Abraham Heschel and the Phenomenon of Piety

by Joseph Harp Britton

Publisher:

Bloomsbury

, 2013

Overview

Piety is often regarded with a pejorative bias: a “pious” person is thought to be overly religious. Yet historically, the concept of piety has played an important role in Christian theology and practice. For Abraham Heschel, piety describes the contours of a life compatible with God’s presence. While much has been made of Heschel’s concept of pathos, relatively little attention has been given to the pivotal role of piety in his thought, with the result that the larger methodological implications of his work for both Jewish and Christian theology have been overlooked.

Grounding Heschel’s work in Husserl, Dilthey, Schiller and Heidegger, Joseph Britton explores his phenomenological method of “penetrating the consciousness of the pious person in order to perceive the divine reality behind it.” He goes on to consider the significance of Heschel’s methodology in view of the theocentric ethics of Gustafson and Hauerwas and the post-modern context reflected in the works of Levinas, Vattimo, Marion and the Radical Orthodoxy movement.

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Key Features

• Examines Heschel’s work in light of Husserl, Dilthey, Schiller and Heidegger
• Provides an extensive look at the phenomenon of piety
• Considers the significance of Heschel’s methodology

Contents

• Beginning with Piety
• The Idea of Piety
• The Range of Heschel’s Theology
• Beyond Rationalism to Understanding
• Polarity and Piety
• A Phenomenology of Piety
• Piety as Understanding
• Piety as Virtue
• Responding to the “Other”
• Engaging Theology
• Indications of Piety for a Relational Theology

Praise for the Print Edition

This lucid, meditative study provides the key to Heschel’s biblical thinking and develops substantial comparisons with Christian thinkers from Augustine, through Kant, Schleiermacher, Scheler, Heidegger, as well as Rowan Williams and postmodern theologians. The careful analyses of Dilthey and Levinas are especially welcome. Britton interprets the full range of Heschel’s works and the critical literature with both sympathy and critical candor. This book is indispensable to grasp Heschel’s phenomenology of piety which combines mysticism and ethics in a relational theology.

—Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care

Product Details

• Title: Abraham Heschel and the Phenomenon of Piety
• Author: Joseph Harp Britton
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Print Publication Date: 2013
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Heschel, Abraham Joshua, 1907-1972; Jewish philosophy › 20th century; Piety
• ISBNs: 9780567663115, 0567663116
• Resource ID: LLS:ABRHMHSCHL
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-03-02T22:03:23Z

About Joseph Harp Britton

Dean Britton has extensive pastoral experience in parishes of the Episcopal Church in the United States and Europe. He served as Canon Missioner of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe and was the founding director of the Institute of Christian Studies. With wide involvement in ecumenical relationships, he has a particular academic interest in piety as the synthesis of religious faith and practice in the lives of believing men and women. As an Episcopal Church Foundation Fellow, he completed a dissertation on “Piety as Participation in the Divine Concern: The Mystical Realism of A. J. Heschel.†Dean Britton is associate editor of the Anglican Theological Review and a member of the Standing Committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations of the Episcopal Church. He has published articles in The Anglican Theological Review, Sewanee Theological Review, and Anglican and Episcopal History.