Jonathan Z. Smith | |
|---|---|
 Smith, c. 2008 | |
| Born | Jonathan Zittell Smith November 21, 1938 New York City, New York, US |
| Died | December 30, 2017 (aged 79) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Thesis | The Glory, Jest and Riddle (1969) |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History |
| Sub-discipline | History of religion |
| Institutions | University of Chicago |
| Influenced | Christian K. Wedemeyer |
Jonathan Zittell Smith (November 21, 1938 – December 30, 2017), also known as J. Z. Smith, was an American historian of religions. He was based at the University of Chicago for most of his career.[1] His research included work on such diverse topics as Christian origins, the theory of ritual, Hellenistic religions, Māori cults in the 19th century, and the mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, as well as methodological studies on such common scholarly tools as description, comparison, and interpretation. An essayist, his works include Map Is Not Territory, Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown, To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual, Drudgery Divine: On the Comparison of Early Christianities and the Religions of Late Antiquity, Relating Religion: Essays in the Study of Religion, and a collection of his writings on pedagogy, On Teaching Religion.[2][3]
- ^ McCutcheon, Russell T. "In Memoriam: Jonathan Z. Smith (1938–2017)". Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Jonathan Z. Smith". Divinity School - The University of Chicago. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
- ^ Carter, Jeffery (2003). Understanding Religious Sacrifice. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 325–326. ISBN 978-0-8264-4879-8.