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Kazen, Thomas, ProfessorORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-4683-3302
Publications (10 of 107) Show all publications
Kazen, T. (2024). Biblical Law and the New Testament. In: Bruce Wells (Ed.), Cambridge Companion to Law in the Hebrew Bible : (pp. 261-282). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Biblical Law and the New Testament
2024 (English)In: Cambridge Companion to Law in the Hebrew Bible / [ed] Bruce Wells, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024, p. 261-282Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Summary

This chapter explores how biblical law is treated in the gospels, in Paul, and in other New Testament texts. It shows how recent scholarship has demonstrated that Jesus and Paul treat the law in more positive fashion than they are usually given credit for.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024
Keywords
Gentile believers, legal nominalism, legal realism, circumcision, pragmatism
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies, New testament
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2577 (URN)10.1017/9781108636322.019 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-10-12 Created: 2024-10-12 Last updated: 2024-12-12Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. (2024). Dirt, Shame, Status: Perspectives on Same-Sex Relationships in the Bible and the Ancient World. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Dirt, Shame, Status: Perspectives on Same-Sex Relationships in the Bible and the Ancient World
2024 (English)Book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

A scholarly examination of same-sex sexuality in the Bible in the context of the ancient world  

Scriptural prohibitions of same-sex sexual acts (so-called “clobber passages”) are often used as prooftexts to support the oppression of LGBT communities in the West today. However, such interpretation of these scant references ignores critical sociohistorical context from the ancient world.  

Analyzing a wealth of primary sources, Thomas Kazen brings biblical studies into conversation with the sexual norms and practices of the ancient world. Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman texts, including the Old and New Testaments, exhibit ancient concerns about hierarchy in sexual relationships. Examining references to sexuality through the lenses of power and subordination, honor and shame, and purity, Kazen sheds light on homophobic passages in the Bible. Special attention is given to the Levitical laws and the Pauline epistles. Ultimately, Kazen calls us to renegotiate the balance between our ancient heritage and our contemporary values.  

Carefully researched and accessibly presented, Dirt, Shame, Status lends readers insight into the diverse cultural influences on the Bible. Kazen’s work offers an informed and important perspective on a controversial topic of perennial interest. Scholars, students, and all curious readers of Scripture will find this volume to be an indispensable resource for understanding complex ancient texts and contexts. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2024. p. 224
National Category
History and Archaeology Philosophy, Ethics and Religion Gender Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2574 (URN)9780802884343 (ISBN)
Available from: 2024-10-12 Created: 2024-10-12 Last updated: 2025-01-23Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. (2024). John’s Immersions: Ritual Purification, but from What?. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 47(2), 1-26
Open this publication in new window or tab >>John’s Immersions: Ritual Purification, but from What?
2024 (English)In: Journal for the Study of the New Testament, ISSN 0142-064X, E-ISSN 1745-5294, Vol. 47, no 2, p. 1-26Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

From what would John’s immersions purify? Considering texts from the Synoptics, Josephus, and 1QS on purification, sin, and forgiveness, various options are outlined and disentangled with the help of conceptual metaphor theory, especially conceptual blending, and the theory of ritual form. Although John’s immersion was a ritual innovation, broadening ritual purification to include the removal of offensive acts and a change of behaviour by a physical water ritual, a conceptual blending analysis speaks strongly against immersion as a substitute for sacrifice and questions any confusion in relation to the priestly purity system. The theory of ritual form suggests an infrequent and high-arousal Special Agent ritual. Features reminiscent of pre-Hasmonean practices (river and ‘wilderness’ rather than miqveh), gave John’s rite a sense of genuineness and divine agency, making it attractive and emotionally satisfying. The eschatological setting of general purification in view of a divine encounter further contributed to the ritual’s success.

