The Yahwist's Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel by Theodore Hiebert

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Synopsis

The present ecological crisis has created new interest in and criticism of biblical attitudes toward nature. In this book Theodore Hiebert offers a comprehensive examination of the ideology of a single biblical author--the Yahwist (J), writer of the oldest narrative sections of Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers.

Hiebert argues the importance of reading J in its ancient Near Eastern context. His analysis incorporates evidence concerning the ecologies, economies, and religions of the ancient Levant drawn from recent work in archaeology, history, social anthropology, and comparative religion. Hiebert finds that despite the limitations of J's world view (and the world in which it took shape), J's ideology is relevant to contemporary efforts to frame a theology of ecology. Particularly valuable are J's views of reality as unified and non-dualistic, humanity as limited and dependent, nature and humanity as interrelated and holding sacred significance, and agriculture as a context for an ecological theology.

"A major effort to rethink and redirect the relation between the natural world and the human creature, at least in terms of religion and theology....I do believe this work will make a real contribution to the field."--Patrick D. Miller, Princeton Union Theological Seminary
"This book will provide an urgently needed input from the side of biblical studies to the discussion ecological theology, especially because a number of Christian ecologists have essentially written the Bible off, or take it to be part of the problem."--W. Sibley Towner, Union Theological Seminary
"Hiebert's The Yahwist's Landscape is a well-researched and interestingly written monograph. It is asignificant contribution to the field of a biblical theology of nature and will be read with profit...by all who are interested in the message of the Bible."--Theology Today
"Hiebert's work is a landmark study that constitutes merely the beginning point for further reflection on the topography of ancient Israel's culture and theology."--Interpretation
"...this study offers significant insights into the economic world around which the Pentateuch's non-P traditions were oriented. Recommended for seminary and research libraries."--Religious Studies Review

Biography

McCormick Theological Seminary