The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of MonotheismThe Curse of Cain confronts the inherent ambiguities of biblical stories on many levels and, in the end, offers an alternative, inspiring reading of the Bible that is attentive to visions of plenitude rather than scarcity, and to an ethics based on generosity rather than violence. "[A] provocative and timely examination of the interrelationship of monotheism and violence. . . . This is a refreshing alternative to criticism-biblical and otherwise-that so often confuses interpretation with closure; it is an invitation to an ethic of possibility, plenitude, and generosity, a welcome antidote to violence, as important for its insights into memory, identity, and place as for its criticism of monotheism's violent legacy."—Booklist "Brilliant and provocative, this is a work demanding close attention from critics, theologians, and all those interested in the imaginative roots of common life."—Rowan Williams, Bishop of Monmouth "A stunningly important book."—Walter Brueggemann, Theology Today "Artfully rendered, endlessly provocative."—Lawrence Weschler, New Yorker |
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Abraham adultery Ammonites Amnon Amorites ancient Israel become biblical canon biblical narratives biblical scholars blessing Book Book of Judges brother Cain Canaan Canaanites canon Christianity collective identity conquest covenant critique cultural curse daughter David define deity depicts descendants desire Deut Deuteronomy divine Egypt Egyptian endogamy Esau ethics exile Exodus exogamy Ezra father foreigner forged Freud Genesis Gerhard von Rad give gods Hebrew Bible Hittite imagined incest inheritance interpretation Isaac Israel's identity Israelites Jacob Jeremiah Joseph Joseph story Judaism king kinship land Lord marriage memory Moabites monotheism Moses Moses and Monotheism murder myth nation nomadism offers oppression outcast peaceful Perizzites Pharaoh plenitude political possession proliferating promise prophets punishment Qumran rape remember rivalry scarcity secular sexual Shechem sister sons story Tamar territory Testament theology theory tion tradition treaty typology University Press violence wife wilderness woman women Yahweh