Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6

Few texts from the Hebrew Prophets present such a disconcerting ecological perspective as Zeph 1:2-6. While the text itself has received only scant attention in resources dealing with ecological interpretations of the Bible, it nevertheless becomes clear that Nature plays a multifaceted role that th...

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Main Author: C. J. (Neels) Redelinghuys
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: OTSSA 2017-12-01
Series:Old Testament Essays
Subjects:
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spelling doaj-68da9036f51046f8b2190e1fb8007e2f2020-11-24T21:49:12ZafrOTSSAOld Testament Essays1010-99192312-36212017-12-0130380381810.17159/2312-3621/2017/v30n3a15Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6C. J. (Neels) Redelinghuys0University of the Free StateFew texts from the Hebrew Prophets present such a disconcerting ecological perspective as Zeph 1:2-6. While the text itself has received only scant attention in resources dealing with ecological interpretations of the Bible, it nevertheless becomes clear that Nature plays a multifaceted role that the interpreter should not overlook. Consequently, this article aims to present an eco-critical rereading of the text based on the ecojustice principles of the Earth Bible, and Norman Habel’s tools for analysis – suspicion, identification, and retrieval. Such a rereading further uncovers certain questions, problems, and challenges concerning the kinship between humans and Nature. Because it continuously works to avoid anthropocentrism and engages in dialogue with science, the theocentric approach of Gustafson presents itself as a viable way to elucidate this complicated and often misrepresented relationship. Finally, the author suggests, by way of comparison, that such a theocentric reading surpasses the traditional stewardship approach when it comes to an understanding and/or appropriation of the Zeph 1:2-6 in the contemporary context.Zephaniah 1:2-6The Earth Biblesuspicionidentificationretrievalstewardshiptheocentric approachNature and the Hebrew Bibleeco-hermeneuticsecological criticism
collection DOAJ
language Afrikaans
format Article
sources DOAJ
author C. J. (Neels) Redelinghuys
spellingShingle C. J. (Neels) Redelinghuys
Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6
Old Testament Essays
Zephaniah 1:2-6
The Earth Bible
suspicion
identification
retrieval
stewardship
theocentric approach
Nature and the Hebrew Bible
eco-hermeneutics
ecological criticism
author_facet C. J. (Neels) Redelinghuys
author_sort C. J. (Neels) Redelinghuys
title Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6
title_short Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6
title_full Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6
title_fullStr Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6
title_full_unstemmed Creation Utterly Consumed? Towards an Eco-critical Rereading of Zephaniah 1:2–6
title_sort creation utterly consumed? towards an eco-critical rereading of zephaniah 1:2–6
publisher OTSSA
series Old Testament Essays
issn 1010-9919
2312-3621
publishDate 2017-12-01
description Few texts from the Hebrew Prophets present such a disconcerting ecological perspective as Zeph 1:2-6. While the text itself has received only scant attention in resources dealing with ecological interpretations of the Bible, it nevertheless becomes clear that Nature plays a multifaceted role that the interpreter should not overlook. Consequently, this article aims to present an eco-critical rereading of the text based on the ecojustice principles of the Earth Bible, and Norman Habel’s tools for analysis – suspicion, identification, and retrieval. Such a rereading further uncovers certain questions, problems, and challenges concerning the kinship between humans and Nature. Because it continuously works to avoid anthropocentrism and engages in dialogue with science, the theocentric approach of Gustafson presents itself as a viable way to elucidate this complicated and often misrepresented relationship. Finally, the author suggests, by way of comparison, that such a theocentric reading surpasses the traditional stewardship approach when it comes to an understanding and/or appropriation of the Zeph 1:2-6 in the contemporary context.
topic Zephaniah 1:2-6
The Earth Bible
suspicion
identification
retrieval
stewardship
theocentric approach
Nature and the Hebrew Bible
eco-hermeneutics
ecological criticism
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