James Washington Watts (born 24 August 1960) is an American professor of religion at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. His research focuses on the

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

of Leviticus. His publications also compare the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

with other religious

scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

, especially in their

ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

performances, social functions, and material symbolism.

Biography

James W. Watts is a U.S. citizen born in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

where his father, John D. W. Watts, was teaching at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in

Rüschlikon Rüschlikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Horgen District, Horgen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is located on the west shore of Lake Zürich. Coat of ar ...

. He left there with his family in 1970 for

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, Kentucky. They spent three years in India where he attended

Woodstock School Woodstock School is an international coeducational residential school located in Landour, a small hill station contiguous with the town of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Woodstock is one of the oldest reside ...

, before finishing High School in

South Pasadena, California South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 26,943, up from 25,619 at the 2020 census. It is located in the Western San Gabriel Valley. It is in area and lies betwe ...

. Watts earned his B.A. in Philosophy from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

(1982) where he studied with Frederick Sontag, briefly with

Masao Abe was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies scholar who was emeritus professor at Nara University. He is best known for his work in comparative religion, developing a Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue which later also inclu ...

and, during a term at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, with

Stephanie Dalley Stephanie Mary Dalley FSA (''née'' Page; March 1943) is a British Assyriologist and scholar of the Ancient Near East. Prior to her retirement, she was a teaching Fellow at the Oriental Institute, Oxford. She is known for her publications of ...

. He then earned his M.Div. and M.T.S. in New Testament from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (1985, 1986), and his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in New Haven, Connecticut (1990) where he studied with Robert R. Wilson, Brevard S. Childs, and Mark S. Smith. He taught on the faculty of

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college. Academics The college offers more than 40 underg ...

in Hastings, Nebraska (1993-1999) and then joined the Department of Religion of

in Syracuse, New York (1999- ), where he served as Department Chair from 2009 to 2015.

Academic work

James W. Watts has advocated a rhetorical approach to analyzing the contents and influence of

biblical literature A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning ' rule' or ' measuring stick'. The use ...

. He applied this method to the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

(1999)> and especially to the book of Leviticus (2007, 2013a, 2023).> Watts argued that the ritual rhetoric of Leviticus empowered the temple priests of Jerusalem and Samaria, who in turn ritualized the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

/Pentateuch containing Leviticus as Judaism's first, and most important, scripture.> Watts also drew attention to "iconic books"—written texts that are revered primarily as objects of power or influential symbols rather than just as words of instruction, information, or insight. In 2001, he and Dorina Miller Parmenter founded the Iconic Books Project at Syracuse University (Watts 2013b). In 2010, together with S. Brent Plate, they founded the Society for Comparative Research in Iconic and Performative Texts (SCRIPT).> Watts (2013b, 2019) has advocated a three-dimensional model for understanding how religious communities ritualize their scriptures and other sacred texts: in the iconic dimension of the text's visual appearance, material form, and physical manipulation; in the expressive (or performative) dimension of the text's expression in oral words and mental thoughts, as well as in song, visual art, theater and film; and in the semantic dimension of the text's interpretation in preaching, commentary, and ritualized study. Watts brought these two research programs together into a

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

approach to

biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

. He argued that ritualizing first the

/Pentateuch (2017) and then

generally (2021a) in these three dimensions generated their status as scripture. Their continuing

ritualization Ritualization refers to the process by which a sequence of non-communicating actions or an event is invested with cultural, social or religious significance. This definition emphasizes the transformation of everyday actions into rituals that carry d ...

by Jews and Christians in all three dimensions reinforces their scriptural status.

Published books

* 1992: ''Psalm and Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narrative''. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 139. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992. (Revision of the author's Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1990, titled "Psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible.") * 1996: (Co-editor with Paul R. House) ''Forming Prophetic Literature: Essays on Isaiah and the Twelve in Honor of John D. W. Watts''. Journal for the study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 235. Sheffield Academic Press, 1996. * 1999: ''Reading Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch''. Biblical Seminar 59. Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. * 2001: (Editor) ''Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch''. Symposium Series. Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. * 2001: (Co-editor with Stephen L. Cook and Corrine L. Patton) ''The Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse''. Journal for the study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 336. Sheffield Academic Press, 2001. * 2007: ''Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture''. Cambridge University Press, 2007. * 2013a: ''Leviticus 1-10, Historical Commentary on the Old Testament''. Leuven: Peeters, 2013. * 2013b: (Editor) ''Iconic Books and Texts''. Sheffield: Equinox, 2013. * 2017: ''Understanding the Pentateuch as A Scripture''. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2017. * 2018: (Editor) ''Sensing Sacred Texts''. Sheffield: Equinox, 2018. * 2019: ''How and Why Books Matter: Essays on the Social Function of Iconic Texts''. Sheffield: Equinox, 2019. * 2021a: ''Understanding the Bible as A Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion''. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2021. * 2021b: (Co-author with Yohan Yoo) ''Cosmologies of Pure Realms and the Rhetoric of Pollution''. New York: Routledge, 2021. * 2021c: (Co-editor with Yohan Yoo) ''Books as Bodies and as Sacred Beings''. Sheffield: Equinox, 2021. * 2023: ''Leviticus 11-20, Historical Commentary on the Old Testament''. Leuven: Peeters, 2023.

References

External links

The Society for Comparative Research on Iconic and Performative Texts (SCRIPT)

The Iconic Books Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, James Washington Living people 1960 births Syracuse University faculty Pomona College alumni Yale University alumni Hastings College faculty American biblical scholars Religious studies scholars Academics from Zurich