Jonathan Z. Smith

Jonathan Z. Smith
Smith, c. 2008
Born
Jonathan Zittell Smith

(1938-11-21)November 21, 1938
DiedDecember 30, 2017(2017-12-30) (aged 79)
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe Glory, Jest and Riddle (1969)
Influences
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-disciplineHistory of religion
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago
InfluencedChristian 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]

  1. ^ McCutcheon, Russell T. "In Memoriam: Jonathan Z. Smith (1938–2017)". Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Jonathan Z. Smith". Divinity School - The University of Chicago. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  3. ^ Carter, Jeffery (2003). Understanding Religious Sacrifice. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 325–326. ISBN 978-0-8264-4879-8.