Reading for Unity in Genesis 1:1–11:9

This volume's essays discuss how Genesis figures in unity appeals from widely varying times from the Ancient Near East to the twenty-first century and in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In doing so, the contributors particularly attend to these appeals' hermeneutical dimensions, to why and how these appeals connect themselves to the text and work to foster unity as they do. Each essay offers its own important portrait of the hermeneutics of unity, and viewed together, these essays' individual portraits form a larger mosaic. Operation of the hermeneutics of unity in different times and contexts inevitably manifests itself differently. On the other hand, the interpreters that this volume addresses have a common pool of material from which they work (Genesis 1:1–11:9), and they work that material toward a common goal (unity). Thus, for all the differences in these interpreters' own situations-and, indeed, because of these differences-they illumine what they share in common as readers who attempting to foster unity in dialog with Genesis and the traditions surrounding it.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: “Hermeneutics, Unity, and Genesis 1:1–11:9”, J. David Stark Part 1: Reading for Unity in Genesis 1:1–3:24 Chapter One: “The Battle for the Bible: Evangelical Biblical Interpretation, Inerrancy, and Genesis 1–2”, Todd M. Brenneman Chapter Two: “Irenaeus on Genesis 1–2: The Unity of First and Last Things in the Economic Work of God”, Joseph K. Gordon Chapter Three: “Imag(in)ing Adam and the Messiah in a Hermeneutics of Unity”, J. David Stark Chapter Four: “'Seeing with Eyes Asquint': A Re-visionist Reading of Augustine's Teaching on Original Sin”, Alden Bass Chapter Five: “The Seven Faces of Eve: Reflections on Recent Reception Critical Analysis of the Character of Eve”, Kevin Youngblood Part 2: Reading for Unity in Genesis 4:1–11:9 Chapter Six: “Genesis 4 in 1 John 3: Cain and Abel as Models of Christian Division and Unity”, Melvin L. Otey Chapter Seven: “Inundation and Prophetic Inspiration: Noah's Flood in the Prophetic Literature”, Kipp Swinney Chapter Eight: “United We Fall: The Unifying Power of the Curse of Ham”, Wes Crawford Chapter Nine: “Unity and Exclusivity: The Table of Nations and Fictive Kinships in the Hellenistic World”, Jared Saltz Chapter Ten: “'In the Guise of Wrath Did He Give the Riches of His Beneficence': The Drama of Divine Pedagogy in Early Syrian Interpretations of Genesis 11:1–9”, Jeff W. Childers Chapter Eleven: “Resisting Babel: A Polemic against Imperial Power”, John Mark Hicks About the Contributors

About the Author :
J. David Stark is professor of Biblical Studies and the Winnie and Cecil May Jr. Biblical Research Fellow at Faulkner University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge. Daniel B. Oden is professor of Hebrew Bible in the College of Bible and Ministry at Harding University.

Review :
Genesis has long fascinated Christian (and Jewish and other) readers because of its vision of the universal human experience of creatureliness before God, and its instantiation of that universality in the particular stories of recognizable human individuals and families. The Bible's first book exudes the dynamic tension between unity and diversity that also characterizes the church's life. In this learned and beautifully lucid book, a team of skilled authors and editors explore the possibilities of healthy unity emerging from the encounter between committed readers and the ancient biblical text. They exhibit not only the richness and variety of Christian readings responding to Genesis 1-11, but also the possibilities such readings raise for the church's ongoing life as a body experiencing its unity from a common baptism while also seeking deeper and more visible expressions of that unity in its irreducible diversity. A highly stimulating book, much to be commended. Biblical studies is flourishing, with renewed attention to figurative and theological interpretation deepening our grasp of Scripture. In this volume, Stark and Oden gather leading scholars to explore Genesis 1–11 through the lens of the whole Canon, uncovering its enduring theological significance. This cohesive collection advances hermeneutics and doctrinal theology alike, offering rich insights for scholars, theologians, and students committed to faithful exegesis. These thought-provoking and imaginative studies in the hermeneutics of unity model a species of mediation – the laying of a biblically informed wisdom for the deep pastoral task of reconciliation in an often fractured and polarised Church. As a pastor and a teacher, this important volume will continue to encourage and inspire me to pursue a loving and truthful unity that is animated by the Spirit of Pentecost.