The Nowhere Bible: Utopia, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Frauke Uhlenbruch

Published by De Gruyter 2015

The Nowhere Bible

Utopia, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Frauke Uhlenbruch

Volume 4 in the series Studies of the Bible and Its Reception (SBR)

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110414172

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Bible contains passages that allow both scholars and believers to project their hopes and fears onto ever-changing empirical realities. By reading specific biblical passages as utopia and dystopia, this volume raises questions about reconstructing the past, the impact of wishful imagination on reality, and the hermeneutic implications of dealing with utopia – “good place” yet “no place” – as a method and a concept in biblical studies.
A believer like William Bradford might approach a biblical passage as utopia by reading it as instructions for bringing about a significantly changed society in reality, even at the cost of becoming an oppressor. A contemporary biblical scholar might approach the same passage with the ambition of locating the historical reality behind it – finding the places it describes on a map, or arriving at a conclusion about the social reality experienced by a historical community of redactors. These utopian goals are projected onto a utopian text.
This volume advocates an honest hermeneutical approach to the question of how reliably a past reality can be reconstructed from a biblical passage, and it aims to provide an example of disclosing – not obscuring – pre-suppositions brought to the text.

Author / Editor information

Frauke Uhlenbruch, Berlin, Germany.

Supplementary Materials

Contents

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
1 Fragmented Allusions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Texts and Concepts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	6
3 Utopia as an Ideal Type Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
4 Utopia and Reality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
5 Numbers 13 and Its Reception Read as Utopia and Dystopia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
6 Utopia and Dystopia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
7 Science Fiction and the Bible Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	160
8 Afterthoughts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics, Libraries, Institutes
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 210
Keywords: Hebrew Bible; utopia; science fiction; hermeneutics

eBook

Published: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 9783110414172

Hardcover

Published: February 26, 2015
ISBN: 9783110411546