Land and Place (BA9704W)

Content

A study of selected texts relating to the themes of land and exile in biblical theology. The unit will bring exegetical reflections into dialogue with contemporary issues of ecology, migration, spirituality of dispossession, and the theology of hope.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Elective unit in Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

Pedagogy

12 weekly sessions, requiring online participation. Each session consists of lecturer’s input, guided reading, additional suggested resources, and tutorial tasks requiring critical reflection and peer interaction.

Indicative Bibliography

• = set texts recommended for purchase
• Brett, M.G. Decolonizing God: The Bible in the Tides of Empire. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008.
  
• Chapman, C. Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Crisis over Israel and Palestine. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002.
• Davis, E. Scripture, Culture, Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Goonan, M. A Community of Exiles: Exploring Australian Spirituality. Homebush: St Pauls Publications, 1996.
• Habel, N. The Land is Mine: Six Biblical Land Ideologies. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995.
• Halvorson-Taylor, M. Enduring Exile: The Metaphorization of Exile in the Hebrew Bible. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2011.
• Joerstad, M. The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, Nonhumans and the Living Landscape. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
• Kelle, B,E. et al. (eds). Interpreting Exile: Displacement and Deportation in Biblical and Modern Contexts. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011.
• Smith, A.D. Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Smith-Christopher, D. A Biblical Theology of Exile. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002.
• Weinfeld, M. The Promise of the Land. Berkeley: University of California, 1992.

Assessment