Genesis 1-11

This title is an unrevised reprint of a volume originally published as a part of the Sheffield Guides in 1991. As such, it was originally designed to describe research on the biblical primeval history as it had evolved in the 1970s and 1980s. The book highlighted major changes in biblical scholarship that were taking place in the latter part of the twentieth century, changes that Rogerson identified as liberation theology, feminist theology, and the ecological crisis. This hypothesis characterizes the first two chapters, Genesis 111 in Context, and Approaches to Genesis 111. In the final chapter, Critical Issues, however, things change. In stead of continuing to focus on these three interpretive approaches, Rogerson offers a list of sixteen topics, such as one creation story or two, Gods, women, and giants, N oahs drunkenness and Canaans curse, in which the author discusses a variety of topics. These involve diverse methods, many of which were developed far earlier than the later third of the twentieth century. These topics are treated piecemeal; there is neither introduction nor conclusion to this chapter, nor is there, for that matter, a conclusion to the volume. As a result, the second half appears more as list of occasional comments than it does an integrated introduction to the primeval history. [Full Review]