attention to how Protestant notions of iconoclasm and literal-ism, as well as the development of print culture, depend on the creation of a“semiotic distanciation.”In Chapter 6, Yelle focuses his discussion on the critique of the sign’s Protestant presuppositions to uncover what he argues is the fundamen-tal anachronism of Mary Douglas’s famous reading of Leviti-cus. Portions of this book have been published elsewhere, but even they are worth rereading couched in this carefully plotted argument, making Semiotics of Religion a highly rec-ommended work of theory and method.
Brian Collins Ohio University
Theology
FERDINAND CHRISTIAN BAUR UND DIE
GESCHICHTE DES FRUHEN€ CHRISTENTUMS.
Edited by Martin Bauspiess, Christof Landmesser, and David Lincicum. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 333. T€ubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014. Pp. x1440. N.p.
This collection introduces a new generation of Baur scholarship, and, along with other recent publications, indicates a revival of interest in Baur’s groundbreaking historical-theological studies. It contains fifteen essays, ten written in German and five in English. Following an initial section on Baur’s relations to Strauss, M€ohler, and Hegel, the majority of the essays focus on historical and exegeti-cal perspectives, and the concluding section discusses Baur’s influence. Among these excellent chapters are Ulrich K€opf’s detailed analysis of the Baur-Strauss rela-tionship; Notger Slenczka on Baur’s controversy with M€ohler; Martin Wendte’s treatment of Baur as “a histori-cally informed idealist of a distinctive kind”; David Linci-cum on the task of New Testament “introduction”; Volker Henning Drecoll’s examination of Baur’s view of Christian Gnosticism and contemporary philosophy of religion; Christof Landmesser on Baur as an interpreter of Paul; Martin Bauspiess on his treatment of the Synoptic Gospels and the “essence” of early Christianity; J€org Frey on Baur’s Johannine exegesis; Robert Morgan’s study of Baur’s New Testament theology; Stefan Alkier’s analysis of Baur’s critique of miracle; Johannes Zachhuber on the tension between absoluteness and relativity in his thought; and James Carleton Paget’s masterful survey of the recep-tion of Baur in Britain. R. F. Brown and I are preparing an English edition by translating the German essays.
Peter C. Hodgson
Divinity School, Vanderbilt University
Philosophy of Religion
NEGATIVE ECSTASIES: GEORGES BATAILLE
AND THE STUDY OF RELIGION. Edited by Jeremy
Biles and Kent L. Brintnall. Perspectives in Continental Philosophy. New York: Fordham University Press, 2015. Pp. 3111xii. Cloth, $95.00; paper, $32.00.
This volume brings the unconventional theorizing of Georges Bataille, whose impact has been felt in other areas of the humanities for the last fifty years, into the study of religion, where his thought has had only a limited influence through the writings of scholars like Amy Holly-wood and Michael Taussig. To remedy this tardy and spo-radic reception, the authors gathered here have used Bataille’s work to“do”as well as“undo”religious studies. Not only do the collected essays utilize Bataille’s ideas about the sacred, economy, sacrifice, sovereignty, and transgression to explicate religious phenomena like mysti-cal experiences and esoteric sexual rites, they also enact those ideas in order to“disrupt”religious studies and treat disciplinary boundaries as “so many occasions for trans-gression.”Here, we have Hugh Urban and Jeffrey J. Kripal respectively using Bataille to examine sexual difference in the Assamese cult of the Tantric goddess Kamakhya and the role of trauma in mysticism across cultures alongside David Chidester, Kent Brintnall, and Paul Hegarty explor-ing the religious dimensions of World Cup football, unpro-tected anal sex between men, and electronic noise music. Bataille’s utility (a word he would surely despise) in inter-preting aspects of religion that overlap with his areas of interest (sex, violence, excess) is in evidence alongside the destabilizing effects of his ideas when they are accepted, “bareback,” as it were, into existing theoretical models. Along with an excellent brief introduction to Bataille for religionists, there are essays that compare Bataille with Kristeva, Foucault, and Teilhard de Chardin, others that use his ideas to understand the connected religions or pseudo-religions of neoliberalism and free market capital-ism, and an exploration of Bataille and dreams. Especially welcome is Stephen Bush’s essay drawing out some of the often-overlooked ambiguities in Bataille’s writings as well as the potentially troubling nature of his meditations on cruelty. The essays collected inNegative Ecstasies bear the marks of being carefully selected and thoughtfully com-missioned from a wide array of scholars. This book is highly recommended for those with interests in continen-tal philosophy of religion, theoretical approaches to the study of religion, popular culture, and the genealogy of religious studies.
Brian Collins Ohio University
Religion, Arts, and Culture
THE PARABLE AND ITS LESSON: A NOVELLA. Fic-tion. By S.Y. Agnon. Translated and annotated by James S. Diamond. Introduction and Critical Essay by Alan Mintz. Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture. Stanford,
Religious Studies Review
