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Vorkosigan · 03-05-2005, 03:20 AM

Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Misrepresentation By Paul Newall

The opening paragraph:

"Having finally received the festschrift for Robert Carroll recommended to me elsewhere, Sense and Sensitivity, I was able to read Whitelam�s essay Representing Minimalism: The Rhetoric and Reality of Revisionism. In the early parts thereof, Whitelam attempts to show that the rhetoric of those like William Dever and Gary Rendsburg does not match the reality of what minimalists (or revisionists, variously) are either engaged in or suggesting."

WILLOWTREE · 03-05-2005, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vorkosigan

Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Misrepresentation By Paul Newall

The opening paragraph:

"Having finally received the festschrift for Robert Carroll recommended to me elsewhere, Sense and Sensitivity, I was able to read Whitelam�s essay Representing Minimalism: The Rhetoric and Reality of Revisionism. In the early parts thereof, Whitelam attempts to show that the rhetoric of those like William Dever and Gary Rendsburg does not match the reality of what minimalists (or revisionists, variously) are either engaged in or suggesting."

Vork:

I think you forgot to make a point ?

WT

Vorkosigan · 03-05-2005, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WILLOWTREE

Vork:

I think you forgot to make a point ?

WT

Wouldn't be the first time! No, I was just alerting people to the article.

wordy · 09-01-2006, 07:25 AM

Why have they named in minimalism? Looking up "religious minimalism" the wikipedia test says.

Quote:

Religious minimalism

Minimalism is also the name of a simple religious framework based on the principle that the more complex the set of beliefs the more likely it is to reflect the wrong assumptions of the various and often unknown people who have contributed to it (but this does not mean that another religion is necessarily wrong).

At its heart is reverence for a divinity to whom one may pray. This is a single being for, as the medieval philosopher William Occam said, why multiply entities (or assumptions) unnecessarily?

It avoids giving attributes (either limbs or supposed qualities) to the divinity because it believes that the more we attribute, whether by imagination or inference, the more likely we are to make mistakes. And as we don't really need a portrait to revere God, mystery is preferred to misconception.

As for explaining the cosmos, minimalism considers that this is not a matter for religion (which is about our relationship with God and ethical living) so we should let science and philosophy serve as best they can for those who are interested.

Similarly, for advice on food, health, personal problems etc, professional experts rather than religious advisers or dogmas are recommended, if available. And, notably, minimalism says nothing about an afterlife, even if there is one. It considers that we should simply live the way we should, given what we are. (And if we were created, it argues, would a revered Creator really be unhappy with that?)

Minimalism is not associated with an authority or personality. Its words are said to speak for themselves. Nor does it aim to drive out existing religions but rather it aims to supplement them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism

Those biblical minimalists are using a good word for their own purposes. I like Terry Riley and other music minimalists so the word is used in many ways.

Toto · 09-01-2006, 10:13 AM

That's a different minimalism. Minimalism is used in Biblical studies almost as an insult.

For Biblical minimalism, check these links: Essays on minimalism.

wordy · 09-01-2006, 10:48 AM

Thanks Toto, Funny that Davies use almost exactly same wording as me starting a thread here on II and me not even knowing about Davies.

Quote:

Does “minimalism” really exist?

...

I noted earlier that the so-called “minimalists” do not have a term for themselves (I have used “minimalism” myself when debating with opponents, but in my mind, the term is always within quotation marks). “Minimalism” is an invention. None of the “minimalist” scholars is aware of being part of a school, or a group. There is no such common purpose (see Whitelam 2002). From what I have read and heard, the scholars most frequently identified with “minimalism” are Thomas Thompson, Keith Whitelam, Niels Peter Lemche, and myself. That all four now work in either Copenhagen or Sheffield may indeed suggest to superficial observers a “school.” However, Thompson moved to Copenhagen only after his book Early History of the Israelite People was published (Brill 1992); he wrote it in Milwaukee. Keith Whitelam’s The Invention of Ancient Israel was written in Stirling, Scotland, before its author was appointed to a chair in Sheffield (a decision in which I played not the slightest part) in 1999. The truth is that the four scholars have indeed come to talk to each other through geographical proximity and, of course, through their shared notoriety, but not one of them developed his ideas in close contact with the others.

From one of the links on the page you suggested. "Essays on minimalism."

03-05-2005, 03:20 AM	#1
Vorkosigan Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Barrayar Posts: 11,866	Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Misrepresentation Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Misrepresentation By Paul Newall The opening paragraph: "Having finally received the festschrift for Robert Carroll recommended to me elsewhere, Sense and Sensitivity, I was able to read Whitelam�s essay Representing Minimalism: The Rhetoric and Reality of Revisionism. In the early parts thereof, Whitelam attempts to show that the rhetoric of those like William Dever and Gary Rendsburg does not match the reality of what minimalists (or revisionists, variously) are either engaged in or suggesting."

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09-01-2006, 10:13 AM	#5
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	That's a different minimalism. Minimalism is used in Biblical studies almost as an insult. For Biblical minimalism, check these links: Essays on minimalism.

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