cleanliness next to godliness? What does such a concept really mean? Why does it recur as a universal theme across all societies? And what are the implications for the unclean?
In Purity and Danger Mary Douglas identifies the concern for purity as a key theme at the heart of every society. In lively and lucid prose she explains its relevance for every reader by revealing its wide-ranging impact on our attitudes to society, values, cosmology and knowledge. This book has been hugely influential in many areas of debate – from religion to social theory. With a specially commissioned preface by the author which assesses the continuing significance of the work, this Routledge Classics edition will ensure that Purity and Danger continues to challenge, question and inspire for many years to come.
3. In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers
by Mary Douglas ISBN 978-0199245413
Amazon blurb: Following on from the paperback edition of Leviticus as Literature, this is the revised paperback edition of Mary Douglas's classical account of the Book of Numbers. Up to now Bible scholars have tended to dismiss Numbers as a chaotic mix of narrative and laws. Mary Douglas argues that, like Leviticus, Numbers is actually a highly complex book arranged in a regular ring structure which plots the narratives and laws into 12 parts. She argues that it is only through an understanding of the ring formation of these parts that one can fully appreciate the meanings behind this complex work.
It is ridiculous to carry two books that are responses to Mary Douglas without including the books they are responding to. Logos already carries Kunin, Seth Daniel. We Think What We Eat: Neo-Structuralist Analysis of Israelite Food Rules and Other Cultural and Textual Practices. Vol. 412. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004. and Sawyer, John F. A. Reading Leviticus: A Conversation with Mary Douglas. Vol. 227. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.
by Mary Douglas ISBN 978-0199244195
Amazon blurb: This first full-scale account of Leviticus by a world renowned anthropologist presents the biblical work as a literary masterpiece. Seen in an anthropological perspective Leviticus has a mystical structure which plots the book into three parts corresponding to the three parts of the desert tabernacle, both corresponding to the parts of Mount Sinai. This completely new reading transforms the interpretation of the purity laws. The pig and other forbidden animals are not abhorrent, they command the same respect due to all God's creatures. Boldly challenging several traditions of Bible criticism, Mary Douglas claims that Leviticus is not the narrow doctrine of a crabbed professional priesthood but a powerful intellectual statement about a modern religion which emphasizes God's justice and compassion.
2. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (Routledge Classics)
by Mary Douglas ISBN 978-0415289955
Amazon blurb: Is cleanliness next to godliness? What does such a concept really mean? Why does it recur as a universal theme across all societies? And what are the implications for the unclean?
In Purity and Danger Mary Douglas identifies the concern for purity as a key theme at the heart of every society. In lively and lucid prose she explains its relevance for every reader by revealing its wide-ranging impact on our attitudes to society, values, cosmology and knowledge. This book has been hugely influential in many areas of debate – from religion to social theory. With a specially commissioned preface by the author which assesses the continuing significance of the work, this Routledge Classics edition will ensure that Purity and Danger continues to challenge, question and inspire for many years to come.
3. In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers
by Mary Douglas ISBN 978-0199245413
Amazon blurb: Following on from the paperback edition of Leviticus as Literature, this is the revised paperback edition of Mary Douglas's classical account of the Book of Numbers. Up to now Bible scholars have tended to dismiss Numbers as a chaotic mix of narrative and laws. Mary Douglas argues that, like Leviticus, Numbers is actually a highly complex book arranged in a regular ring structure which plots the narratives and laws into 12 parts. She argues that it is only through an understanding of the ring formation of these parts that one can fully appreciate the meanings behind this complex work.
It is ridiculous to carry two books that are responses to Mary Douglas without including the books they are responding to. Logos already carries Kunin, Seth Daniel. We Think What We Eat: Neo-Structuralist Analysis of Israelite Food Rules and Other Cultural and Textual Practices. Vol. 412. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004. and Sawyer, John F. A. Reading Leviticus: A Conversation with Mary Douglas. Vol. 227. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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