The Torah and the Stoics on humankind and nature: A Contribution to the Debate on Sustainability and Quality

by J.J. Boersema

Overview

The environmental problematique is intimately bound up with deep-seated human attitudes regarding our relationship with nature. Here in the west those attitudes have been shaped to no small degree by the canonical texts of the Bible and the classical philosophers. In this book the author re-examines some of these seminal texts, arguing that what we today know as 'Christian cosmology' is in fact a grafting of classical Greek philosophy onto ancient Israelite thought, with certain valuable traditions being all but lost in the process. The dietary laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, in particular, still prove surprisingly relevant today. Often misread on this point, the creation narratives of Genesis can likewise serve as a rich point of departure for examining our attitudes towards the natural world. A reappraisal of these sources is necessary and feasible. There is no need for an appeal to cosmologies alien to our own culture, nor for recourse to 'New Age' beliefs in all their variety.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004118867
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/12/2001
Series:	Biblical Studies and Religious Studies
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.82(d)

About the Author

Jan J. Boersema, Ph.D. in Theology at Groningen University, is Reader in environmental science and educated as a biologist. His publications cover a wide range of subjects focussing in recent years on the relation between sustainability and religion. He edited two environmental textbooks and is editor in chief of Milieu, a Dutch scientific journal.

Editorial Reviews

'Boersema writes with considerable competence as far as O.T. criticism is concerned [...] his treatment of biblical passages will be of benefit to biblical scholars as well as to wider audiences.'
P.J. Williams, in Vetus Testamentum.

From the Publisher