This book offers a historical-materialist reading of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis in an attempt to revive their potential to engage people in truthful discussions about power and pleasure. For the past two millennia, biblical stories have been told and discussed in countless settings; whether one lives in Europe or in a country that was colonized by Europeans, the biblical symbolic universe remains present. This book offers a method to explore the social and political meanings of its most theological content by visiting two historical settings in which biblical modes of expression intersected with the demands of an economic-political process: Jerusalem and its province during the Persian period (5th–4th centuries bce) and Brazil of the early colonial period (16th century ce). Though distant in time and space, both were moments of comparable transformation: individuals with financial resources and military power arrived from the East to seize control over lands and means of production, subjugating the population to a distant king. By turning to these two historical settings, Ron Naiweld examines how the narratives of Genesis resonated in these environments, how they were used to legitimize imperial power structures, and how they opened these structures to scrutiny. The volume is part of a larger trend of reading the Bible with a historical-materialist approach that allows us to grasp the power of its symbolic universe to inspire both utopia and barbarism, especially in colonial contexts. This book is suitable for students and scholars interested in the biblical symbolic universe and Jewish and Christian history. It is also of interest to those working on the history of Brazil, comparative literature, and the intersection of religion, economy, and politics.

Many today find the Old Testament a closed book. The cultural issues seem insurmountable and we are easily baffled by that which seems obscure. Furthermore, without knowledge of the ancient culture we can easily impose our own culture on the text, potentially distorting it. This series invites you to enter the Old Testament with a company of guides, experts that will give new insights into these cherished writings. Features include • Over 2000 photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams and charts provide a visual feast that breathes fresh life into the text. • Passage-by-passage commentary presents archaeological findings, historical explanations, geographic insights, notes on manners and customs, and more. • Analysis into the literature of the ancient Near East will open your eyes to new depths of understanding both familiar and unfamiliar passages. • Written by an international team of 30 specialists, all top scholars in background studies.

"This book offers a historical-materialist reading of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, in an attempt to revive their potential to engage people in truthful discussions about power and pleasure. For the past two millennia, biblical stories have been told and discussed in countless settings; whether one lives in Europe or in a country that was colonized by Europeans, the biblical symbolic universe remains present. This book offers a method to explore the social and political meanings of its most theological content, by visiting two historical settings in which biblical modes of expression intersected with the demands of an economic-political process: Jerusalem and its province during the Persian period (5th-4th centuries BCE), and Brazil of the early colonial period (16th century CE). Though distant in time and space, both were moments of comparable transformation - individuals with financial resources and military power arrived from the East to seize control over lands and means of production, subjugating the population to a distant king. By turning to these two historical settings, Naiweld examines how the narratives of Genesis resonated in these environments, how they were used to legitimize imperial power structures, and how they opened these structures to scrutiny. The volume is part of a larger trend of reading the Bible with a historical-materialist approach that allows us to grasp the power of its symbolic universe to inspire both utopia and barbarism, especially in colonial contexts. This book is suitable for students and scholars interested in the biblical symbolic universe and Jewish and Christian history. It is also of interest to those working on the history of Brazil, comparative literature, and the intersection of religion, economy, and politics"--

Addressing the intense debate in science and religion in light of evolutionary population genetics, Andrew Ter Ern Loke argues that the theory of evolution as understood by mainstream scientists is compatible with Scripture. Loke asserts that resolving this area of perceived conflict would greatly benefit both scientific and religious communities, and contribute to the spiritual quest of humankind. Whilst affirming that the Bible should be interpreted according to proper hermeneutical principles such as considering the literary genre, literary context, meaning of words, grammatical relationship, and the background and concerns of the ancient authors, this book also assesses the scientific data according to proper mainstream scientific methodology. Having accomplished these tasks, it proposes a model which argues that all humans today have Adam as common ancestor even though this ancestor is not our sole ancestor.

The Individual in International Law collects the work of esteemed scholars to examine the effects of humanisation on international law, and how individual status, rights, and obligations have changed the international legal system throughout history and into the present day.

New Materialisms brings into focus and explains the significance of the innovative materialist critiques that are emerging across the social sciences and humanities. By gathering essays that exemplify the new thinking about matter and processes of materialization, this important collection shows how scholars are reworking older materialist traditions, contemporary theoretical debates, and advances in scientific knowledge to address pressing ethical and political challenges. In the introduction, Diana Coole and Samantha Frost highlight common themes among the distinctive critical projects that comprise the new materialisms. The continuities they discern include a posthumanist conception of matter as lively or exhibiting agency, and a reengagement with both the material realities of everyday life and broader geopolitical and socioeconomic structures. Coole and Frost argue that contemporary economic, environmental, geopolitical, and technological developments demand new accounts of nature, agency, and social and political relationships; modes of inquiry that privilege consciousness and subjectivity are not adequate to the task. New materialist philosophies are needed to do justice to the complexities of twenty-first-century biopolitics and political economy, because they raise fundamental questions about the place of embodied humans in a material world and the ways that we produce, reproduce, and consume our material environment. Contributors Sara Ahmed Jane Bennett Rosi Braidotti Pheng Cheah Rey Chow William E. Connolly Diana Coole Jason Edwards Samantha Frost Elizabeth Grosz Sonia Kruks Melissa A. Orlie

What does it mean to be a good reader of Genesis 1-11? What does it mean to take these ancient stories seriously and how does that relate to taking them literally? Can we even take any of this material seriously? Reading Genesis Well answers these questions and more, promoting a responsible conversation about how science and biblical faith relate by developing a rigorous approach to interpreting the Bible, especially those texts that come into play in science and faith discussions. This unique approach connects the ancient writings of Genesis 1-11 with modern science in an honest and informed way. Old Testament scholar C. John Collins appropriates literary and linguistic insights from C. S. Lewis and builds on them using ideas from modern linguistics, such as lexical semantics, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics. This study helps readers to evaluate to what extent it is proper to say that the Bible writers held a "primitive" picture of the world, and what function their portrayal of the world and its contents had in shaping the community.

In a seemingly offhand, often overlooked comment, Karl Marx deemed ‘human corporeal organisation’ the ‘first fact of human history’. Following Marx’s corporeal turn and pursuing the radical implications of his corporeal insight, this book undertakes a reconstruction of the corporeal foundations of historical materialism. Part I exposes the corporeal roots of Marx’s materialist conception of history and historical-materialist Wissenschaft. Part II attempts a historical-materialist mapping of human corporeal organisation. Suggesting how to approach human histories up from their corporeal foundations, Part III elaborates historical-materialism as ‘corporeal semiotics’. Part IV, a case study of Marx’s critique of capitalist socio-economic and cultural forms, reveals the corporeal foundations of that critique and the corporeal depth of his vision of human freedom and dignity.

The Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch' is the first in a four-volume series covering the text of the Old Testament. Following in the tradition of the four award-winning IVP dictionaries focused on the New Testament and its background, this encyclopedic work is characterized by close attention to the text of the Old Testament and the ongoing conversation of contemporary scholarship. In exploring the major themes and issues of the Pentateuch, it informs and challenges its readers with authoritative overviews, detailed examinations and new insights from the world of the ancient Near East. The 'Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch' is designed to be your first stop in the study and research of the Pentateuch, on which the rest of the Bible is built.