National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies, New testament
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2576 (URN)10.1177/0142064x241242716 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-10-12 Created: 2024-10-12 Last updated: 2024-12-12Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. & Roitto, R. (2024). Revenge, Compensation, and Forgiveness in the Ancient World: A Comparative Study of Interpersonal Infringement and Moral Repair. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Revenge, Compensation, and Forgiveness in the Ancient World: A Comparative Study of Interpersonal Infringement and Moral Repair
2024 (English)Book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Handling moral infringement is complicated and this was as true in antiquity as it is today. Should one retaliate, demand compensation, be merciful, ignore the infringement, or forgive? Thomas Kazen and Rikard Roitto compare how Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians in antiquity navigated different ideas, practices, and rituals for moral repair. How did they think about morality and did this affect ideas about moral repair? What practices of moral repair did they use, within and beyond the court? In what different ways did they involve the gods in interpersonal conflicts through ritual? Insights from contemporary research on human behaviour guide the comparative work, since, as the authors argue, human moral behaviour and cognition is the result of both innate and cultural factors.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024. p. 542
Series
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, ISSN 0512-1604, E-ISSN 2568-7476 ; 515
Keywords
moral infringement, moral repair, practices, rituals, emotions, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient Judaism, early Christianity, cognitive frames, conceptual metaphor, game theory, valuable relationships hypothesis, social network theory, committment signalling, honour, hierarchy, revenge, compensation, forgiveness
National Category
History of Religions Classical Archaeology and Ancient History Religious Studies History
Research subject
Biblical Studies; History of Religions
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2383 (URN)10.1628/978-3-16-163339-3 (DOI)978-3-16-162465-0 (ISBN)978-3-16-163339-3 (ISBN)
Projects
2016-02319_VR Konfliktlösningsdynamik i antiken
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2016-02319
Available from: 2024-04-05 Created: 2024-04-05 Last updated: 2024-05-07Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. (2024). Review of Paul J. DeHart, Unspeakable Cults: An Essay in Christology (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2021). [Review]. Review of Biblical Literature (04)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Review of Paul J. DeHart, Unspeakable Cults: An Essay in Christology (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2021).
2024 (English)In: Review of Biblical Literature, E-ISSN 1099-0321, no 04Article, book review (Other academic) Published
National Category
Religious Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2579 (URN)
Available from: 2024-10-12 Created: 2024-10-12 Last updated: 2024-12-12Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. (2024). Review of Yitzhaq Feder, Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible: From Embodied Experience to Moral Metaphor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021) [Review]. Review of Biblical Literature (12)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Review of Yitzhaq Feder, Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible: From Embodied Experience to Moral Metaphor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
2024 (English)In: Review of Biblical Literature, E-ISSN 1099-0321, no 12Article, book review (Other academic) Published
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2609 (URN)
Available from: 2025-01-10 Created: 2025-01-10 Last updated: 2025-01-15Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. (2024). The Changing Character of the Torah: Jesus and the Scrolls. Journal of Ancient Judaism, 1-28
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Changing Character of the Torah: Jesus and the Scrolls
2024 (English)In: Journal of Ancient Judaism, ISSN 1869-3296, E-ISSN 2196-7954, p. 1-28Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

In this essay I suggest that the attitudes to Jewish law and the conflicting interpretations reflected by the early Jesus tradition are best understood within a landscape of change, in which the character of torah as instruction, guidance, and description gradually morphed into a more prescriptive and judicial nomos. Although the tensions described in the sources usually concern Jesus and the Pharisees, a comparison with the legal interpretation in some of the texts from Qumran sheds light on the principled differences between the early Jesus movement’s understanding of the law’s character and function and that of its opponents. It is suggested that Jesus and his early followers saw no conflict between the Torah’s guidance and its pragmatic application, but objected to some interpretations associated with its transformation.

