Worlds that Could Not Be: Utopia in Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) - Softcover

Steven J. Schweitzer; Frauke Uhlenbruch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0567684563 ISBN 13: 9780567684561

Publisher: T&T Clark, 2018

Synopsis

The idea of Utopia was first made current and popular by Sir Thomas More with the publication of his book by the same name in 1516. The 'no-place' that was created has had a fantastic reception history, which makes its application to the biblical books of Nehemiah, Ezra and Chronicles as vibrant as the current scholarship which is ongoing into the Renaissance term and its implications. The essays in this collection take different approaches to the question: are there proto-utopian elements in the three books from the Hebrew Bible? Methodological considerations are to be found, but each essay also moves beyond the methodological constraint to raise the hypothetical question of 'what if?' in different ways.

The essays evaluate the potential, and pitfalls, of reading Biblical books as (proto-)utopian. Topics include how utopia construct intricate counter-realities, and how to tell whether a proposal diagnosed as 'utopian' from a modern point of view is meant to motivate its audience to political action. Case studies which read aspects of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah as potential utopian traits include the restoration project of Ezra-Nehemiah and the rejection of foreign wives, utopian concerns in Chronicles, as well as the empire's role in writing a putative utopia, and King Solomon as a utopian fantasy-king.

About this title

About the Author

Steven J. Schweitzer is Academic Dean and Associate Professor at Bethany Theological Seminary, USA.

Frauke Uhlenbruch is Editor of the project 'Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception' at De Gruyter's publishing house.

Edition details

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0567684563
• ISBN 13: 9780567684561
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Steven J. Schweitzer, Frauke Uhlenbruch