Overview

In Daniel’s Mysticism of Resistance in Its Seleucid Context, Timothy L. Seals proffers a postcolonial interpretation of the book of Daniel, investigating certain texts that constitute Daniel’s mystical way or practice. Daniel uses mysticism to resist the repressive script of Antiochus IV outlawing the Jewish religion in 167 BCE. In his use of non-violence to resist the imperial power of the Seleucids, Daniel stands in the non-violent, passive-resistant tradition of both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Daniel uses mysticism both to resist imperial intrusions into his humanity and to decolonize his mind in the aftermath of colonization. In this endeavor, mysticism proves to be world-affirming.

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9781978713147

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The Reverend Doctor Timothy L. Seals has written a ground-breaking study on the Book of Daniel that expands its horizons for understanding the presence of the Holy in both the ancient and modern worlds. Reading Daniel as a book of mysticism, that is ultimately concerned with the human encounter with the divine in a challenging world, Dr. Seals demonstrates how Daniel strove for encounter with the Holy in his world in resistance to the Seleucid Empire, and he further demonstrates how other Daniels in later times, such as Howard Thurman, Emir Abd el-Kater, Marguerite Porete, and Abraham Abulafia, confronted the empires of their day based on their own encounters with the Divine. A must for all concerned with the presence of the Holy in a very troubled world.--Marvin A. Sweeney, Claremont School of Theology Very different from former scholarship that reads the book of Daniel within the apocalyptic genre, Timothy L. Seals presents (the author of) Daniel as a mystic, with mystical experiences, with several goals in mind: to resist the terror of Antiochus IV, to decolonize his psyche of negative images of terror, which functioned within the system of Greek colonial power, and to prepare for episodes of illumination. A different and very inspiring book!--Kristin De Troyer, University of Salzburg

The Reverend Doctor Timothy L. Seals has written a ground-breaking study on the Book of Daniel that expands its horizons for understanding the presence of the Holy in both the ancient and modern worlds. Reading Daniel as a book of mysticism, that is ultimately concerned with the human encounter with the divine in a challenging world, Dr. Seals demonstrates how Daniel strove for encounter with the Holy in his world in resistance to the Seleucid Empire, and he further demonstrates how other Daniels in later times, such as Howard Thurman, Emir Abd el-Kader, Marguerite Porete, and Abraham Abulafia, confronted the empires of their day based on their own encounters with the Divine. A must for all concerned with the presence of the Holy in a very troubled world.--Marvin A. Sweeney, Claremont School of Theology Very different from former scholarship that reads the book of Daniel within the apocalyptic genre, Timothy L. Seals presents (the author of) Daniel as a mystic, with mystical experiences, with several goals in mind: to resist the terror of Antiochus IV, to decolonize his psyche of negative images of terror, which functioned within the system of Greek colonial power, and to prepare for episodes of illumination. A different and very inspiring book!--Kristin De Troyer, University of Salzburg

Author Information

Timothy L. Seals is an adjunct professor of Hebrew Bible at the Claremont School of Theology.

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