Peter W. Ochs

Last updated
Peter Ochs
Born
Peter W. Ochs

1950
Nationality American
Occupation(s)Judaic studies professor
theologian
Spouse Vanessa L. Ochs
ChildrenElizabeth
Juliana
Theological work
Language English
Main interests Jewish philosophy
Jewish theology
Philosophical theology
Pragmatism
Semiotics
Notable ideas Scriptural reasoning

Peter W. Ochs (born 1950) [1] is the Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies at the University of Virginia, where he has served since 1997. He is an influential thinker whose interests include Jewish philosophy and theology, modern and postmodern philosophical theology, pragmatism, and semiotics. Ochs coined the term "scriptural reasoning" [2] and is the co-founder (with Anglican theologian David F. Ford) [3] of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning, [4] which promotes interfaith dialog among Christians, Jews, and Muslims through scriptural study groups. He is also a co-founder of the Children of Abraham Institute, which promotes interfaith study and dialog among members of the Abrahamic religions. [5]

Contents

Biography

Ochs received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University, and M.A. from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. [6] He has held teaching positions at Drew University, Colgate University, and the University of Maryland, College Park, [7] and has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem [8] and a visiting lecturer at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. [7]

In addition to teaching Modern Judaic Studies at the University of Virginia, Ochs directs Religious Studies graduate programs in "Scripture, Interpretation, and Practice", an interdisciplinary approach to the Abrahamic traditions. [9]

Ochs is an author who has written around a dozen books and hundreds of articles, reviews, and book chapters. He is series co-editor (with Christian theologian Stanley Hauerwas) of Radical Traditions: Theology in a postcritical key, published by Westview Press/Harper Collins and SCM Press/Eerdmans, [10] and series co-editor (with Stanley Hauerwas and Ibrahim Moosa) of Encountering Traditions, published by Stanford University Press. [6]

Contribution

Scriptural reasoning

Ochs was one of the original members of a small group of Jewish philosophers who called themselves "textual reasoners". [11] Textual reasoning evolved into a larger movement which Ochs dubbed "scriptural reasoning", and Ochs co-founded the Society for Scriptural Reasoning in 1995 together with David F. Ford and Daniel W. Hardy. [12] The goal of the organization is to build consensus and promote reconciliation among Christians, Jews, and Muslims through shared discussion of the scriptures. [13] In a panel discussion on the Public Broadcasting Service with Muslim theologian Mehdi Aminrazavi, professor of philosophy and religion at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Ochs proposed scriptural reasoning as a new approach to achieving peace in the Arab–Israeli conflict. He observed that all the religious Muslims, Christians and Jews involved in the conflict worship the same God of Abraham, and therefore might be brought together "to share what they believe and to act in relation to what's going on". [14]

In 2008 [6] Ochs founded and became the director of the "1000 Cities Project" for the Society for Scriptural Reasoning, with the goal of establishing Christian-Jewish-Muslim study groups throughout North America. [15]

Peirce, pragmatism, and the logic of scripture

Ochs criticizes lingering elements of transcendentalism in Charles Peirce as a problematic (and un-pragmatic) conceptualism. Nevertheless, Ochs' own philosophy has a definite regressive ('transcendental') direction, but this regressive movement of thought is always made through abductions whose validity can only be demonstrated in their actual fruitfulness in the context of a particular community of inquiry. Ochs' pragmatism privileges the late Peirce of 1905 lectures on Pragmaticism and concomitant texts. For Ochs, Peirce's Critical Common-Sensism means that only real doubts may be productive of inquiry, and these doubts can be resolved only with respect to vague but indubitable habits. 'Indubitable' beliefs remain fallible, however, in the sense that later inquiry might give us cause to doubt them. For Ochs', then, the synthetic a priori is transformed into fallibilistic common-sense principles. Ochs also insists on a mathematical-diagrammatic dimension to Peirce's thought, a dimension that Ochs' theological interpreters have tended to neglect. Mathematics is the science of the possible (not, as for Kant, the science of the necessary forms of intuition, i.e. of real objects). All new ideas are, strictly speaking, mathematical; but these ideas can only be validly applied to real experience through the logic of scientific inquiry.

Ochs argues that Peirce discovers, late in his career, that pragmatism must always take the form of self-critique (which includes critique of Peirce's own historical roots—Kant, Descartes, scholastic). Textually, this claim is based largely on Peirce's genre choices: his use of autobiography to introduce his pragmaticism and his use of the dialogue form to present his pragmaticism as a response to the errors of would-be pragmatists. Philosophically, Ochs' insistence that inquiry be rooted in a particular community of inquiry seems itself to be rooted in a few basic features of Peirce's thought:

Children of Abraham Institute

In 2002 Ochs co-founded and became co-director of The Children of Abraham Institute (CHAI), which promotes interfaith scriptural scholarship as a means for fostering peace and harmony. The institute maintains centers at the St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London; the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme; and student study groups at the University of Cambridge, University of Virginia, and Eastern Mennonite University. [16]

