Liberating Biblical Study: Scholarship, Art, and Action in Honor of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice

Synopsis: Liberating Biblical Study is a unique collaboration of pioneering biblical scholars, social-change activists, and movement-based artists. Well known and unknown, veterans and newcomers, these diverse practitioners of justice engage in a lively and critical conversation at the intersection of seminary, sanctuary, and street. The book is divided into eight sections; in each, a scholar, activist, and artist explore the justice issues related to a biblical text or idea, such as exodus, creation, jubilee, and sanctuary. Beyond the emerging themes (e.g., empire, resistance movements, identity, race, gender, and economics), the book raises essential questions at another level: What is the role of art in social-change movements? How can scholars be accountable beyond the academy, and activists encouraged to study? How are resistance movements nurtured and sustained? This volume is an accessible invitation to action that will appeal to all who love and strive for justice--whatever their discipline, and whatever their familiarity with the Bible, scholarship, art, and activist communities. Endorsements: "Here is another remarkable idea of Norman Gottwald coming to fruition in a combination of biblical vision, creative imagination, and public action. Every section of the book is a provocative juxtaposition of critical analysis by engaged biblical scholars, incisive insights of social activists, and compelling expressions of poets and artists . . . A highly stimulating start, send-off, and celebration for the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice." -Richard Horsley author of Jesus and Empire: the Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder "This book teaches you how to use the Bible as a critical tool for social justice on the street and in the academy. I am deeply moved and inspired by the testimonies and bold visions of the scholars, activists, and artists who contributed to this volume. Buy the book, teach it, and begin organizing!" -Kwok Pui-lan author of Discovering the Bible in the Non-Biblical World Author Biography: Laurel Dykstra is a community-based Bible and justice educator and activist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her publications include Set Them Free: The Other Side of Exodus (2002). Ched Myers is a social-justice educator and activist and biblical animator based in southern California. His publications include Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus (20th anniversary edition, 2008) and, with Elaine Enns, Ambassadors of Reconciliation (2009).