{"title":"The “‘Noble Death” of Judas Iscariot: A Reconsideration of Suicide in the Bible and Early Christianity","authors":"P. Middleton","doi":"10.5840/JRV201882154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/JRV201882154","url":null,"abstract":"THE ‘NOBLE DEATH’ OF JUDAS ISCARIOT: A RECONSIDERATION OF SUICIDE IN THE BIBLE AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY Paul Middleton Abstract This essay problematizes the often repeated claim that Jewish and Christian traditions have always and unambiguously opposed suicide. By examining the suicide narratives in the Hebrew Bible and late Second Temple texts, alongside early Christian martyr texts which demonstrate not only enthusiasm for death, but suicide martyrdom, I argue that many Jewish and Christian self-killings conform to Greco-Roman patterns Noble Death. Finally, I consider the death of Judas Iscariot, and having removed any a priori reason to interpret his suicide negatively, I argue Matthew’s account of his self-killing compares favourably with Luke’s narrative, in which he is the victim of divine execution. Moreover, I conclude that Matthew’s main concern is to transfer the blame for Jesus’ death from Judas to the Jewish authorities, and that he has Judas impose on himself to the appropriate and potentially expiatory penalty for his action. Thus, I conclude, even Judas’s iconic suicide can be read quite plausibly as an example of Noble Death.","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"245-266"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43079549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Suicide, Suicidology, and Heaven’s Gate","authors":"George D. Chryssides","doi":"10.5840/JRV20188153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/JRV20188153","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"191-205"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48938431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Self-Murder, Sin, and Crime: Religion and Suicide in the Middle Ages","authors":"C. Cusack","doi":"10.5840/jrv2018103055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/jrv2018103055","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"206-224"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49050420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Jihad and Death : The Global Appeal of Islamic State. By Olivier Roy [Book Review]","authors":"P. Nanninga","doi":"10.5840/JRV20186255","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/JRV20186255","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"298-302"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5840/JRV20186255","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43652522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Burning Faith in the Master: Interpreting the 1.23 Incident","authors":"James R. Lewis","doi":"10.5840/jrv201811957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/jrv201811957","url":null,"abstract":"Falun Gong (FLG) is a qi gong group that entered into conflict with the Chinese state around the turn of the century, and gradually transformed into a political movement. Qi gong, in turn, is an ancient system of exercises that have been compared with yoga, though qi gong exercises more closely resemble the gentle, meditative movements of Tai Chi. Falun Gong was founded in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by Li Hongzhi (LHZ) in 1992, in the latter part of what has been termed the qi gong “boom.” As the leadership of the PRC became increasingly critical of the traditional folk religion and superstition that was emerging within some of the qi gong groups, Li Hongzhi and his family emigrated to the United States. From the safety of his new country of residence, LHZ directed his Chinese followers to become increasingly belligerent, eventually staging a mass demonstration in front of government offices in Beijing on 25 April 1999. The movement was subsequently banned.","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"172-190"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5840/jrv201811957","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41426650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Speculation on Hindu Self-Sacrifice Imagery at Nalgonda","authors":"Mary Storm","doi":"10.5840/JRV201812658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/JRV201812658","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"225-244"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44103541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Martys and Spectacular Death: From Homer to the Roman Arena","authors":"Margo Kitts","doi":"10.5840/jrv201811956","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/jrv201811956","url":null,"abstract":"The notion of a martyr, or martys, has undergone a significant conceptual shift since its first attestation in the Iliad, where the martyroi are those witnesses who punish oath-violators with gruesome deaths rather than those who suffer gruesome deaths, as in later usage. This essay traces the conceptual shift of the Greek term martys from the Homeric precedent through the Book of Revelation. Then it explores the visual focus on dying in the Iliad and in ancient martyr texts, as well as some rhetorical means for conveying it. It concludes with a glance at some common ritual features between the Iliad’s oath-sacrifices and Christian martyr spectacles.","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"267-294"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5840/jrv201811956","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46175307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism. Edited by James R. Lewis","authors":"V. Ehret","doi":"10.5840/JRV2018615","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/JRV2018615","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"160-164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46077609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Black Banners of ISIS: The Roots of the New Caliphate. David J. Wasserstein","authors":"P. Powers","doi":"10.5840/jrv2018614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/jrv2018614","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"155-159"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44585996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Demonic Warfare: Daoism, Territorial Networks, and the History of a Ming Novel. Mark R. E. Meulenbeld","authors":"Daniel Burton-Rose","doi":"10.5840/jrv2018612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5840/jrv2018612","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36668,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"145-151"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42569799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}