What role do texts play in religious practice? What is the relationship between these texts and cognition? Are some texts more successful because they are better adapted to our cognitive structures? Why is biblical interpretation necessary, and what is the cognitive process behind it? This book considers such questions, and fills the gap in research on religious texts and narratives in the cognitive science of religion.The study of ancient religions and biblical studies are dominated by textual evidence. However, the cognitive science of religion is lacking significant research on the language and textual interpretation of this literature. This book presents a systematic attempt to redefine the interpretation of religious texts in a cognitive framework, providing concrete textual analysis on a broad selection of biblical passages. It explores the ways that cognitive approaches to language and textual interpretation expand the disciplines of the cognitive science of religion and biblical studies.This book brings together methodology from the cognitive sciences, linguistics, philology, biblical studies, and religious studies, to offer a new perspective for biblical studies and cognitive sciences. It presents a renewed vision of textual interpretation - one that aligns hermeneutical reflection with our cognitive capacities.

Notes on ContributorsPreface Introduction: Cognition, Evolution, and Biblical Exegesis, István Czachesz 1. Cognitive Science and Biblical Interpretation, István Czachesz (University of Tromsø, Norway) and Gerd Theissen (University of Heidelberg, Germany)2. Emotional Fear in Pentateuchal Legal Collections, Thomas Kazen (Stockholm School of Theology, Sweden)3. Liquid Life: Blood, Life, and Conceptual Metaphors In the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, Anne Katrine De Hemmer Gudme (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) 4. "To Love" in the Bible: a Cognitive-Evolutionary Approach, Ronit Nikolsky (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) 5. "The Glory of the Lord Has Risen Upon You": Some Observations on the "Glory"-Language of Isaiah 56-66 Based on a Cognitive Semantic Approach, Marilyn E. Burton (Independent Researcher, UK) 6. The Influence of Categorization on Translation Meaning, Shelley Ashdown (Dallas International University, USA) 7. Imaging Resurrection: Toward an Image Schematic Understanding of Resurrection Beliefs in Second Temple Judaism, Frederick S. Tappenden (University of Alberta, Canada) 8. Liturgical Linguistics: Towards the Syntax of Communicating with the Super-Human Agent in Judaism, Tamás Biró (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary and University of Jewish Studies, Hungary) 9. Forgiveness of the Sinless: A Classic Contradiction in 1 John in the Light of Contemporary Forgiveness Research, Rikard Roitto (Stockholm School of Theology, Sweden) 10. Christian Beginnings and Cultural Evolution, István Czachesz (University of Tromsø, Norway) NotesBibliography Index