Dabru Emet

Ochs was one of the four drafters (together with David Novak, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, and Michael Signer) of a full-page advertisement which appeared in the Sunday, 10 September 2000 edition of The New York Times , titled " Dabru Emet (Speak Truth): A Jewish statement on Christians and Christianity", which publicized eight theological statements. [17] [18] [19] The statement was signed by more than 150 rabbis and Jewish scholars from across the religious spectrum. [20]

Editorial work

Ochs is the founding editor of the Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, founded in 2001, [21] and editor and chair of the editorial board of the Journal of Textual Reasoning since 2002. [22]

Also in 2001, he founded and serves as co-editor for the electronic journal La Pensee Juive de Langue Francaise. [6] He is a member of the editorial board of Modern Theology (since 1993), Theology Today (since 2006), and CrossCurrents [23] (since 1991). [6]

Personal life

He is married to Vanessa L. Ochs, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies Program at the University of Virginia and a published author. [24] They have two grown daughters, Elizabeth and Juliana. [25]

Publications

Books, monographs

Selected articles

Chapters

Related Research Articles

The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or due to the parallels or commonalities in Judaeo-Christian ethics shared by the two religions. The term "Judæo Christian" first appeared in the 19th century as a word for Jewish converts to Christianity. The term has received much criticism, largely from Jewish thinkers, as relying on and perpetuating inherently antisemitic notions of supersessionism, as well as glossing over fundamental differences between Jewish and Christian thought, theology, culture and practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supersessionism</span> Christian doctrine concerning biblical covenants

Supersessionism, also called replacement theology or fulfillment theology, is a Christian theological doctrine which describes the theological conviction that the Christian Church has superseded the nation of Israel assuming their role as God's covenanted people, thus asserting that the New Covenant through Jesus Christ has superseded or replaced the Mosaic covenant exclusive to Jews. Supersessionist theology also holds that the universal Christian Church has replaced ancient Israel as God's true Israel and that Christians have replaced the biological bloodline of ancient Israelites as the people of God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pragmaticism</span>

"Pragmaticism" is a term used by Charles Sanders Peirce for his pragmatic philosophy starting in 1905, in order to distance himself and it from pragmatism, the original name, which had been used in a manner he did not approve of in the "literary journals". Peirce in 1905 announced his coinage "pragmaticism", saying that it was "ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers". Today, outside of philosophy, "pragmatism" is often taken to refer to a compromise of aims or principles, even a ruthless search for mercenary advantage. Peirce gave other or more specific reasons for the distinction in a surviving draft letter that year and in later writings. Peirce's pragmatism, that is, pragmaticism, differed in Peirce's view from other pragmatisms by its commitments to the spirit of strict logic, the immutability of truth, the reality of infinity, and the difference between (1) actively willing to control thought, to doubt, to weigh reasons, and (2) willing not to exert the will, willing to believe. In his view his pragmatism is, strictly speaking, not itself a whole philosophy, but instead a general method for the clarification of ideas. He first publicly formulated his pragmatism as an aspect of scientific logic along with principles of statistics and modes of inference in his "Illustrations of the Logic of Science" series of articles in 1877-8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biblical criticism</span> Scholarly study of biblical writings

Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as historical-biblical criticism, it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the scientific concern to avoid dogma and bias by applying a neutral, non-sectarian, reason-based judgment to the study of the Bible, and (2) the belief that the reconstruction of the historical events behind the texts, as well as the history of how the texts themselves developed, would lead to a correct understanding of the Bible. This sets it apart from earlier, pre-critical methods; from the anti-critical methods of those who oppose criticism-based study; from the post-critical orientation of later scholarship; and from the multiple distinct schools of criticism into which it evolved in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in 12th-century southwestern Europe, is the most well known, but it is not the only typological form, nor was it the first form which emerged. Among the previous forms were Merkabah mysticism, and Ashkenazi Hasidim around the time of the emergence of Kabbalah.

Postliberal theology is a Christian theological movement that focuses on a narrative presentation of the Christian faith as regulative for the development of a coherent systematic theology. Thus, Christianity is an overarching story, with its own embedded culture, grammar, and practices, which can be understood only with reference to Christianity's own internal logic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ray Griffin</span> American philosopher (1939–2022)

David Ray Griffin was an American professor of philosophy of religion and theology and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. Along with John B. Cobb, Jr., he founded the Center for Process Studies in 1973, a research center of Claremont School of Theology that promotes process thought. Griffin published numerous books about the September 11 attacks, claiming that elements of the Bush administration were involved. An advocate of the controlled demolition conspiracy theory, he was a founder member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

Roberta "Bobbie" Kevelson was an American academic and semiotician. She was an acknowledged authority on the pragmatism theories of Charles Sanders Peirce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Novak</span> American rabbi and philosopher (1941-present)

David Novak, is a Jewish theologian, ethicist, and scholar of Jewish philosophy and law (Halakha). He is an ordained Conservative rabbi and holds the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as Professor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto since 1997. His areas of interest are Jewish theology, Jewish ethics and biomedical ethics, political theory, and Jewish-Christian relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography</span>

This Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography consolidates numerous references to the writings of Charles Sanders Peirce, including letters, manuscripts, publications, and Nachlass. For an extensive chronological list of Peirce's works, see the Chronologische Übersicht on the Schriften (Writings) page for Charles Sanders Peirce.

