Norman C. Habel and Shirley Wurst (eds.). The Earth Story in Genesis. The Earth Bible, Volume 2. Cleveland: Pilgrim, 2000. Pp. 236. No Price Listed.

Abstract

"This second volume of The Earth Bible project includes fifteen essays, including one by Indigenous Australian Wali Fejo. The contributors continue the practice of reading biblical texts with an Earth-based hermeneutic that is guided by six ecojustice principles outlined at the beginning of the volume. The two principles most often used are: (1) the principle of intrinsic worth of the Earth and its components, and (2) the principle of interconnectedness of all living things. At the outset, the Earth Bible Team acknowledges that their use of these principles, in conjunction with other historical and literary methods, results in interpretations that are value-laden, not value-neutral. As socially-located readings, these essays offer both critiques of and alternatives to the dominant and often Earth-negating messages in the biblical texts. [2] Their Earth-based hermeneutic mandates that the Earth be regarded as subject, rather than object, of the text. Norman Habel, for example, argues that the story of human creation (Genesis 1:26-30) represents not the climax of God's creation, but "a sharp conflict of plot and perspective within the narrative" (35). Indeed, he asserts that "geophany" and "anthropophany" stand in ecological tension. Until the creation of humans, the Genesis 1 creation story emphasizes the two principles noted above. However, power relations change when humans are authorized to rule over other creatures and subdue the Earth. [3] Carol Newsom denounces a similar type of anthropocentrism in the Genesis 2-3 creation story. The initial interconnectedness of all creation (i.e. the common adamah material of both the human and the animals) falls apart when the humans' eyes are opened. Citing J. B. Callicott, Newsom maintains that such human self-awareness distinguishes the humans from the animals. She goes on to assert that the fall into anthropocentrism represents "if not the root of all sin, at least of all ecological sin" (62). Newsom concludes her essay with an acknowledgement that "sin" is not the only outcome of the story. The text should remind us that we have the ability to make choices for the benefit of all creation. [4] Other contributors likewise challenge and redefine traditional theological assumptions. Drawing on the work of American conservationist Aldo Leopold, Gene McAfee argues that the Abrahamic concept of land "constitutes little less than a second fall of humankind" (159). God's promise to Abraham of land and progeny redirects the blessings of fertility originally granted to all humanity to one specific people, i.e. Abraham and his descendants. Thus, the initial concern for biological reproduction as a means of survival is transformed into divine justification for social reproduction as a means for cultural dominance. This distinction "pit(s) the fertility of the chosen group against the fertility of non-chosen groups" so that "reproduction becomes an instrument of colonization" (160)."(pg 1)