Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.
1. Why Study the Bible Academically? An Opening Comment. 2. Modernity and the Study of the Bible as Historical Literature. 3. What is “Alternative” about this Introductory Reader? 4. Why Relate the Categories of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Class to the Study of the Bible? 5. What are the Criteria for Selecting the Articles for this Anthology? 6. What Can You Expect to Learn from this Anthology? 7. Postscript: A Future for Biblical Studies.
I. INTRODUCTORY MATTERS.
The Great Gulf Between Scholars and the Pew, Michael D. Coogan. Life in the Crypt or Why Bother with Biblical Studies, Mark Coleridge. The Author/Text/Reader and Power: Suggestions for a Critical Framework for Biblical Studies, Gale A. Yee. Biblical Interpretation and the Social Location of the Interpreter: African Women's Reading of the Bible, Mercy Amba Oduyoye.
II. THE RHETORIC OF GENDER.
1. The Bible and Feminism.
American Women and the Bible: The Nature of Woman as a Hermeneutical Issue, Carolyn De Swarte Gifford. What Makes a Feminist Reading Feminist? A Qualified Answer, Phyllis A. Bird. What Makes a Feminist Reading Feminist: Another Perspective, Pamela Thimmes.
2. The First Woman and Man as a Gender Issue.
On the Creation of Man and Woman in Genesis 1-3: The History and Reception of the Texts Reconsidered, Helen Schüngel-Straumann. Eve and Adam: Genesis 2-3 Reread, “Not a Jot, Not a Title,” Phyllis Trible. Epilogue: The Coming of Lilith, “Lilith Revisited,” Judith Plaskow.
3. Mary Magdalene and Other Women Disciples.
How Mary Magdalene Became a Whore, Jane Schaberg. Presence or Absence? The Question of Women Disciples at the Last Supper, Dorothy A. Lee.
4. The Issue of Heterosexism.
Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:1-29) on the Internet, Susanne Scholz. The Biblical Prohibition of Homosexual Intercourse, Martin S. Cohen. Patristic Interpretations of Rom. 1:26, Bernadette J. Brooten.
III. THE RHETORIC OF RACE/ETHNICITY.
5. A Baptismal Formula for Racial and Ethnic Justice.
Neither Jew nor Greek: Ethnic Conflict in Graeco-Roman Society, Christopher D. Stanley. The Praxis of Coequal Discipleship, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. The Hottest Race Issue in the World, Donald A. McGavran.
6. The Dispute about Slavery in America.
The Biblical Anti-Slavery Argument of the Decade 1830-1840, Caroline L. Shanks. The Curse That Never Was (Genesis 9:18-27), Gene Rice. House Readings and Field Readings: The Discourse of Slavery and Biblical/Cultural Studies, Jennifer A. Glancy.
7. Ethnic Perspectives on the Bible.
Reading Texts Through Worlds, Worlds Through Texts, Vincent L. Wimbush. Developments in Biblical Interpretation in Africa: Historical and Hermeneutical Directions, Justin S. Ukpong. Life in the Midst of Death: Naomi, Ruth and the Plight of Indigenous Women, Dalila Nayap-Pot. Two Mission Commands: An Interpretation of Matthew 28:16-20 in the Light of a Buddhist Text, George M. Soares-Prabhu.
8. Discussions of Christian Anti-Judaism.
The Challenge of Hebrew Scriptures in Jewish-Christian Religions, Arthur E. Zannoni. The New Testament: Confronting Its Impact on Jewish-Christian Relations, Michael Cook. Jesus-A Pharisee and the Christ, John T. Pawlikowski. John 8:39-47: Children of Abraham or of the Devil?, Richard A. Bondi.
IV. THE RHETORIC OF CLASS.
9. God and the Option for the Poor.
Good News for the Poor, Elsa Tamez. The Biblical God from the Perspective of the Poor, Itumeleng J. Mosala.
10. Economic Justice as a Biblical Concern.
Dangerous Waters of Justice and Righteousness: Amos 5:18-27, Jon L. Berquist. Poverty and Punishment in the Book of Proverbs, James L. Crenshaw. Human Solidarity and the Goodness of God: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matt. 20:1-15), Luise Schottroff. Creation of New Meaning: Rhetorical Situations and the Reception of Romans 13:1-7, Jan Botha.
11. Liberation and Oppression in the Book of Exodus.
A Latin American Perspective: The Option for the Poor in the Old Testament, George V. Pixley. A Palestinian Perspective: The Bible and Liberation, Naim Ateek. Canaanites, Cowboys, and Indians: Deliverance, Conquest, and Liberation Theology, Allen Warrior.
Index of Biblical References.
