The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy : Neo-Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns / John B. Henderson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Henderson, John B., 1948- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heresy--Comparative studies.

Heresy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (265 p. )

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [1998]

Summary:

"This book presents the first systematic and cross-cultural exploration of ideas of heresy, as well as orthodoxy, in a group of major religious traditions, including Neo-Confucianism, Sunni Islam, rabbinic Judaism, and early Christianity. It shows how authorities in all four of these traditions used common strategies to distinguish orthodox truth from heretical error. These same strategies often appear in modern ideological polemics and studies of deviance as well as in traditional religious controversies. The party that most effectively uses these strategies often gains a decisive advantage in the struggle among competing claimants to orthodoxy."--BOOK JACKET.

Contents:

Preliminary overview of heresy and heresiography

The making of orthodoxies

The construction of orthodoxy

The construction of heresy

Epilogue: the providentiality of heresy.

Notes:

Several of these papers were presented at several universities.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781438406435

1438406436

9780585067100

0585067104