{"product_id":"demonic-desires-yetzer-hara-and-the-problem-of-evil-in-late-antiquity-hardback-9780812243390","title":"Demonic Desires; \"Yetzer Hara\" and the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity (Hardback) 9780812243390","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eDemonic Desires\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003e\"Yetzer Hara\" and the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eIshay Rosen-Zvi (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780812243390\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 13 October 2011\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e264 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.462 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"In addition to comprehensive analysis of the classical rabbinic literature on the evil yetzer, and the changing perceptions of it, Rosen-Zvi traces related developments in early Christian literature, especially within the trajectories of asceticism and monasticism of the Alexandrian tradition\" (\u003ci\u003eJewish Book World\u003c\/i\u003e) \"Rosen-Zvi's learned book opens up new vistas for the discussion of Jewish theological anthropology. His careful philological work traces the numerous connections between rabbinic and early Christian conceptions of human nature and sin. Ultimately, Rosen-Zvi emphatically endorses the view that the rabbinic conception of the human person is fundamentally optimistic.\" (\u003ci\u003eJewish Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e) \"\u003ci\u003eDemonic Desires\u003c\/i\u003e analyzes a crucial element of late antique Jewish religious thought, the concept of the \u003ci\u003eyetzer hara\u003c\/i\u003e. Rosen-Zvi aims to correct misplaced assumptions about the yetzer, in terms of both anachronistic readings of the rabbinic tradition and misleading comparisons made between the yetzer and other aspects of late antique religious thought in the Hellenistic world. The book is a valuable contribution to an important area of study.\" (Columba Stewart, Saint John's School of Theology Seminary)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eDemonic Desires\u003c\/i\u003e, Ishay Rosen-Zvi examines the concept of \u003ci\u003eyetzer hara\u003c\/i\u003e, or evil inclination, and its evolution in biblical and rabbinic literature. Contrary to existing scholarship, which reads the term under the rubric of destructive sexual desire, Rosen-Zvi contends that in late antiquity the \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e represents a general tendency toward evil. Rather than the lower bodily part of a human, the rabbinic \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e is a wicked, sophisticated inciter, attempting to snare humans to sin. The rabbinic \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e should therefore not be read in the tradition of the Hellenistic quest for control over the lower parts of the psyche, writes Rosen-Zvi, but rather in the tradition of ancient Jewish and Christian demonology.\u003cbr\u003e Rosen-Zvi conducts a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the some one hundred and fifty appearances of the evil \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e in classical rabbinic literature to explore the biblical and postbiblical search for the sources of human sinfulness. By examining the \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e within a specific demonological tradition, \u003ci\u003eDemonic Desires\u003c\/i\u003e places the \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e discourse in the larger context of a move toward psychologization in late antiquity, in which evil-and even demons-became internalized within the human psyche. The book discusses various manifestations of this move in patristic and monastic material, from Clement and Origin to Antony, Athanasius, and Evagrius. It concludes with a consideration of the broader implications of the \u003ci\u003eyetzer\u003c\/i\u003e discourse in rabbinic anthropology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction. The Riddle, or: How Did the Evil \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e Become a Mighty King?\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. \"The Torah Spoke Regarding the \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e\": Tannaitic Literature\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e and Other Demons: Patristic Parallels\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e at Qumran: Proto-Rabbinic?\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4. Coming of Age: Amoraic \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5. Refuting the \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e: The Limits of Rabbinic Discursive Worlds\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6. Sexualizing the \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 7. Weak Like a Female, Strong Like a Male: \u003ci\u003eYetzer\u003c\/i\u003e and Gender\u003cbr\u003e Afterword: Toward a Genealogy of the Rabbinic Subject\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Pennsylvania Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52555711119640,"sku":"9780812243390","price":49.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/demonic-desires-yetzer-hara-and-the-problem-of-evil-in-late-antiquity-hardback-9780812243390","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}