The Bible After Babel: Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age PDF
Preview The Bible After Babel: Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age
THE BIBLE AFTER BABEL The Bible after Babel Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age John J. Collins William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, U.K. © 2005 Wm. Β. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 / P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K. www.eerdmans.com Printed in the United States of America 10 09 08 07 06 05 7 6 5 4 3 21 ISBN-10: 0-8028-2892-2 ISBN-13: 978-0-8028-2892-7 Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. Contents Preface vii Abbreviations ix ι. Historical Criticism and Its Postmodern Critics ι 2. The Crisis in Historiography 27 3. Exodus and Liberation in Postcolonial Perspective 53 4. The Impact of Feminist and Gender Studies 75 5. Israelite Religion: The Return of the Goddess 99 6. Is a Postmodern Biblical Theology Possible? 131 Bibliography 162 Index of Names 193 Index of Ancient Literature 200 Preface The six chapters that make up this book were delivered as the Gunning lec- tures at the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh between No- vember ι and 12,2004.1 would like to thank the Edinburgh faculty for ex- traordinary hospitality and stimulating discussion. In the first place, my thanks are due to Timothy Lim, who initiated the invitation, suggested the topic, and served as my primary host. Others who deserve special thanks include David Ferguson, Graeme Auld, Nicolas Wyatt, Larry Hurtado, Marcella Althaus-Reid, and Nicholas Adams. The topic proposed to me for the lectures was "The Bible at the Begin- ning of the Twenty-first Century." What I have written might be character- ized more aptly as an account of some of the main changes in the study of the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament in the last third of the 20th century. This account is not exhaustive. Many other topics might in principle be treated. Perhaps the most obvious omission is the ongoing debate about the origin of the Pentateuch. Insofar as that debate entails the erosion of the certainties of an earlier generation, it would offer one more instance of the general pattern described in this book. But I trust that the issues I have chosen are adequately representative of the major trends in scholarship of this period. These are also issues where there has been extensive debate and where retrospective assessment is now possible. I have not seriously en- gaged newer, cutting-edge developments, such as Third World scholarship or Queer Theory. No doubt, these developments will be important as the 21st century develops, but they are only beginning to make an impression in biblical scholarship, and an assessment at this time would be premature. Several people read parts of this book in manuscript and made helpful suggestions. I would like to thank specifically Adela Yarbro Collins, Christi Maier, Saul Olyan, Yvonne Sherwood, Rebecca Raphael, and Ron Hendel. Last, but not least, my thanks are due to Michael Thomson of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, who solicited the manuscript and guided it through the publication process. Abbreviations ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman AJA American Journal of Archaeology AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament ΒΑ Biblical Archaeologist BAR Biblical Archaeology Review BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BEvT Beiträge zur evangelischen Theologie Biblnt Biblical Interpretation BJS Brown Judaic Studies BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CC Continental Commentaries CHANE Culture and History of the Ancient Near East ConBOT Coniectanea biblica: Old Testament Series CurBS Currents in Research: Biblical Studies DDD Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, ed. Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst, 2nd ed. Erlsr Eretz-Israel GBS Guides to Biblical Scholarship HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs HSS Harvard Semitic Studies
The list of books you might like
