The Unchained Bible: Cultural Appropriations of Biblical Texts

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This volume explores a number of instances of unexpected but influential readings of the Bible in popular culture, literature, film, music and politics. The argument in all of them is that the effects of the Bible continues to have an effect on contemporary culture in ways that may surprise and sometimes dismay both religious and secular groups. That the Bible was at one time chained in churches is true. The subversive misreading of this enchainment as a symbol of a book in captivity to the established church is hard to suppress, however. Yet, once released from these chains, the Bible proves to be a text that gets everywhere and which undergoes surprising and sometimes contradictory metamorphoses. The pious advocates of making the Bible accessible who sought to free it from the churches' chains are the very people who then decry some of the results when the Bible is free to roam.

Reviews

Summarized. * New Testament Abstracts *
Pypers work should hold the interest of biblical scholars, theologians, sociologists of Christianity, those interested the reception of religious texts, and finally educated and motivated general readers. The Unchained Bible, like the Bible itself, fruitfully invites its readers to wonder, curiosity, and offense before its many penetrating insights, strange vistas, and unexpected connections. For putting together such a work, Pyper and T&T Clark are to be commended. -- Joseph K. Gordon, Marquette University * Reviews in Religion and Theology *
This collection of essays offers a wide range of unexpected readings of the Bible in popular culture, literature, film, music, and politics ... Hugh Pypers point throughout the present volume is that the Bibles effects may surprise and sometimes dismay both religious and secular groups when it is free to roam, unchained from the constraints of the Church. Infused with his characteristic wry humour, Pypers book seeks to provide a conscious engagement with these effects ... Through his varied examples of odd intersections between the Bible and popular culture Pyper effectively demonstrates how attention to the cultural appropriation of the Bible can often aid understanding of the text. -- Christine E. Joynes, Trinity College, Oxford, UK * Journal of Theological Studies (Vol. 64.2) *

Author Bio

Hugh S. Pyper is Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK