Download or read book Reading Genesis Politically written by Martin Sicker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2002-02-28 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sicker asserts that the Mosaic canon, the Pentateuch, is first and foremost a library of essentially political teachings and documents, and that the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis set forth in essence a general Mosaic political philosophy. These writings take a unique mythopoeic approach to the construction of a normative political theory intended to undergird the idea of a mutual covenant between God and the people of Israel that is to be realized in history in the creation of the ideal society. It is with the elaboration of the political ideas reflected in these early chapters of Genesis that this book is concerned. For the modern reader, the biblical texts should be understood as postulating some basic ideas of Mosaic moral and political philosophy that, in Sicker's view, continue to be applicable in contemporary times. First, man is endowed with free will, however constrained by circumstances it may be, and with the intellect to govern and direct it in appropriate paths. Accordingly, he is individually responsible for his actions and must be held accountable for them. Second, man has a necessary relation to God whether he wishes it or not. Prudence alone will therefore dictate that compliance with divine precept is in man's best interest. Third,the notion that man can create a moral society without reference to God is a deceptive illusion. Man's ability to rationalize even his most outrageous behavior clearly indicates the need for an unimpeachable source and standard of moral authority. Fourth, until all men accept the preceding principles, the idea of a universal state is both dangerous and counterproductive. In the 20th century, we have witnessed two different attempts to create such a world state, both of which produced totalitarian monstrosities. Fifth, individualism as a social philosophy tends to be destructive of traditional values and must be tempered by the idea of communal responsibility. A survey of particular interest to scholars, researchers, and students interested in Jewish history, political thought, and the Old Testament.

Download or read book God and Political Justice written by Landa L. Cope and published by Biblical Template. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amid high levels of violence, social turmoil, and failures in governance, there is a deep hunger for justice among people and nations worldwide. Can our societies overcome such tragedies and get back on track? Are political justice and human flourishing possible? In this much-anticipated volume in the Biblical Template series, Landa Cope shows that the answer is yes-and it will require hard work and an unwavering commitment to God's revealed principles. "This book," she writes, "is the best insight I have to offer after twenty years of study of the subject [of political justice] in Scripture. . . . It is an attempt to let God speak for himself again from his source material, believing only a consistent and faithful return to his Word and the help of his Spirit will show any generation the way forward."

Download or read book God and Earthly Power written by J. G. McConville and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2008-09-30 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compares perspectives from critical methodologies in Old Testament study with perspectives from the history of interpretation of key Old Testament political texts

Download or read book Belonging in Genesis written by Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi and published by . This book was released on 2016-03-15 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genesis calls its readers into a vision of human community unconstrained by the categories that dominate modern thinking about identity. Genesis situates humanity within a network of nurture that encompasses the entire cosmos--only then introducing Israel not as a people, but as a promise. Genesis prioritizes a human identity that originates in the divine word and depends on ongoing relationship with God. Those called into this new mode of belonging must forsake the social definition that had structured their former life, trading it for an alternative that will only gradually take shape. In contrast to the rigidity that typifies modern notions, Genesis depicts identity as fundamentally fluid. Encounter with God leads to a new social self, not a "spiritual" self that operates only within parameters established in the body at birth. In Belonging in Genesis, Amanda Mbuvi highlights the ways narrative and the act of storytelling function to define and create a community. Building on the emphasis on family in Genesis, she focuses on the way family storytelling is a means of holding together the interpretation of the text and the constitution of the reading community. Explicitly engaging the way in which readers regard the biblical text as a point of reference for their own (collective) identities leads to an understanding of Genesis as inviting its readers into a radically transformative vision of their place in the world.

Download or read book The Genesis of Political Correctness written by Michael William and published by . This book was released on 2016-01-25 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The contempt for ordinary people and for patriotism that the politically correct have is unconcealed. They have successfully infiltrated ... public institutions from where they can enforce their creed on everyone else. Importantly, they further get access to public monies ... the consequences are far reaching.'In the West, political correctness is the ascendant ideology since the rise of the so-called New Left in the 1960s. It has infiltrated the public sector and its devotees have gained access to legislative powers of enforcement and, importantly, public monies.Dissent is not tolerated. Dissenters, even children, are persecuted. Minorities are deemed victims and as being oppressed, while the majority are deemed the oppressors. A hatred of the West is aggressively promoted. Terrorism is excused.Free Speech is not allowed. Only politically correct views are tolerated. The media present propaganda instead of the truth.Human Rights are corrupted into being a vehicle for political correctness with lots of fees for its advocates.Sex attacks on women and even children by immigrants are covered up, if not tolerated.Democracy is undermined as bureaucrats and international organizations highjack the powers of the nation state. The interests and opinions of ordinary people are ignored.Economies are plundered. High taxes are imposed. In Europe, the interests of the EU take priority over national prosperity. The 'chauvinism of prosperity' is condemned.Race War Politics is aggressively promoted. White people are deemed racist, unless they advocate political correctness, and a repopulation policy of mass immigration is enforced against the express wishes and interests of the host nation.The zealotry and conflict political correctness brings is the product of its communist heritage, going as far back as the Communist Manifesto of 1848. It has been rightly described as 'cultural Marxism'.'Like vampires, communists lurk in dark places away from the sunlight of public awareness. For them to succeed, it is important that their activities are not recognised until it is too late. So they crawl about various government, charity, and other public organizations, feeding off ordinary peoples' monies.'

