Encountering Eve's Afterlives: A New Reception Critical Approach to Genesis 2-4 aims to destabilize the persistently pessimistic framing of Eve as a highly negative symbol of femininity within Western culture by engaging with marginal, and even heretical, interpretations that focus on more positive aspects of her character. In doing so, this book questions the myth that orthodox, popular readings represent the 'true' meaning of the first woman's story, and explores the possibility that previously ignored or muted rewritings of Eve are in fact equally 'valid' interpretations of the biblical text. By staging encounters between the biblical Eve and re-writings of her story, particularly those that help to challenge the interpretative status quo, this book re-frames the first woman using three key themes from her story: sin, knowledge, and life. Thus, it considers how and why the image of Eve as a dangerous temptress has gained considerably more cultural currency than the equally viable pictures of her as a subversive wise woman or as a mourning mother. The book offers a re-evaluation of the meanings and the myths of Eve, deconstructing the dominance of her cultural incarnation as a predominantly flawed female, and reconstructing a more nuanced presentation of the first woman's role in the Bible and beyond.

This volume examines questions concerning the construction of gender and identity in the earliest days of what is now Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Methodologically explicit, the contributions analyze textual and material sources related to these religious traditions in their cultural contexts. The sources examined are predominantly products of patriarchal elite discourses requiring innovative approaches to unveil aspects of gender otherwise hidden. This volume extends the discussion represented in the volume Gender and Second-Temple Judaism (2020) and highlights the fruitfulness of interdisciplinary research beyond anachronistic discipline distinctions.

Bringing together disciplines across the arts, humanities and social sciences, this Handbook presents novel and lively examinations of the dynamic ways religion, gender and sexuality operate. Applying feminist, intersectional, and reflexive approaches, the volume aims to loosen imperialist and exclusionary figurations that have underwritten and tethered religion, gender, and sexuality together. While holding onto the field of inquiry, the Handbook offers contributions that interrogate and untie it from the terms and conditions that have formed it. The volume is organized into thematic sections: - Forces and Futures - Activisms and Labors - Agencies and Practices - Relationships and Institutions - Texts and Objects Chapters range across religious, geographical, historical, political, and social contexts and feature an array of case-studies, experiences, and topics that exemplify the reflexive intention of the volume, including explorations of race, whiteness, colonialism, and the institutional intolerance of minority groups. Contributors also advance new areas of research in religion including artificial intelligence, farming, migrant mothering, child sexual abuse, mediatization, national security, legal frameworks, addiction and recovery, decolonial hermeneutics, creative arts, sport, sexual practices, and academic friendship. This is an essential contribution to the fields of religious studies and gender and sexuality studies.

Reading the Bible in Australia invites reflection about how the Bible matters to Australia. Contributors probe intersections between vital debates about Australian identity (who we have been, are, and aspire to become) and the Bible, bringing a range of perspectives to critical themes--indigeneity, colonization, and migration; landscape, biodiversity, and climate; gender and marginality; economics, ideology, and rhetoric. Each chapter explores the past and present influence of a biblical text or theme. Some offer fresh contextually and ethically informed readings. All interrogate the wider outcomes of reading the Bible in different ways. Given the tragic consequences of how it has been used historically, and sometimes still is, some Australians would exclude the Bible and its interpreters from public debate. Yet, as Meredith Lake's The Bible in Australia demonstrates, "a degree of biblical literacy--along with critical skill in evaluating how the Bible has been taken up and interpreted in our history--can only help Australians grapple well with the choices Australia faces." Love it or hate it, there is no getting around the reality that the Bible, and how it is read, still matters.

What can explain the persistence of gender inequality throughout history? Do narratives such as the Eden story explain that dissymmetry or contribute to it? This book suggests that the Hebrew Bible began and has sustained a rich conversation about sex and gender throughout its life. A literary study of the Garden of Eden story reveals a focus on the human partnership as integral to the divine creation project. Texts from other Hebrew Bible genres build a picture of robust and flexible partnerships within a patriarchal framework. In popular culture, Eve still carries the stench of guilt while Adam, seemingly unscathed by Eden events, remains a positive symbol of manhood. This book helps explain why they have had such different histories. The book also charts the subversive alternate streams of interpretation of women's writings and rabbinic texts. The story of Adam and Eve demonstrates how conceptions of gender in both ancient and modern worlds reflect larger philosophical schemes. Far from existing as timeless verities, female and male relations are constructed according to cultural imperatives of the day. Understanding the different ways that Adam and Eve have been conceived gives us perspective on our own twenty-first century gender architecture.

