Theodore Lewis receives 2021 AAR Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Historical Studies

The American Academy of Religion is pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of the Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion, the Best First Book in the History of Religions, and the Religion and the Arts Book Award.

This annual competition recognizes new scholarly publications that make significant contributions to the study of religion. The awards honor books of distinctive originality, intelligence, and creativity, and these titles affect decisively how religion is examined, understood, and interpreted. Congratulations to the winners!

Theodore J. Lewis

The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity

Oxford University Press

From the jury:
Theodore J. Lewis’s magnum opus reflects his scholarly commitment to the study of the religion of ancient Israel through the centrality of the definition, agency, history, and meaning of God. A masterful presentation of interdisciplinary scholarship incorporating archaeology, art, culture, literature, politics, and the lived experiences and realities of religious faith with scripture, this encyclopedic survey will become a classic reference work as well as a classic must-read for scholars of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as an audience beyond the academy.