EQaB
Subproject 2:
âEducation in Late Antiquity and the Axial Age: From the Bible to the Qurâanâ
Based on the synergistic theoretical foundation of EQaB (see theoretical framework), the second subproject is entitled âEducation in Late Antiquity and the Axial Age: From the Bible to the Qurâanâ.
For some time now, the Qurâan has been studied as a text of Late Antiquity (Neuwirth 2010; 2017; Fowden 1993; Brown 1971). Eschewing the problematic view that the Qurâan is only a derivative of Jewish or Christian sources, such an approach stresses the Qurâanic text as an original, complex piece that displays both continuity and breaks with various traditions, whether they be Biblical, Near Eastern, or syncretist. Education is at the very centre of Late Antique religious tendencies, exemplified by the ascetic and pious practices of Christian monasticism (Bell 1968). Considering the lack of interest in the Qurâanâs educational qualities, it is not surprising that its potential Late Antique influences have not been studied (cf. Christiansen 2021). EQaBâs second subproject (SP2) not only remedies this, but also advances the study of religion and education surrounding the Qurâan by examining the educational normativities of Biblical texts, e.g., Jesusâ teaching activities in the Gospels and pedagogical strategies in apocalyptic literature, based on Bellahâs theoretical notion of an Axial Age (Byrskog 1994; Dillon 1995; Riesner 2019; Stuckenbruck 2020). The individual outcome of SP2 is two articles in e.g., History of Religions.
SP2 constitutes the EQaBâs dimension of width and is managed by Postdoc Rachel Dryden.
Bell, Richard. 1968. The Origin of Islam in Its Christian Environment. London: Routledge.
Brown, Peter. 1971. The World of Late Antiquity: From Marcus Aurelius to Muhammad. London: Thames and Hudson.
Byrskog, Samuel. 1994. Jesus the Only Teacher: Didactic Authority and Transmission in Ancient Israel, Ancient Judaism and the Matthean Community. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Christiansen, Johanne Louise. 2021. The Exceptional Qurâan: Flexible and Exceptive Rhetoric in Islamâs Holy Book. Piscataway: Gorgias Press.
Dillon, J. T. 1995. Jesus as a Teacher: A Multidisciplinary Case Study. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Fowden, Garth. 1993. Empire to Commonwealth: Consequences of Monotheism in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Neuwirth, Angelika. 2010. Der Koran als Text der SpÀtantike: Ein europÀischer Zugang. Berlin: Verlag der Weltreligionen.
âââ. 2017. âLocating the QurÊŸan and Early Islam in the âEpistemic Spaceâ of Late Antiquityâ. In Islam and Its Past: Jahilliyya, Late Antiquity, and the QurÊŸan, edited by Carol Bakhos and Michael Cook, 165â85. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Riesner, Rainer. 2019. âFrom the Messianic Teacher to the Gospels of Jesus Christ.â In Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus, edited by Tom HolmĂ©n and Stanley E. Porter, 405â46. Leiden: Brill.
Stuckenbruck, Loren T. 2020. âThe Function of Teaching Authority in the Dead Sea Documents and Matthewâs Gospelâ. In Matthew within Judaism: Israel and the Nations in the First Gospel, edited by Anders Runesson and Daniel M. Gurtner, 257â82. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.