Keywords
torah; nomos; halakah; formalism; essentialism; Qumran; Jesus
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2575 (URN)10.30965/21967954-bja10065 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-10-12 Created: 2024-10-12 Last updated: 2024-12-12Bibliographically approved
Larsen, K. B. (2023). Jesus: En historisk crash course (1ed.). Stockholm: Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Jesus: En historisk crash course
2023 (Swedish)Book (Other academic)
Abstract [sv]

Jesus sa ”följ mig” och idag har han fler följare än någon kändis på Instagram. Men vem var han? Bibelforskningen har sökt svaret på den frågan i 250 år. Förslagen är många: en politisk revolutionär, en hippiefilosof, en judisk rabbin, en bondeprofet, en karismatisk helare – eller bara Guds son. Den här boken tecknar en skiss av den historiske Jesus och diskuterar hur han är relevant för kristendomen idag. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm, 2023. p. 88 Edition: 1
Series
Tro & Liv Bibel ; 3
Keywords
Den historiske Jesus; Guds rike; messias; evangelierna; fiendekärlek
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies, New testament
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2028 (URN)978-91-88906-23-6 (ISBN)
Note

Översättning från danskan (Jesus, Aarhus universitetsforlag, 2018)

Available from: 2023-10-17 Created: 2023-10-17 Last updated: 2023-10-27Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. (2023). Malachi’s Metaphorical Divorce: Reading Marital Faithlessness as Cult Criticism with a Little Help from Blending Theory. In: David Davage, Mikael Larsson, Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer (Ed.), Metaphors in the Prophetic Literature of the Hebrew Bible and Beyond: (pp. 116-137). Paderborn: Brill Schöningh
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Malachi’s Metaphorical Divorce: Reading Marital Faithlessness as Cult Criticism with a Little Help from Blending Theory
2023 (English)In: Metaphors in the Prophetic Literature of the Hebrew Bible and Beyond / [ed] David Davage, Mikael Larsson, Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, Paderborn: Brill Schöningh , 2023, p. 116-137Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Malachi 2:10-16 is a notoriously difficult passage to translate, and interpretations are wide apart. Does it refer to divorce, uncommonly using covenant language for marriage? Who, then, is the daughter of a foreign god? And why speak of divine seed or offspring of the god(s)? What does the suggested mourning concern? Who has hated what and why is it wrong? In this article I will argue that marital faithlessness is used as a metaphor for Asherah worship and that blending theory might help us better disentangle and understand the seemingly messy mix of images.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 2023
Series
Journal of Ancient Judaism Supplements, ISSN 2198-1361, E-ISSN 2197-0092 ; 36
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies, Old testament
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2151 (URN)10.30965/9783657793969_007 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-01-18 Created: 2024-01-18 Last updated: 2024-01-23Bibliographically approved
Kazen, T. & Roitto, R. (2023). Roman Clemency versus Jewish(-Christian) Forgiveness: A Comparative Analysis. In: : . Paper presented at Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, 17-21 november 2023.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Roman Clemency versus Jewish(-Christian) Forgiveness: A Comparative Analysis
2023 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Interpersonal forgiveness and clemency do in some respects have very similar functions: By not retaliating or punishing a conflict is put to rest. However, the motivations behind the Jewish-Christian ideal of interpersonal forgiveness and the Roman ideal of clemency are quite different. Jesus Ben Sira, Jesus of Nazareth and others argue that only those who forgive will receive divine forgiveness. Seneca, on the other hand, argues for clemency as an expression of superior, even divine, power over others. The two motivations, in turn, reflect distinct social dynamics for the two forms of non-retaliatory behaviours. This paper discusses how the ethics of interpersonal forgiveness nurtures a culture of indirect reciprocity whereas the ethics of interpersonal clemency builds hierarchically organized cooperative networks.

Keywords
Clemency, forgiveness, Seneca, Jesus, Ben Sira
National Category
Religious Studies
Research subject
Biblical Studies, New testament
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ths:diva-2152 (URN)
Conference
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, 17-21 november 2023
Projects
Dynamics of moral repair in antiquity
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2016-02319
Available from: 2024-01-18 Created: 2024-01-18 Last updated: 2024-01-23Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-4683-3302

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