Description: Sanctified Aggression allies itself neither with the easy assumption that religions are by definition violent (and that only the secular/humanist/humane can offer a place of refuge from the ravages of religious authority) nor with the equally facile opposing view that religion expresses the best of human aspirations and that this best is always capable of diffusing or sublating the worst. Rather, it works from the premise that biblical, Jewish and Christian vocabularies continue to resonate, inspire and misfire.
Brief description: Yvonne Sherwood is senior lecturer in Old Testament/Tanakh and Jewish Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Review Quotes: Review International Review of Biblical Studies, vol 51, 2004/05