Collectivism or Individualism? The Tower of Babel as a Sociolinguistic Metaphor with Implications for the Theory and Practice of Messianic Redemption
This essay proposes a paradigm for the resolution of conflict and thereby the attainment of lasting peace among factions with competing narratives. The model is predicated upon lessons drawn from the biblical account of the Tower of Babel. Recognizing the tension between individualist and collectivi...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Pennsylvania Press
2022
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| In: |
Journal of ecumenical studies
Year: 2022, Volume: 57, Issue: 1, Pages: 134-147 |
| RelBib Classification: | HB Old Testament ZA Social sciences |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This essay proposes a paradigm for the resolution of conflict and thereby the attainment of lasting peace among factions with competing narratives. The model is predicated upon lessons drawn from the biblical account of the Tower of Babel. Recognizing the tension between individualist and collectivist approaches to organizational structure and communal harmony, a hybrid, expansive notion of the “individual” is suggested, and, conjoint with it, individualism is favored over collectivism. Conflict resolution becomes possible when factions—each considered viewed as an individual that is freshly understood—find points of mutual interest with other factions, thus removing the focus from reluctant compromise to purposive confluence. The Tower of Babel narrative in the Hebrew Scriptures also suggests a basis for extending the primacy of reconciliation to competing societal narratives, as is the case in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. |
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| ISSN: | 2162-3937 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of ecumenical studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/ecu.2022.0009 |