Description
Book SynopsisThis wide-ranging Reader provides a comprehensive survey of the interaction between postcolonial criticism and biblical studies. Examines how various empires such as the Persian and Roman affected biblical narratives. Demonstrates how different biblical writers such as Paul, Matthew and Mark handled the challenges of empire.
Trade Review"This book, edited by one of the foremost proponents of postcolonial biblical criticism, will provide a useful entrée into this important area of study and a representative and wide-ranging selection of essays with which to engage." (
Journal for the Study of the New Testament)
Table of ContentsList of Contributors viii
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
R. S. Sugirtharajah
Part I: Theoretical Practices 3
Introduction: Theoretical Practices 5
R. S. Sugirtharajah
1 Charting the Aftermath: A Review of Postcolonial Criticism 7
R. S. Sugirtharajah
2 Biblical Criticism and Postcolonial Studies: Toward a Postcolonial Optic 33
Fernando F. Segovia
3 Making the Connections: Postcolonial Studies and Feminist Biblical Interpretation 45
Kwok Pui-lan
Part II: Empires Old and New 65
Introduction: Empires Old and New 67
R. S. Sugirtharajah
4 Renewal Movements and Resistance to Empire in Ancient Judea 69
Richard A. Horsley
5 Postcolonialism and Imperial Motives for Canonization 78
Jon L. Berquist
6 Roman Imperialism and Early Christian Scribality 96
Werner H. Kelber
7 Desiring War: Apocalypse, Commodity Fetish, and the End of History 112
Erin Runions
Part III: Empire and Exegesis 129
Introduction: Empire and Exegesis 131
R. S. Sugirtharajah
8 The Implications of the Text of Esther for African Women’s Struggle for Liberation in South Africa 134
Itumeleng J. Mosala
9 Rahab Says Hello to Judith: A Decolonizing Feminist Reading 142
Musa W. Dube
10 The Sign of Orpah: Reading Ruth through Native Eyes 159
Laura E. Donaldson
11 On Naming the Subject: Postcolonial Reading of Daniel 1 171
Philip Chia
12 Decolonizing Yahweh: A Postcolonial Reading of 2 Kings 24–25 186
Kari Latvus
13 Mark and Empire: ‘‘Zealot’’ and ‘‘Postcolonial’’ Readings 193
Stephen D. Moore
14 Tyranny, Boundary, and Might: Colonial Mimicry in Mark’s Gospel 206
Tat-siong Benny Liew
15 Maori ‘‘Jews’’ and a Resistant Reading of John 5.10–47 224
Mary Huie-Jolly
16 God at the Crossroads: A Postcolonial Reading of Sophia 238
Mayra Rivera
Part IV: Postcolonial Concerns 255
Introduction: Postcolonial Concerns 257
R. S. Sugirtharajah
17 How Local Divine Powers were Suppressed: A Case of Mwari of the Shona 259
Dora R. Mbuwayesango
18 Cutchery Tamil versus Pure Tamil: Contesting Language Use in the Translated Bible in the Early Nineteenth-Century Protestant Tamil Community 269
Hephzibah Israel
19 Canonization and Marginalization: Mary of Magdala 284
Karen L. King
20 Exodus-toward-Egypt: Filipino-Americans’ Struggle to Realize the Promised Land in America 291
Eleazar S. Fernandez
Index of Biblical References 305
Index of Names and Subjects 313
