Holy Imagination: A Literary and Theological Introduction to the Whole Bible - Softcover

Fentress-Williams

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1426775318 ISBN 13: 9781426775314

Publisher: Abingdon, 2021

Synopsis

Most literary works have one primary voice, a discourse that expresses an author’s dominant culture and ideology. The whole Bible, however, should be read by allowing numerous voices or discourses during a thousand years of literary imagination to emerge and interact. This dialogic reading process introduces theological insights that are larger than the individual parts of the Bible. Many books about the Bible introduce students to this sacred literature through a critical tour of the historical events and cultures that were present when the authors were at work. Holy Imagination, however, groups sections of the Bible by genre, to include the whole canon. This “reader’s introduction” is informed by literary theory and theological synthesis. For example, the first section will describe the primordial history in Genesis 1-11 as literary myth. How do we use the term myth when it is applied to the beginning of Genesis? The next section, the ancestral narratives in Genesis 12–50 is described as “formational narratives of identity.” How do the stories use sibling rivalry to shape national identity then and now? Each section in the introduction will identify and describe the genre (myth, historiography, poetry, apocalyptic literature, and so on) and then move into a discussion about its literary characteristics. Once the range of materials within a genre is evaluated, the introduction will deploy literary tools useful in reading a particular genre. The application of these tools will be guided by a set of “literary rules.” • Reading is always an act of interpretation. • The Bible

About this title

About the Author

Judy Fentress-Williams (AB Princeton; MDiv and PhD Yale) is Professor of Old Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary since 2002 and taught previously at Hartford Seminary. She is author of several publications, including the Abingdon Old Testament Commentary: Ruth.

Edition details

• Publisher: Abingdon
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1426775318
• ISBN 13: 9781426775314
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 404