Scripture, culture, and agriculture : an agrarian reading of the Bible / Ellen F. Davis ; foreword by Wendell Berry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davis, Ellen F.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Land use--Biblical teaching.

Land use.

Agricultural conservation--Biblical teaching.

Agricultural conservation.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament.

Biblical teaching.

Physical Description:

xvii, 234 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Summary:

This book examines the theology and ethics of land use, especially the practices of modern industrialized agriculture, in light of critical biblical exegesis. Nine interrelated essays explore the biblical writers' pervasive concern for the care of arable land against the background of the geography, social structures, and religious thought of ancient Israel. This approach consistently brings out neglected aspects of texts, both poetry and prose, that are central to Jewish and Christian traditions. Rather than seeking solutions from the past, Ellen F. Davis creates a conversation between ancient texts and contemporary agrarian writers; thus she provides a fresh perspective from which to view the destructive practices and assumptions that now dominate the global food economy. The biblical exegesis is wide-ranging and sophisticated; the language is literate and accessible to a broad audience.

Contents:

Rupture and re-membering

Reading the Bible through agrarian eyes

Seeing with God : Israel's poem of creation

Leaving Egypt behind : embracing the wilderness economy

A wholesome materiality : reading Leviticus

Covenantal economics : the biblical case for a local economy

Running on poetry : the agrarian prophets

Wisdom or sloth? the character of work

The faithful city.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-221) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780521518345

0521518342

9780521732239

0521732239

OCLC:

231580926