God and the First Families

Stephen Spector is a professor of English emeritus at Stony Brook University. He is the author of Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews and Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism, among other volumes. Spector has taught the Bible to undergraduate and graduate students for fifty years. He has been a visiting scholar at Hebrew University and a senior research fellow at the National Humanities Center and the Wesleyan Center for Humanities.

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Parenting Insights from across Millennia1. Parenting Styles and Varieties of Belief in God2. The Authoritarian Language of Creation and Adam’s Love Story3. Crime and Authoritarian Punishment in Eden4. The Cain and Abel Murder Mystery5. The Flood and the Limits of Authoritarianism6. Abraham’s Righteousness and Fear7. Abraham’s Doubt and God’s Benevolence8. Sarah’s Laughter, Abraham’s Chutzpah, and God’s Compassion for the Dispossessed9. God’s Reversion to Authoritarianism and Isaac’s Trauma10. Recovery from Loss 11. Rebekah as a Wife and Mother12. Parental Favoritism and Sibling Rivalry in the Story of Jacob and Esau13. The Emergence of the Authoritative God14. Jacob Confronts an Authoritarian Father15. Wrestling with an Angel as a Turning Point for Jacob and for God16. Jacob’s Favoritism and Parental Negligence17. Joseph and the Consequences of Favoritism 18. Sense and Sexuality in the Story of Tamar19. Authoritative Parenting Starts to Work20. Healing a Dysfunctional Family21. Jacob’s Redemption, the Brothers’ Distrust, and Joseph’s Lovingkindness Conclusion: Parenting, Trauma, Healing, Love, and Redemption NotesBibliographyAppendix: Genesis Through the Lens of Trauma TheoryIndex

"This wise, compassionate, learned guide to trauma and love in Genesis enables us to better understand both the biblical book and the dynamics in our own fractured families."—Rabbi David Wolpe, author of Teaching Your Children About God"Keen observer Stephen Spector brings a wealth of learning and original insight to this lively rereading of familiar family stories. Readers will gain greater appreciation of the wounds and blessings that come with being part of a family—and useful tips on how to cope and heal."—Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary"For those wishing to bring their contemporary understandings of God into line with biblical depictions of the divine, the interpretive strategy employed in the book will provide significant food for thought."—Danna Nolan Fewell, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative