The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Ecology

Environmental issues are an ever-increasing focus of public discourse and have proved concerning to religious groups as well as society more widely. Among biblical scholars, criticism of the Judeo-Christian tradition for its part in the worsening crisis has led to a small but growing field of study on ecology and the Bible. This volume in the Oxford Handbook series makes a significant contribution to this burgeoning interest in ecological hermeneutics, incorporating the best of international scholarship on ecology and the Bible. The Handbook comprises 30 individual essays on a wide range of relevant topics by established and emerging scholars. Arranged in four sections, the volume begins with a historical overview before tackling some key methodological issues. The second, substantial, section comprises thirteen essays offering detailed exegesis from an ecological perspective of selected biblical books. This is followed by a section exploring broader thematic topics such as the Imago Dei and stewardship. Finally, the volume concludes with a number of essays on contemporary perspectives and applications, including political and ethical considerations. The editors Hilary Marlow and Mark Harris have drawn on their experience in Hebrew Bible and New Testament respectively to bring together a diverse and engaging collection of essays on a subject of immense relevance. Its accessible style, comprehensive scope, and range of material means that the volume is a valuable resource, not only to students and scholars of the Bible but also to religious leaders and practitioners.

Hilary Marlow is Vice-Mistress, Graduate Tutor and Director of Studies at Girton College and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, where she teaches Hebrew Bible and Biblical Hebrew. She is the author of Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics (OUP, 2009) and numerous articles. Her research focuses on the intersection between the Hebrew Bible and contemporary environmental issues, including eco-critical and new materialist readings. Mark Harris is Professor of Natural Science and Theology at the University of Edinburgh. As a physicist working in a theological environment, he is interested in the complex ways that science and religion relate to each other. His research interests include the relationship between the physical sciences (especially physics) and theology and the impact of science on modern views of the Bible, especially in thinking on miracles and divine action.