Noli me tangere in Interdisciplinary Perspective: Textual, Iconographic and Contemporary Interpretations

Noli me tangere in Interdisciplinary Perspective: Textual,

Iconographic and Contemporary Interpretations is a collection of 23

essays by an international group of contributors on one of the Bible’s

most influential iconic expressions. The prohibition expressed by the

risen Jesus in John 20,17 has influenced Western culture in its Latin

rendering as Noli me tangere. As such it became well-known in the

visual arts and in literature. The Noli me tangere influenced

philosophy and theology, theoretical discussion and practical action.

This book’s interdisciplinary character is reflected in the fact that it

is subdivided into three parts which are of more or less equal length

(see I. The Biblical Text and Its Textual Interpretation; II. The

Biblical Text and Its Iconographic Interpretation; and III. The Biblical

Text and Its Contemporary Interpretation). In its inter- and

intra-disciplinary breadth this book could be seen as a window, a mirror

and an icon. As a window, it opens up a perspective on the rich cultural

and academic Wirkungsgeschichte the words of the Johannine Jesus

in John 20:17, in particular in their Latin translation as Noli me

tangere, have had. In this way it also documents a phase in the

study of the subject. As a mirror, this book challenges the academic

disciplines and in particular the scholars themselves by confronting

them with their own social and historical location and the way this

influences their own research. As an icon, this collection points beyond

itself and reminds us that scholarship is not an island, but that in

ever so implicit and indirect ways it is part of the human dream for a

better world. This book is a witness to the ongoing ways in which the

Noli me tangere in its Johannine context and beyond continues to

create new meaning.