Divining history : prophetism, messianism, and the development of the spirit / Jayne Svenungsson ; translated by Stephen Donovan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Svenungsson, Jayne, author.

Series:

Making sense of history

Standardized Title:

Gudomliga historien. English

Language:

English

Swedish

Subjects (All):

Jewish philosophy.

History--Religious aspects.

History.

Christianity.

Physical Description:

xiv, 223 pages ; ǂc 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Berghahn Books, 2016.

Summary:

For millennia, messianic visions of redemption have inspired men and women to turn against unjust and oppressive orders. Yet these very same traditions are regularly decried as antecedents to the violent and authoritarian ideologies of modernity. Informed in equal parts by theology and historical theory, this book offers a provocative exploration of this double-edged legacy. Author Jayne Svenungsson rigorously pursues a middle path between Utopian arrogance and an enervated postmodernism, assessing the impact of Jewish and Christian theologies of history on subsequent thinkers, and in the process identifying a web of spiritual and intellectual motifs extending from ancient Jewish prophets to contemporary radicals such as Giorgio Agamben and Slavoj Zizek. Book jacket.

Contents:

The God of history

The ages of history

Romantic history

History after God

The politics of history

A theopolitical vision.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781785331732

1785331736

OCLC:

936348946