Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; CHAPTER 1: THE NEED FOR INCLUSIVE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION; A.UNMASKING THE CHURCH; B; UNMASKING THE ACADEMY; CHAPTER 2: PROBLEMATIC BIBLICAL LAWS: THE VIEW FROM THE "OTHER" SIDE; A; WALDEMAR JANZEN: THE FAMILIAL PARADIGM; B; CHRISTOPHER J.H. WRIGHT: WHAT ABOUT THE CANAANITES?; C; JOHN BARTON: THE BASIS OF OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS; CHAPTER 3: RUTH AND ESTHER AS MODELS FOR THE FORMATION OF GOD'S PEOPLE: ENGAGING LIBERATIONIST CRITIQUES; A; FEMINIST/WOMANIST CRITIQUES: EMPOWERING THE MARGINALIZED; B; QUEER CRITIQUES: CHALLENGING THE EXCLUSIVE FOCUS ON MALES; C; POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUES: STRUGGLING AGAINST THE COLONIAL EMPIRE; A; FEMINIST/WOMANIST CRITIQUES: WHO REALLY WINS?; B; QUEER CRITIQUES: TO "PASS" OR NOT TO "PASS" IS THE QUESTION; C; POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUES: IMPERIAL/COLONIAL POWERS, MARGINALIZATION,AND VIOLENCE; CHAPTER 4: JESUS, PAUL, THE LAW AND INCLUSIVE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION; A; INTRODUCTION; B; JESUS AGAINST THE PHARISEES AND THEIR GREAT TRADITION; C; JESUS: ELEMENTS OF INCLUSIVE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION; 1. JESUS CONSIDERS THE IMPACT OF AN INTERPRETATION ON THE MARGINALIZED; 2; JESUS' NEW INTERPRETATION IS GROUNDED IN THE BIBLICAL TRADITION; 3; JESUS IDENTIFIES THE ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT OF GOD; 4; JESUS INCLUDES THE EXCLUDED; 2; PAUL, THE LAW, AND INCLUSIVE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION; A; INTRODUCTION; 1; WOMEN 2; SLAVERY; 3; SEXUALITY; B; PAUL: ELEMENTS OF INCLUSIVE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION 1; PAUL INCLUDES THE EXCLUDED AND HE BASES IT ON THE BIBLICAL TRADITION; 2; PAUL CONSIDERS THE IMPACT OF AN INTERPRETATION OR POLICY ON THE MARGINALIZED; 3. PAUL IDENTIFIES THE ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT OF GOD; CONCLUSIONS; CHAPTER 5 : THE PROTESTANT REFORMERS AND INCLUSIVE BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION; A. A REFORMED CONTRIBUTION: THE WORD OF GOD; B. A LUTHERAN CONTRIBUTION: THE INDWELLING CHRIST; C. A WESLEYAN CONTRIBUTION: THE LAW OF LOVE; CHAPTER 6: BIBLICAL AUTHORITY AND THE ETHICS OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION; CHAPTER 7: THE NEED FOR AN INCLUSIVE APPROACH CONTINUES: THE UNITED STATES, THE FOUNDING FATHERS, AND THE NATIONAL IDENTITY; BIBLIOGRAPHY

About the Author

Cheryl Anderson is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Reviews

"Cheryl Anderson's book opens up Biblical law from the perspective of women, gays, the poor, indigenous and colonized peoples and wrestles with issues of Biblical authority in that context. This is a key work for those concerned with the role of the Bible in promoting inclusive justice."

-- Rosemary Radford Ruether, Professor of Theology, Claremont Graduate University
"Cheryl Anderson has added her compelling voice to the articulation of a responsible, knowing, contextual hermeneutic. In her discussion of biblical texts, she shows how much interpretation has been the self-interested, even if self-deceiving, domain of Western 'affluent, white, heterosexual males.' Her forays into subsequent theology exhibit the same, with the important recognition that such practitioners as Luther, Calvin, and Wesley were able to go beyond
their own interests by attending to 'the Word of God.' Going beyond criticism of earlier interpretive practices, the book is a testimony to the faithfulness and urgency of 'other-regarding'
interpretation. The subtlety of the argument makes this an important voice in an interpretive enterprise now increasingly persuasive among us."

-- Walter Brueggemann, author of An Unsettling God: The Heart of the Hebrew Bible
"A compelling account of the inclusive promises of the Christian message, one highly pertinent to contemporary social realities."--Christian Century
"this book is important, as it seeks to show how biblical interpretation can promote social justice for all."--Interpretation:A Journal of Bible and Theology