Writing/Reading the Bible in Postcolonial Perspective (Brill Research Perspectives in Biblical Interpretation)

Examining the legacies of European imperialism, Steed Vernyl Davidson traces how the Bible reflects strong affinities with empire and provides on-going justifications for empire and concentrations of power. Writing/Reading the Bible in Postcolonial Perspective traces the evolution of the Bible from its production in empires of antiquity to its supportive role in the development of modern imperialism. The work also engages the ambiguities of the Bible as anti-imperial tool. Set within an examination of postcolonial studies as a revolutionary and revisionary discourse, this work presses for a more vigorous postcolonializing of the Bible in Biblical Studies. A description of the contemporary features and manifestation of empire forms the context within which further exploration of postcolonial biblical critical work can take place. Following an assessment of previous work in the field, the challenges of intersectional work with queer studies, terrorism studies, technology, and ecological studies are laid out as future tasks

Steed Vernyl Davidson, Ph.D. (2005), Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at McCormick Theological Seminary. He has published in the area of postcolonial biblical studies including the monograph Empire and Exile: Postcolonial Readings of the Book of Jeremiah (T&T Clark, 2011).