Environmental issues are an ever-increasing focus of public discourse and have proved concerning to religious groups as well as society more widely. Among biblical scholars, criticism of the Judeo-Christian tradition for its part in the worsening crisis has led to a small but growing field of study on ecology and the Bible. This volume in the Oxford Handbook series makes a significant contribution to this burgeoning interest in ecological hermeneutics, incorporating the best of international scholarship on ecology and the Bible. The Handbook comprises 30 individual essays on a wide range of relevant topics by established and emerging scholars. Arranged in four sections, the volume begins with a historical overview before tackling some key methodological issues. The second, substantial, section comprises thirteen essays offering detailed exegesis from an ecological perspective of selected biblical books. This is followed by a section exploring broader thematic topics such as the Imago Dei and stewardship. Finally, the volume concludes with a number of essays on contemporary perspectives and applications, including political and ethical considerations.
The editors Hilary Marlow and Mark Harris have drawn on their experience in Hebrew Bible and New Testament respectively to bring together a diverse and engaging collection of essays on a subject of immense relevance. Its accessible style, comprehensive scope, and range of material means that the volume is a valuable resource, not only to students and scholars of the Bible but also to religious leaders and practitioners.
"Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Section 1: Issues and Methods Introduction, Hilary Marlow and Mark Harris 1. The Historical Roots of the Ecological Crisis, Jeremy H. Kidwell 2. Ecological Hermeneutics. Origins, Approaches, and Prospects, David G. Horrell 3. Ecological Feminist Hermeneutics, Anne Elvey 4. Ecological Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism, Madipoane Masenya [Ngwan'a Mphahlele] 5. Literary Ecocriticism and the Bible, Timothy J. Burbery Section 2: Specific Biblical Texts 6. Genesis, Ted Hiebert 7. Leviticus, Deborah Rooke 8. Deuteronomy, Raymond F. Person, Jr. 9. Reading From the Ground Up. Nature in the Book of Isaiah, Hilary Marlow 10. Re-viewing the Book of Jeremiah. An Ecological Perspective, Emily Colgan 11. God's Good Land. The Agrarian Perspective of the Book of the Twelve, Laurie J. Braaten 12. ""Deep Calls to Deep"". Ecology of Praise in the Psalms, William P. Brown 13. The Book of Job, Kathryn Schifferdecker 14. The Ecotheology of the Song of Songs, Ellen Bernstein 15. Synoptic Gospels, Mark Harris 16. John's Gospel, Susan Miller 17. Pauline Epistles. Paul's Vision of Cosmic Liberation and Renewal, V.S. Balabanski 18. Revelation, Micah D. Kiel Section 3: Thematic Studies 19. Attitudes to Nature in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, Ronald A. Simkins 20. The Image of God in Ecological Perspective, J. Richard Middleton 21. Ecology and Eschatology in the Second Temple Period, Christopher Rowland 22. Stewardship. A Biblical Concept?, Mark Daniel Liederbach 23. The Sea and Ecology, Rebecca S. Watson 24. City as Sustainable Environment, Mary E. Mills Section 4: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives 25. The Bible and Ecotheology. A Jewish Perspective, Julia Watts Belser 26. The Bible and Wildlife Conservation, Dave Bookless 27. The Bible and Environmental Ethics, Celia Deane-Drummond 28. The Bible and Animal Theology, David L. Clough 29. Creation Care and the Bible. An Evangelical Perspective, Daniel L. Brunner and A.J. Swoboda 30. Climate Scepticism, Politics and the Bible, Benjamin S. Lowe, Rachel L. Lamb, and Noah J. Toly"
Hilary Marlow is Vice-Mistress, Graduate Tutor and Director of Studies at Girton College and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, where she teaches Hebrew Bible and Biblical Hebrew. She is the author of Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics (OUP, 2009) and numerous articles. Her research focuses on the intersection between the Hebrew Bible and contemporary environmental issues, including eco-critical and new materialist readings. Mark Harris is Professor of Natural Science and Theology at the University of Edinburgh. As a physicist working in a theological environment, he is interested in the complex ways that science and religion relate to each other. His research interests include the relationship between the physical sciences (especially physics) and theology and the impact of science on modern views of the Bible, especially in thinking on miracles and divine action.
Reviews for The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Ecology
In short, this volume provides an excellent overview of an emerging question in academic studies. Scriptures and sets the stage for deeper engagement with the most important issue of our era. * Sebastien Doane, Laval th'eologique et philosophique * The essays in this edited volume consider White's catalyzing arguments while moving the conversation about the Bible and ecology forward in creative new ways. The volume coheres around a conviction that in the Bible and in today's world, healthy relations with the natural world are a precondition for thriving communities, and those relations can become tragically perverted, with disastrous and terrifying consequences. * Amy Erickson, Christian Century * Overall this is an excellent text for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates that provides a thorough exploration of the emerging field of ecological hermeneutics. * Sarah Werner, JSRNC *
