Relationships with the Desert in Monotheistic Religions

Relationships with the Desert in Monotheistic Religions.

– Original title:
Les relations au désert des religions monothéistes, mémoire secondaire de DEA Sciences sociales, Université R. Descartes - Sorbonne (Paris V), U.F.R. Sciences Sociales, Paris, septembre 1993, 43 p.
Format: 30 cm., bibl.

Research thesis supervised by Prof. Philippe Laburthe-Tolra (Sorbonne).
Diplôme d’études approfondies (DEA) in Social Sciences, Cultures et comportements sociaux, option anthropologie.

– Link to the web site web of the Université Paris V, Faculté des sciences humaines et sociales.

– Abstract:
This study aims to explore various points of connection between the desert and monotheistic religions. The foundational texts of these religions (Torah, Gospels, Quran) will provide a material of choice, but examining human reactions vis-a-vis the desert will also likely help understand the role this mineral environment plays in religious content.

The examination can be taken further: is the very existence of these monotheistic religions not due to the frequenting of desert environments? In any case, traces of sand can be found throughout their history, whether in actual returns to the desert or in the use of the symbol for mystical purposes.

– See also the article Relationships to the desert of the monotheist religions.

– Abstract, Text of the oral defense the Social Sciences DEA thesis (Monday, Sept. 27^th, 93):

Sorry, text only in French.
See the original by clicking on the French translation on the top-right link.

– Contents:

Relationships with the Desert in Monotheistic Religions

• Representation of the desert in the Scriptures and the Quran.
  • The Desert in the Old Testament.
  • The Desert in the New Testament.
  • The Desert in the Quran.
• Humans Facing the Desert and the Birth of Judaism and Christianity.
• Connection Between Desert Experience and Type of Faith.
• Returning to the Desert.
• In Conclusion.