Power and Responsibility in Biblical Interpretation

Alissa Jones Nelson completed her doctorate at the University of St Andrews in 2009. Her recent publications focus on the intersections of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and contemporary socio-political issues such as globalization, pedagogy and sexuality as well as the use of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in popular culture.

'This book is a breath of fresh air. Nelson does the important work of contrapuntally engaging the many vernacular and academic readings of the book of Job in the two-thirds world. It is an immensely valuable resource for understanding how the suffering of Job speaks to oppression and suffering in a global context.' Erin Runions, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Pomona College, Claremont, California 'A fascinating and illuminating account of how Said's idea of contrapuntal reading works with biblical texts. Combining rigorous theoretical analysis with striking practical examples, the book offers innovative strategies where mainstream and marginal reading practices can work productively in globalized interpretative contexts. This timely and challenging work will certainly change the way one thinks about biblical interpretation.' R.S.Sugirtharajah, University of Birmingham, UK 'Power and Responsibility in Biblical Interpretation offers us Said's contrapuntal mode of re-reading as a resource with which "to include dissenting voices in the dominant discourses with the aim of decentring the dominant" and it shows us what this mode of reading might accomplish.' Gerald West, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

• Introduction; Part 1; Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction to Edward W. Said: A Review of Said’s Concepts of Subjectivity, Power, Intellectual Responsibility, and the Secular; Chapter 2 Reading Contrapuntally: Adapting Said’s Concept of Contrapuntal Reading to the Field of Biblical Hermeneutics; Chapter 3 Attempting to Bridge the Gap: A Review of Contemporary Efforts to Integrate Academic and Vernacular Voices in Biblical Hermeneutics; Part 2 Interlude: Why Job?; Chapter 4 A Joban Fugue: Addressing the Issue of Suffering in the Book of Job with Gerhard Von Rad and Gustavo Gutiérrez; Chapter 5 Psychology, Physiology, Society, and Spirituality: Interpreting Job with Insight from Psychological and HIV-Positive Perspectives; Chapter 6 The Integration of Chaos and Order: Exploring Asian Interpretations of the Book of Job; conclusion; Conclusion;