Reading Bibles, Writing Bodies: Identity and The Book (Biblical Limits)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415126649 ISBN 13: 9780415126649

Publisher: Routledge, 1996

The Bible is often said to be one of the foundation texts of Western culture. The present volume shows that it goes far beyond being a religious text. The essays explore how religious, political and cultural identities, including ethnicity and gender, are embodied in biblical discourse. Following the authors, we read the Bible with new eyes: as a critic of gender, ideology, politics and culture. We ask ourselves new questions: about God's body, about women's role, about racial prejudices and about the politics of the written word.
Reading Bibles, Writing Bodies crosses boundaries. It questions our most fundamental assumptions about the Bible. It shows how biblical studies can benefit from the mainstream of Western intellectual discourse, throwing up entirely new questions and offering surprising answers. Accessible, engaging and moving easily between theory and the reading of specific texts, this volume is an exciting contribution to contemporary biblical and cultural studies.

From the Back Cover:

Accessible, engaging and moving easily between theory and the reading of specific texts, this book is an exciting contribution to contemporary biblical and cultural studies. This volume explores how religious, political and cultural identities, including ethnicity and gender, are embodied, often problematically, in biblical discourse.

About the Author:

Timothy K. Beal is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. David M. Gunn is the A.A. Bradford Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and a founding Editor of the Journal of the Old Testament.