Nancey Murphy is an American philosopher and theologian who is Professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. She received the B.A. from Creighton University in 1973, the Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley in 1980, and the Th.D. from the Graduate Theological Union (theology) in 1987.

Scriptural Reasoning ("SR") is one type of interdisciplinary, interfaith scriptural reading. It is an evolving practice of diverse methodologies in which Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Baháʼís, and members of other faiths, meet in groups to study their sacred scriptures and oral traditions together, and to explore the ways in which such study can help them understand and respond to particular contemporary issues. Originally developed by theologians and religious philosophers as a means of fostering post-critical and postliberal corrections to patterns of modern reasoning, it has now spread beyond academic circles.

David Frank Ford is an Anglican public theologian. He was the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, beginning in 1991. He is now an Emeritus Regius Professor of Divinity. His research interests include political theology, ecumenical theology, Christian theologians and theologies, theology and poetry, the shaping of universities and of the field of theology and religious studies within universities, hermeneutics, and interfaith theology and relations. He is the founding director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme and a co-founder of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert S. Corrington</span> American philosopher, academic (born 1950)

Robert S. Corrington is an American philosopher and author of many books exploring human interpretation of the universe as well as biographies on C.S. Peirce and Wilhelm Reich. He is currently the Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Philosophical Theology at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Before that he was a professor at Pennsylvania State University. He is a Senior Fellow of the American Institute for Philosophical and Cultural Thought.

The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around the worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned in the religious scriptures of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the Quran.

Daniel Wayne Hardy was an ordained Anglican priest or presbyter. He taught theology at universities in the US and England.

Eugene B. Borowitz was an American leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, Sh'ma, and taught at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Greggs</span> British theologian

Tom Greggs FRSE is a British theologian and the Marischal Professor of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen.

Aryeh Cohen is an American rabbi and scholar who serves as a professor of Rabbinic Literature at American Jewish University. His scholarship focuses on the Talmud, Jewish ethics, and social justice.

Geoffrey Claussen is an American rabbi and scholar who serves as a professor of Religious Studies at Elon University. His scholarship focuses on Jewish ethics, theology, and the Musar movement.

References

  1. ↑ Riggs, Thomas (2006). Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices: Religions and denominations. Thomson Gale. p. 439. ISBN   0-7876-6612-2.
  2. ↑ Hauerwas, Stanley (2008), "Why 'The Way the Words Run' Matters: Reflections on Becoming a 'Major Biblical Scholar'", in Wagner, J. Ross; Grieb, A. Katherine; Rowe, C. Kavin (eds.), The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, p. 19, ISBN   978-0-8028-6356-0
  3. ↑ "David Ford and Peter Ochs: Community that's not monochrome". Duke Divinity School. 4 August 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "About Us". Society for Scriptural Reasoning. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "About the Institute". The Children of Abraham Institute. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Peter Ochs". University of Virginia. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Peter Ochs". Santa Clara University. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  8. ↑ "Judaism and Christianity after the Holocaust" (PDF). University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "Peter Ochs, Ph.D." Huffington Post . 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  10. ↑ "Peter Ochs to Give K. Brooke Anderson Lecture, "Peace through Intimacy: Friendship among the Children of Abraham"". Brown University . Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  11. ↑ Kepnes, Steven (2007). Jewish Liturgical Reasoning. Oxford University Press. p. 17. ISBN   978-0-19-531381-9.
  12. ↑ Soulen, R. Kendall; Woodhead, Linda (2006). God and Human Dignity. William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. p. 147 (footnote 3). ISBN   0-8028-3395-0.
  13. ↑ "Cover: Scriptural Reasoning". Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. 12 October 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  14. ↑ "Perspectives: Middle-East Conflict (Episode no. 948)". Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  15. ↑ "Jewish Studies Program 2009" (PDF). University of Virginia. 2009. p. 5. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  16. ↑ "Children of Abraham Institute". Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  17. ↑ Steinfels, Peter (23 September 2000). "Beliefs; Ten carefully worded paragraphs encourage Jews to consider a thoughtful response to changes in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  18. ↑ Brownfeld, Allan (September–October 2000). "Jews Are Called Upon To Reassess Their Views of Christianity, Recognizing We Worship The Same God". American Council for Judaism . Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  19. ↑ Nahshon, Gad. "After Years of Study: Historic Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity". Jewish Post of New York . Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  20. ↑ "DABRU EMET: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity". National Jewish Scholars Project. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  21. ↑ "Journal of Scriptural Reasoning". University of Virginia. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  22. ↑ "Journal of Textual Reasoning". University of Virginia. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  23. ↑ "CrossCurrents: Advisory Board". Wiley-Blackwell. 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  24. ↑ "Vanessa Ochs". University of Virginia. 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  25. ↑ "Vanessa L. Ochs Biography". Amazon.com. 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  26. ↑ Ochs, Peter (18 November 2019). Religion without Violence: The Practice and Philosophy of Scriptural Reasoning - eBook. ISBN   978-1-5326-3895-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.