This book brings together researchers to discuss and apply different methodologies to biblical texts and their relevance for feminist and gender studies. It represents, on the one hand, a continuation of the discussions that have been put to the test by the pioneers of feminist and gender studies, but on the other, introduces new theories and approaches to take the debate further and to challenge accepted biblical interpretations and ideologies that reinforce patriarchal domination and injustice. The volume offers proof that feminist theory has not lost its appeal to young scholars, and there is still enough potential for innovative and important research in the field of feminist and gender studies.

Drawing on both biblical studies scholarship and practitioner experience, this book explores the disjuncture between complementarian accounts of biblical marriage and intersections of marriage and violence in texts from Jewish and Christian Scriptures. This volume challenges authoritative complementarian claims to the Bible’s allegedly clear and unequivocal directions on marriage. It refutes these claims with analysis of the muddled and often violent depictions of marriage in the Bible itself. Regular reminders show why such an exploration matters: that is, because recourse to the authority and ‘plain meaning’ of the Bible has had and continues to have impact on real people’s lives. Sometimes, this impact is violent and traumatic, notably when the Bible is weaponised to justify intimate partner violence. This book explores a wide range of biblical texts and interpretations. Particular focus is placed on the influential pronouncements on ‘biblical marriage’ by the US Family Research Council and Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Textual analysis includes close focus on Genesis 1–3, Malachi 2, and Ephesians 5. This book will appeal to students of biblical studies and theology, as well as anyone interested in research-based activism and in how sacred texts are directed towards modern day-to-day life. It investigates ‘marriage’, ‘the Bible’ and ‘violence’, all of which play significant roles in public discourses and popular culture.

This interdisciplinary volume seeks to trace the diverse ways in which stories of biblical women have been reimagined in and as comic books. Feminist biblical scholarship has previously addressed the tradition that relegates female biblical characters to secondary roles, merely enabling the male characters to attain their own goals. Using examples from both secular and religious comic Bibles, and comic Bibles aimed at children and older audiences, Zanne Domoney-Lyttle now fully considers contemporary remediations of biblical narratives to the same degree. Remediating ancient, biblical text into modern, graphical comic books affects the reception of the text in several ways. This book aims to investigate how the production, format, and function of comic Bibles encourages the depiction of biblical characters from a contemporary perspective, while also showing some fidelity to the text. By presenting a focused analysis on women in the Bible, wider issues concerning popular-cultural retellings of the Bible in general begin to surface, including matters concerning reception history, the space between art and literature inhabited by biblical comics, and issues of translation and interpretations within contemporary remediations.

The philosopher, theologian, and biblical scholar Austin Farrer (1904–1968) highlighted in his various writings the central role that images play in the interpretation of biblical writings, the construction of theological arguments, and the descriptions of the Christian spiritual life. Theologians down through the centuries have sought to revitalize the central biblical images as they addressed the pressing theological, moral, and spiritual questions of their day. A Revitalization of Images offers students the opportunity to participate in this ongoing creative engagement with ten dominant biblical images that continue to shape the church’s beliefs and practices, as well as each Christian’s own spiritual journey. Sound theology is rooted in Scripture, conversant with past thinkers, and engaged in the present life of the church. This dynamic directly informs Revitalization. In each chapter we begin with a biblical image that has figured prominently in the Christian theological tradition. Next we examine two prominent voices from the Christian tradition who have drawn upon the image when crafting a compelling vision of the Christian life. We then turn our attention to a contemporary thinker who has incorporated or critiqued the image in his or her own theological work. This discussion is set within the current spectrum of theological positions including orthodox, liberal, postliberal, and postmodern perspectives.

Encountering Eve's Afterlives: A New Reception Critical Approach to Genesis 2-4 aims to destabilize the persistently pessimistic framing of Eve as a highly negative symbol of femininity within Western culture by engaging with marginal, and even heretical, interpretations that focus on more positive aspects of her character. In doing so, this book questions the myth that orthodox, popular readings represent the 'true' meaning of the first woman's story, and explores the possibility that previously ignored or muted rewritings of Eve are in fact equally 'valid' interpretations of the biblical text. By staging encounters between the biblical Eve and re-writings of her story, particularly those that help to challenge the interpretative status quo, this book re-frames the first woman using three key themes from her story: sin, knowledge, and life. Thus, it considers how and why the image of Eve as a dangerous temptress has gained considerably more cultural currency than the equally viable pictures of her as a subversive wise woman or as a mourning mother. The book offers a re-evaluation of the meanings and the myths of Eve, deconstructing the dominance of her cultural incarnation as a predominantly flawed female, and reconstructing a more nuanced presentation of the first woman's role in the Bible and beyond.