Patriarchs, Prophets And Other Villains

Patriarchs, Prophets and Other Villains takes as a starting point the hermeneutics of suspicion, throws in queer theory and blazes like a meteor; it throws light into corners and exposes the edges of discourses long perceived to be closed and tightly bounded. The book illustrates the way in which texts and interpretations have been manipulated for the purpose of power and control and through radical and playful counter readings it boldly challenges both the power and the control. The articles consider ways in which the female divine has been pushed back due to relentless male interpretation and misrepresentation yet how a thread that can be woven into a tapestry of rebellion remains. Carol Christ reminds us how even liberation theology has not been blameless in the eradication of the female divine. When the authors turn their attention to great figures of the bible the results are explosive. Ken Stone taking a queer glance at the sadomasochistic relationship between God and Jeremiah and Marcella Althaus-Reid inviting us to look at the postcolonial Rahab using cruising as a hermeneutical technique. Other counter readings open up the possibility of sexual hospitality as one important part of hospitality within the Hebrew Scriptures and the Song of Songs as a challenge to heteropatriarchy. This book was conceived as a useful resource for students who need to read different perspectives and as a challenge to those who wish to use narrow readings as a power base for hierarchies of exclusion.