Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses

Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses PDF Author: Jacob Onyumbe Wenyi
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725268310
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses reads the violence in the book of Nahum against the background of the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and tries to show how this violent book can be therapeutic and transformative for wounded communities. Here Jacob Onyumbe views Nahum through four scholarly lenses: poetic analysis, study of Assyrian iconography related to eighth- and seventh-century Judah, ethnographic research among survivors of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and modern studies on the impact of war trauma on communities of survivors. He argues that Nahum uses lyric poetry so as to evoke in seventh-century BCE Judahite audiences the memory of war and destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. The prophet uses poetry to evoke (rather than narrate) in order to bring comfort to his audience by revealing the powerful presence of God in the conditions of traumatic violence. Viewed thus, the book of Nahum cannot be dismissed (as has commonly been the case among both scholars and general readers) as irrelevant or merely vindictive. On the contrary, this book—with its depiction of a vengeful God and repulsive war scenes—is essential, especially for traumatized communities.

Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses

Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses PDF Author: Jacob Onyumbe Wenyi
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725268310
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Piles of Slain, Heaps of Corpses reads the violence in the book of Nahum against the background of the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and tries to show how this violent book can be therapeutic and transformative for wounded communities. Here Jacob Onyumbe views Nahum through four scholarly lenses: poetic analysis, study of Assyrian iconography related to eighth- and seventh-century Judah, ethnographic research among survivors of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and modern studies on the impact of war trauma on communities of survivors. He argues that Nahum uses lyric poetry so as to evoke in seventh-century BCE Judahite audiences the memory of war and destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. The prophet uses poetry to evoke (rather than narrate) in order to bring comfort to his audience by revealing the powerful presence of God in the conditions of traumatic violence. Viewed thus, the book of Nahum cannot be dismissed (as has commonly been the case among both scholars and general readers) as irrelevant or merely vindictive. On the contrary, this book—with its depiction of a vengeful God and repulsive war scenes—is essential, especially for traumatized communities.

Reading Prophetic Poetry

Reading Prophetic Poetry PDF Author: Barbara Bakke Kaiser
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532662912
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
This volume seeks to guide students in religious or literary studies or other interested readers toward understanding and appreciation of biblical prophetic poetry. Each of the three sections of the book includes a chapter examining one of the literary features with brief examples from prophetic texts, followed by another chapter of applied criticism of a full prophetic poem (Joel 2 on parallelism, Jeremiah 4 on voice, and Isaiah 24 on design). Among the distinct features of the book are diagrams of parallel lines, promoting two-dimensional, “binocular” reading of the poems. Of all the literature of the Bible, prophetic poetry has probably been least accessible to the modern reader. Language is dense, images are obscure, and logical development of ideas seems almost inaccessible. Reading Prophetic Poetry seeks to help readers appreciate the luminous beauty of the language and the austere power and surprising relevance of the ideas in these relatively obscure biblical texts. It introduces an accessible approach to prophetic poetry which invites readers to turn to the biblical texts on their own with new ideas for appreciating the riches of these ancient poems.

The Prophetic Imagination

The Prophetic Imagination PDF Author: Walter Brueggemann
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9780800632878
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
In this challenging and enlightening treatment, Brueggemann traces the lines from the radical vision of Moses to the solidification of royal power in Solomon to the prophetic critique of that power with a new vision of freedom in the prophets. Here he traces the broad sweep from Exodus to Kings to Jeremiah to Jesus. He highlights that the prophetic vision and not only embraces the pain of the people but creates an energy and amazement based on the new thing that God is doing. In this new edition, Brueggemann has completely revised the text, updated the notes, and added a new preface.

