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Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible
This book examines the theology and ethics of land use, especially the practices of modern industrialized agriculture, in light of critical biblical exegesis. Nine interrelated essays explore the biblical writers' pervasive concern for the care of arable land against the background of the geography, social structures, and religious thought of ancient Israel. This approach...more
Paperback, 234 pages
Published
October 1st 2008
by Cambridge University Press
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Dr. Ellen Davis studiously and eloquently works to bring the leaders of all modern fields of expertise: from artists, people of religion, science, politicians, and economists into the conversation about food security and the importance of healthy land. Her hope is that a gathering of minds will occur that recognize "how completely the health of human lives and cultures is bound up with care of the land and just distribution of it's bounty." She paints the bible as a book about people dependent n...more
One might argue this book is simply an example of a modern reader-response hermeneutic. Rather than read the Bible through a paradigm of power, liberation, patriarchy, feminism, etc., Davis reads the Bible (or to be more precise, the Old Testament) through an agrarian lens. Thus, ones appreciation for her book is really dependent on 1) appreciation of that method of interpretation and 2) her lens of choice.
But to leave it there would do Davis a great disservice. Unlike other similar methodologie...more
But to leave it there would do Davis a great disservice. Unlike other similar methodologie...more
Ellen Davis has made a careful and through presentation about the relationship between the writing in the Old Testament and an generally agrarian understanding of people's relationship with the land. It is striking how far away from this we have wandered. It is complicated for me because I also understand how much of the writing in the Old Testament is imaginary in the first place, so to find a strong theme of agrarian thought in a book of mostly made up stories is a little surprising. The autho...more
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Davis presents some inspiring and well-argued ideas on how Judeo-Christian texts engage agriculture in this series of essays. Her overall message is that sustainability isn't a new fad -- it's as old as the Torah. Highlights: Lots of Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson references and quotes, texts that you might not be familiar with and could come in handy if you write about religion and sustainability (like I do!). Drawback: The essays are very academic and seem better suited for a Religious Studies...more
Loved this book, like the ideas and the emphasis she puts on the covenant between the people, the land and God, and how they are inter-related. I loved the agrarian reading of the scriptures, and I see all the problems that are current with the way we treat the land....agri-business, the food industry etc. Just wish I had also been given a few more answers, how can we even in small ways, as individuals, change the way things are done? This is always my frustration when reading authors like Ellen...more
a book to own, the approach to reading the creation myth with a view for contemplative action has created engaging dialogue with all those I have spoken about it to - this book puts concrete words to ideas bouncing around a good read for emergent church enthusiasts, Wendell Berryites, food justice practitioners, and the agrarian in all of us
Davis has written with eloquence and passion about the intersection of faith and agriculture. Her insights into the agrarian reading of the Scriptures are quite profound. They provide a decisive critique of any Christian spirituality divorced from caring for and using wisely God's good creation. I read this at the same time I was reading Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination; his words about the prophets critiquing empire and providing hope for an alternative society go hand in hand with Davis' wo...more
Davis does some ground breaking work here. She takes an important look at what the Hebrew Scriptures have to say about agriculture. So nice to see biblical hermeneutics reach out to engage sustainability in this way. Much food for thought. Brought new depth to passages I'd never thought much about before.
A fine book that deals with the economics of the ancient world, the current dangers of contemporary practices of agriculture, and a Biblical approach of the use of the land.
Incredibly dense. I realize this is meant for seminary students, but a little less seminarian language could be really valuable to regular population.
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