Download or read book Reading Genesis Well written by C. John Collins and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Book of Genesis written by Ronald Hendel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During its 2,500-year life, the book of Genesis has been the keystone to important claims about God and humanity in Judaism and Christianity, and it plays a central role in contemporary debates about science, politics, and human rights. The authors provide a panoramic history of this iconic book, exploring its impact on Western religion, philosophy, literature, art, and more.

Download or read book The Beginning of Wisdom written by Leon Kass and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2003-05-20 with total page 722 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine that you could really understand the Bible...that you could read, analyze, and discuss the book of Genesis not as a compositional mystery, a cultural relic, or a linguistic puzzle palace, or even as religious doctrine, but as a philosophical classic, precisely in the same way that a truth-seeking reader would study Plato or Nietzsche. Imagine that you could be led in your study by one of America's preeminent intellectuals and that he would help you to an understanding of the book that is deeper than you'd ever dreamed possible, that he would reveal line by line, verse by verse the incredible riches of this illuminating text -- one of the very few that actually deserve to be called seminal. Imagine that you could get, from Genesis, the beginning of wisdom. The Beginning of Wisdom is a hugely learned book that, like Genesis itself, falls naturally into two sections. The first shows how the universal history described in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, from creation to the tower of Babel, conveys, in the words of Leon Kass, "a coherent anthropology" -- a general teaching about human nature -- that "rivals anything produced by the great philosophers." Serving also as a mirror for the reader's self-discovery, these stories offer profound insights into the problematic character of human reason, speech, freedom, sexual desire, the love of the beautiful, pride, shame, anger, guilt, and death. Something as seemingly innocuous as the monotonous recounting of the ten generations from Adam to Noah yields a powerful lesson in the way in which humanity encounters its own mortality. In the story of the tower of Babel are deep understandings of the ambiguous power of speech, reason, and the arts; the hazards of unity and aloneness; the meaning of the city and its quest for self-sufficiency; and man's desire for fame, immortality, and apotheosis -- and the disasters these necessarily cause. Against this background of human failure, Part Two of The Beginning of Wisdom explores the struggles to launch a new human way, informed by the special Abrahamic covenant with the divine, that might address the problems and avoid the disasters of humankind's natural propensities. Close, eloquent, and brilliant readings of the lives and educations of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons reveal eternal wisdom about marriage, parenting, brotherhood, education, justice, political and moral leadership, and of course the ultimate question: How to live a good life? Connecting the two "parts" is the book's overarching philosophical and pedagogical structure: how understanding the dangers and accepting the limits of human powers can open the door to a superior way of life, not only for a solitary man of virtue but for an entire community -- a life devoted to righteousness and holiness. This extraordinary book finally shows Genesis as a coherent whole, beginning with the creation of the natural world and ending with the creation of a nation that hearkens to the awe-inspiring summons to godliness. A unique and ambitious commentary, a remarkably readable literary exegesis and philosophical companion, The Beginning of Wisdom is one of the most important books in decades on perhaps the most important -- and surely the most frequently read -- book of all time.

Download or read book Politics for Christians written by Francis J. Beckwith and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2012-05-20 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politics is concerned with citizenship and the administration of justice--how communities are formed and governed. The role of Christians in the political process is hotly contested, but as citizens, Francis Beckwith argues, Christians have a rich heritage of sophisticated thought, as well as a genuine responsibility, to contribute to the shaping of public policy. In particular, Beckwith addresses the contention that Christians, or indeed religious citizens of any faith, should set aside their beliefs before they enter the public square. What role should religious citizens take in a liberal democracy? What is the proper separation of church and state? What place should be made for natural rights and the moral law within a secular state? This cogent introduction to political thought surveys political science, politics and government while making the case for how statecraft may genuinely contribute to soulcraft. Politics for Christians is part of The Christian Worldview Integration Series.

Download or read book The Theology of the Book of Genesis written by R. W. L. Moberly and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-05-29 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book of Genesis contains foundational material for Jewish and Christian theology, both historic and contemporary, and is almost certainly the most appealed-to book in the Old Testament in contemporary culture. R. W. L. Moberly's The Theology of the Book of Genesis examines the actual use made of Genesis in current debates, not only in academic but also in popular contexts. Traditional issues such as creation and fall stand alongside more recent issues such as religious violence and Christian Zionism. Moberly's concern - elucidated through a combination of close readings and discussions of hermeneutical principle - is to uncover what constitutes good understanding and use of Genesis, through a consideration of its intrinsic meaning as an ancient text (in both Hebrew and Greek versions) in dialogue with its reception and appropriation both past and present. Moberly seeks to enable responsible theological awareness and use of the ancient text today, highlighting Genesis' enduring significance.

