Bible and justice : ancient texts, modern challenges

258 Pages·2014·2.08 MB·English

by  Matthew J.M. Coomber (editor)

Bible and Justice
BibleWorld
Series Editor: Philip R. Davies and James G. Crossley, University of Sheffield
iBiibleWorld shares the fruits of modern (aBndi bpolest maondder nJ)u bsibtliiccael scholarship not only among practitioners
and students, but also with anyone interested in what academic study of the Bible means in the twenty-first century.
It explores our ever-increasing knowledge and understanding of the social world that produced the biblical texts,
but also analyses aspects of the bible’s role in the history of our civilization and the many perspectives – not just
religious and theological, but also cultural, political and aesthetic – which drive modern biblical scholarship.
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BIBLE AND JUSTICE
ANCIENT TEXTS, MODERN CHALLENGES
Matthew J.M. Coomber
First published 2011 by Equinox, an imprint of Acumen

Published 2014 by Routledge
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© Matthew J.M. Coomber and contributors 2011

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13 978 1 84553 526 1 (hardback)
978 1 84553 527 8 (paperback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bible and justice : ancient texts, modern challenges / edited by Matthew J.M. Coomber.
p. cm.—(BibleWorld)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-1-84553-526-1 (hb)—ISBN 978-1-84553-527-8 (pb)
1. Justice—Biblical teaching—Congresses. I. Coomber, Matthew J. M.
BS680.J8B54 2011
220.8’303372—dc22
2010012569
Typeset by S.J.I. Services, New Delhi
For my parents, Jim and Eleanor
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
PART I: Challenges and Understandings of Bible and Justice
On the Genesis of the Alliance Between the Bible and Rights 13
Yvonne Sherwood
Rough Justice? 43
Philip Davies
Is the Belief in Human Rights Either Biblical or Useful? 57
John Sandys-Wunsch
Jesus: The Justice of God 70
Stanley Hauerwas
PART II: Uses and Approaches to Bible and Justice
Justice and Violence in the Priestly Utopia 93
Walter J. Houston
A Signs Source: Approaching Deaf Biblical Interpretation 106
Louise J. Lawrence
From a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) of
the Economy to the RDP of the Soul: Public Realm Biblical
Appropriation in Postcolonial South Africa 122
Gerald West
PART III: Prospects for Applications of Bible and Justice
The Old Testament and the Environment 147
J. W. Rogerson
viii Bible and Justice
Ecojustice in the Bible? Pauline Contributions to an
Ecological Theology 158
David G. Horrell
Can the Book of Revelation Be a Gospel for the Environment? 178
Simon P. Woodman
The Kindness of Strangers: Biblical Hospitality and the Politics
of Intervention 195
Diana Lipton
Prophets to Profits: Ancient Judah and Corporate Globalization 212
Matthew J.M. Coomber
Index of References 238
Index of Names and Subjects 242
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As with any project of this size, there are many people to thank. To all of
those who made the 2008 Conference on Bible and Justice and this volume
possible, from the speakers and the delegates to the staff at the Richard
Roberts Auditorium, the Mappin Building, and Sheffield Cathedral, I
express my immeasurable gratitude. I would like to use this space to also
thank a few people and organizations, individually.
First of all I would like to thank Hugh Pyper and James Crossley, who
were dedicated and patient mentors as I made my first attempt at organizing
an academic conference. They always made themselves available to answer
questions, help with various tasks, and offer their expert advice both leading
up to and during the conference. Their help was truly invaluable. I am also
especially grateful to Philip Davies, who was not only encouraging and
supportive throughout the course of organizing the conference, but has
also been a most gracious mentor throughout the process of editing this
volume.
I am greatly indebted to the Department of Biblical Studies and the
University of Sheffield, as a whole, for helping to make the conference
possible. In particular, I am grateful for the help, support, and advice of
Diana Edelman, Berry Matlock, Will Lamb, Keith Whitelam and Alison
Bygrave. I would like to extend my special thanks to Gillian Fogg, who
kindly and patiently endured all of the additional work that the conference
added to her workload in the Department of Biblical Studies office. I would
also like to thank the undergraduate and research students from the
Department of Biblical Studies who offered their most welcome assistance
during the course of the conference: Michelle Krejci, Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,
James Anderson, Dohyung Kim, Aimie Hope and James Gould. Without
their assistance in directing delegates through the labyrinth that is the
Mappin Building and assisting with last minute details and all of the little
surprises that came up, the chaos behind the scenes would have been far
more noticeable. I would also like to thank my dear friends Jamie Hilton