Reading for Unity in Genesis 1:1–11:9

J. David Stark is professor of Biblical Studies and the Winnie and Cecil May Jr. Biblical Research Fellow at Faulkner University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge.Daniel B. Oden is professor of Hebrew Bible in the College of Bible and Ministry at Harding University.

• Introduction: “Hermeneutics, Unity, and Genesis 1:1–11:9”, J. David StarkPart 1: Reading for Unity in Genesis 1:1–3:24Chapter One: “The Battle for the Bible: Evangelical Biblical Interpretation, Inerrancy, and Genesis 1–2”, Todd M. BrennemanChapter Two: “Irenaeus on Genesis 1–2: The Unity of First and Last Things in the Economic Work of God”, Joseph K. GordonChapter Three: “Imag(in)ing Adam and the Messiah in a Hermeneutics of Unity”, J. David StarkChapter Four: “‘Seeing with Eyes Asquint’: A Re-visionist Reading of Augustine’s Teaching on Original Sin”, Alden BassChapter Five: “The Seven Faces of Eve: Reflections on Recent Reception Critical Analysis of the Character of Eve”, Kevin YoungbloodPart 2: Reading for Unity in Genesis 4:1–11:9Chapter Six: “Genesis 4 in 1 John 3: Cain and Abel as Models of Christian Division and Unity”, Melvin L. OteyChapter Seven: “Inundation and Prophetic Inspiration: Noah’s Flood in the Prophetic Literature”, Kipp SwinneyChapter Eight: “United We Fall: The Unifying Power of the Curse of Ham”, Wes CrawfordChapter Nine: “Unity and Exclusivity: The Table of Nations and Fictive Kinships in the Hellenistic World”, Jared SaltzChapter Ten: “‘In the Guise of Wrath Did He Give the Riches of His Beneficence’: The Drama of Divine Pedagogy in Early Syrian Interpretations of Genesis 11:1–9”, Jeff W. ChildersChapter Eleven: “Resisting Babel: A Polemic against Imperial Power”, John Mark HicksAbout the Contributors

Genesis has long fascinated Christian (and Jewish and other) readers because of its vision of the universal human experience of creatureliness before God, and its instantiation of that universality in the particular stories of recognizable human individuals and families. The Bible's first book exudes the dynamic tension between unity and diversity that also characterizes the church's life. In this learned and beautifully lucid book, a team of skilled authors and editors explore the possibilities of healthy unity emerging from the encounter between committed readers and the ancient biblical text. They exhibit not only the richness and variety of Christian readings responding to Genesis 1-11, but also the possibilities such readings raise for the church's ongoing life as a body experiencing its unity from a common baptism while also seeking deeper and more visible expressions of that unity in its irreducible diversity. A highly stimulating book, much to be commended.