Biblical Poetry and the Art of Close Reading

Biblical Poetry and the Art of Close Reading PDF Author: J. Blake Couey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108698190
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This volume explores the aesthetic dimensions of biblical poetry, offering close readings of poems across the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Composed of essays by fifteen leading scholars of biblical poetry, it offers creative and insightful close readings of poems from across the canon of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (Psalms, wisdom poetry, Song of Songs, prophecy, and poetry in biblical narrative). The essays build on recent advances in our understanding of biblical poetry and engage a variety of theoretical perspectives and current trends in the study of literature. They demonstrate the rewards of careful attention to textual detail, and they provide models of the practice of close reading for students, scholars, and general readers. They also highlight the rich aesthetic value of the biblical poetic corpus and offer reflection on the nature of poetry itself as a meaningful and enduring form of art.

God Speaks Through Wombs

God Speaks Through Wombs PDF Author: Drew Jackson
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 151400268X
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
In this dynamic collection of poems, Drew Jackson explores the first eight chapters of Luke's Gospel. These are declarative poems, faithfully proclaiming the gospel story in all its liberative power. Here the gospel is the "fresh words / that speak of / things impossible." This powerful poetry helps us hear the hum of deliverance—against all hope—that's been in the gospel all along.

Reading the Poetry of First Isaiah

Reading the Poetry of First Isaiah PDF Author: J. Blake Couey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198743556
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
This book shows that Isaiah 1-39 contains one of the most remarkable and provocative poetic voices in the Hebrew Bible, and that attention to its poetic style makes a significant difference to the interpretation of the text.

The Rhetoric of Romantic Prophecy

The Rhetoric of Romantic Prophecy PDF Author: Ian Balfour
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804745062
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
The Romantic era in England and Germany saw a sudden renewal of prophetic modes of writing. Biblical prophecy and, to a lesser extent, classical oracle again became viable models for poetry and even for journalistic prose. Notably, this development arose out of the new-found freedom of biblical interpretation that began in the mid-eighteenth century, as the Bible was increasingly seen to be a literary and mythical text. Taking Walter Benjamin’s thinking about history as a point of departure, the author shows how the model for Romantic prophecy emerges less as a prediction of the future than as a call to change in the present, even as it quotes, at key turns, texts from the past. After surveying developments in eighteenth-century biblical hermeneutics, as well as the numerous instances of prophetic eruption in Romantic poetry, the book culminates in close readings of works by Blake, Hölderlin, and Coleridge. Each of these writers interpreted the Bible in strong, variously radical and conservative ways, and each reworked prophetic texts in often startling fashion. The author’s reading of Blake focuses on the complex temporal and rhetorical dynamics at work in a prophetic tradition, with attention paid to the key mediating figure of Milton. The chapter on Hölderlin investigates the truth-claim of poetry and the consequences of Hölderlin’s insight into the necessarily figural character of poetry. The analysis of Coleridge correlates his theory of allegory and symbol with his theory and practice of political writing, which often relies on mobilizing prophetic authority. Together, the readings force us to reexamine the claims and practices of Romantic poets and thinkers and their ideas and ideologies, not without engendering some allegorical resonance with issues in our own time.

Reading Isaiah

Reading Isaiah PDF Author: Peter D. Quinn-Miscall
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664223694
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This practical, "how-to" literary introduction to Isaiah as a poem is based upon the English text and focuses upon parallelism, figurative language, and the use of imagery.

When Everything's on Fire

When Everything's on Fire PDF Author: Brian Zahnd
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 1514003341
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Is it possible to hold on to faith in an age of unbelief? Written with personal and pastoral experience, Brian Zahnd extends an invitation to move beyond the crisis of faith toward the journey of reconstruction. As the world rapidly changes in ways that feel incompatible with Christianity, this book provides much-needed hope that a stronger, more confident faith is possible.

A Farewell to Mars

A Farewell to Mars PDF Author: Brian Zahnd
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 143470792X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 149

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Book Description
We know Jesus the Savior, but have we met Jesus, Prince of Peace? When did we accept vengeance as an acceptable part of the Christian life? How did violence and power seep into our understanding of faith and grace? For those troubled by this trend toward the sword, perhaps there is a better way. What if the message of Jesus differs radically differs from the drumbeats of war we hear all around us? Using his own journey from war crier to peacemaker and his in-depth study of peace in the scriptures, author and pastor Brian Zahnd reintroduces us to the gospel of Peace.