Contending for Justice: Ideologies and Theologies of Social Justice in the Old Testament

(Paperback)

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Contending for Justice analyses texts on social justice in the Old Testamentand argues that despite their ideological character they may still assist in shaping a Christian theological approach to social and global injustice. The book argues on the one hand that a class interest is involved in all texts on the subject of social justice, and on the other that, that the very interest demands that they should appeal to the broadest possible public by using generally accepted ethical and theological ideas.

Four elements are set out in a hermeneutical proposal: texts should be understood as rhetoric in real social situations, as ideology protecting a social position, as defining recognized ethical values, and theologically as having a critical and constructive potential for the interpreter's own situation. A second chapter attempts to sketch the social conditions in which such texts were formed. The hermeneutical scheme is then applied, but not rigidly, to a wide range of texts: prophetic denunciations of oppression, texts in a variety of genres defining the characteristics of the just individual, texts in the Psalms and Isaiah defining the duty of the king to protect the poor, visions of a just community in the prophets, words of Torah aimed at protecting the indebted poor and restoring an independent peasantry, and assertions of the justice of God. The book concludes with brief reflections on the value of the Old Testament as a resource in the struggle for justice.

This new paperback edition is fully revised and updated.

Reviews

'A very fine work, probably the most useful and comprehensive I have come across...this accomplishment...is a real contribution to the study of biblical ethics.' Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, USA
'This book is a successful attempt to understand texts concerned with social justice in the OT from a Christian perspective. It is full of insights, provocative and challenging. It is at times disturbing. It is also full of hope.' K. Heim, SOTS Booklist -- K. Heim, SOTS Booklist, 2007
'A splendid contribution to a very major issue, a most interesting and thought-provoking study' Richard Coggins,formerly Senior Lecturer in Old Testament Studies, King's College London, UK
[A] marvellous combination of reading everything, being open to the most radical of ideas, but keeping a cool head, a critical spirit, and a desire to discover things in the OT of theological and ethical value.' John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament at Fuller Seminary, Pasadena, California, USA
Mention -Book News, February 2009
"Walter Houston here offers a comprehensive study of the them of social justice in the Old Testament, showing in what ways , and within what limits, the OT can and should be used today as a resource in campaigning for justice. The sociological context is illuminatingly explored; not least in relation to questions as to who was oppressing whom an by what means" "The teaching of the OT, Houston argues, should not be adopted uncritically (the genocide of Canaaties is clearly morally repugnant), but Deuteronomy's teaching about brotherhood has enduring relevance, as have the calls for social justice found in the prophetical books" The Pastoral Review vol.4 issue 4
"...a book unusually well attuned to the dual task of reading the Old Testament carefully and critically while still engaged in the task of offering a serious word to today's world. The depth and intricacy of the various exegetical and interpretative arguments is evidence that this is not an easy balancing act to maintain, but in my judgement Houston is strikingly successful. This book will repay careful attention to its detail, and will serve to energize those who would contend for justice today." Theology, November 2009
"This stimulating work is a revision of the edition released in 2005...The great strengths of the volume are the hermeneutical sophistication Houston brings to the task and the exegetical care with which he presents his conclusions. Thus, he avoids a facile reading of the Old Testament that simply takes its statements at face value, arguing that there are always ideologies at work behind its claims." Expository Times, November 2009
"Houston's monograph is to be welcomed as a timely contribution to both the field of Old Testament studies, and those theologians involved with, and concerned for the pressing need for articulation of the grounds for social justice in contemporary society." Theological Book Review, Vol 21, 2009

Author Bio

The Rev. Dr Walter J. Houston is Fellow Emeritus at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, and Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester, UK. He is a contributor to the Oxford Bible Commentary and Eerdmans Bible Commentary.