The Bible after Babel : historical criticism in a postmodern age / John J. Collins.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Collins, John J. (John Joseph), 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Bible--Criticism, interpretation, etc.
• Bible.

Physical Description:

x, 201 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., [2005]

Summary:

Biblical scholars today often sound as if they are caught in the aftermath of Babel -- a clamor of voices unable to reach common agreement. Yet is this confusion necessarily a bad thing? Many postmodern critics see the recent profusion of critical approaches as a welcome opportunity for the emergence of diverse new techniques. In "The Bible after Babel" noted biblical scholar John J. Collins considers the effect of the postmodern situation on biblical, primarily Old Testament, criticism over the last three decades. Engaging and even-handed, Collins examines the quest of historical criticism to objectively establish a text's basic meaning. Accepting that the Bible may no longer provide secure "foundations" for faith, Collins still highlights its ethical challenge to be concerned for "the other" -- a challenge central both to Old Testament ethics and to the teaching of Jesus.

Contents:

• Historical criticism and its postmodern critics
• The crisis in historiography
• Exodus and liberation in postcolonial perspective
• The impact of feminist and gender studies
• Israelite religion : the return of the goddess
• Is a postmodern biblical theology possible?

Notes:

• "Delivered as the Gunning lectures at the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh between November 1 and 12, 2004"--Pref.
• Includes bibliographical references (pages 162-192) and indexes.

ISBN:

0802828922

OCLC:

61724496

Publisher Number:

9780802828927