Download or read book Political Philosophy and the God of Abraham written by Thomas L. Pangle and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2007-07-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book noted scholar Thomas L. Pangle brings back a lost and crucial dimension of political theory: the mutually illuminating encounter between skeptically rationalist political philosophy and faith-based political theology guided ultimately by the authority of the Bible. Focusing on the chapters of Genesis in which the foundation of the Bible is laid, Pangle provides an interpretive reading illuminated by the questions and concerns of the Socratic tradition and its medieval heirs in the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic worlds. He brings into contrast the rival interpretive framework set by the biblical criticism of the modern rationalists Hobbes and Spinoza, along with their heirs from Locke to Hegel. The full meaning of these diverse philosophic responses to the Bible is clarified through a dialogue with hermeneutic discussions by leading political theologians in the Judaic, Muslim, and Christian traditions, from Josephus and Augustine to our day. Profound and subtle in its argument, this book will be of interest not only to students and scholars of politics, philosophy, and religion but also to thoughtful readers in every walk of life who seek to deepen their understanding of the perplexing relationship between religious faith and philosophic reason. -- James V. Schall

Download or read book The Bible in Politics written by Richard Bauckham and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This second edition of Bauckham's wonderful work is essential reading for understanding the relationship between the Bible and politics. The enduring value of The Bible in Politics is that it teaches the reader how to read the Bible politically and to gain an understanding of the social relevance of the Bible that is more disciplined, more informed, more imaginative, and more politically fruitful than many interpreters--past and present--have achieved.

Download or read book Ezra Nehemiah written by Lester L. Grabbe and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-08-04 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this provocative study, Lester Grabbe presents a unique approach to Ezra-Nehemiah with the combination of a literary and historical approach. Lester Grabbe challenges commonly held assumptions about Joshua and Zerubbabel, the initial resettlement of land after the exile, the figure of Ezra and the activities of Nehemiah. Controversially, the challenge comes, not from radical theory but from paying careful attention to the text of the Bible itself.

Download or read book Genesis written by Mark G. Brett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-11-23 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining insights from social and literary theory as well as traditional historical studies, Mark Brett argues that the first book of the Bible can be read as resistance literature. Placing the theological text firmly within its socio-political context, he shows that the editors of Genesis were directly engaged with contemporary issues, especially the nature of an authentic community, and that the book was designed to undermine the ethnocentism of the imperial governors of the Persian period (fifth century BCE).

Download or read book Reading the Pentateuch Politically from Abraham to Moses written by Dr. Martin Sicker and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a continuation of an earlier work, Reading Genesis Politically, the primary focus of which is the first ten chapters of the much larger book of Genesis. The present study begins with chapter eleven of Genesis which introduces the story of the emergence of Abraham, the iconic founder of the Jewish nation and Judaic civilization. As indicated by the title of the present study its primary concern is with the prehistory of ancient Israel. The sole source of information about Israel’s national origins is imbedded in the Pentateuch, the five books of the Torah, in which the birth of Israel is portrayed as part of a divine plan for the betterment of mankind. As a result, its prehistory beginning with Abraham and concluding with Moses is necessarily theopolitical in nature, reflecting the critical divine role in its formation. There are of course virtually innumerable studies of the Pentateuchal narratives that address the roles of the Patriarchs in preserving the religious heritage of Abraham until its culmination in the work of Moses. However, there are very few studies that direct attention to the necessarily socio-political aspects of the narratives that establish the basis for the ultimate emergence of a viable but querulous nation out of what the biblical text repeatedly terms “a stiff-necked people,” primarily related by common ethnicity as descendants of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Download or read book The Bible in Politics written by Richard Bauckham and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1989-01-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This enlightening book on how to read the Bible politically serves as a prerequisite to Christian political action. Richard Bauckham offers his interpretations of several Bible passage that are politically relevant, and discusses how reading the Bible in a political context can lead to fresh insights.

Download or read book Under God written by Garry Wills and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Under God, Pulitzer Prize winner and eminent political observer Garry Wills sheds light on the frequent collision between American politics and American religion. Beginning with the 1988 presidential contest, an election that included two ministers and a senator accused of sin, award-winning author Garry Wills surveys the tapestry of American history to show the continuity of present controversies with past religious struggles, and argues that the secular standards of the Founding Fathers have been misunderstood. He shows that despite reactionary fire-breathers and fanatics, religion has often been a progressive force in American politics, and explains why the policy of a separate church and state has, ironically, made the position of the church stronger. Marked by the extraordinary quality of observation that has defined Will’s work, Under God is a rich, original look at why religion and politics will never be separate in the United States.