Reading with Earth - (T&t Clark Explorations in Theology, Gender and Ecology) by Anne Elvey (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the 2023 ANZATS Award for the Best Monograph by an Established Scholar

Applying a re-envisioned, ecological, feminist hermeneutics, this book builds on two important responses to twentieth- and twenty-first-century situations of ecological trauma, especially the complex contexts of climate change and cross-species relations: first, ecological feminism; second, ecological hermeneutics in the Earth Bible tradition.

By way of readings of selected biblical texts, this book suggests that an ecological feminist aesthetic, bringing present situation and biblical text into conversation through engagement with activism and literature, principally poetry, is helpful in decolonizing ethics. Such an approach is both informed by and speaks back to the new materialism in ecological criticism.

Review Quotes

"The extraordinary breadth in this braided conversation between the biblical text and contemporary ecological contexts is impressive. Elvey combines analysis with creativity, complexities with poetry, nuance with passion. This work challenges, inspires and exhorts us to change and to imagine the future of our world differently." --Elizabeth Dowling, Independent Biblical Scholar, Australia

"This work builds upon the ecological hermeneutic of the Earth Bible project, while drawing also from feminist theological readings, the new materialism, indigenous scholarship and activism, and poetry, all in the service of reading Luke "with the Earth." This is a sophisticated, passionate, and timely reading. The Earth cries out, and Elvey enables us to hear these cries." --Shelly Matthews, Brite Divinity School, USA

"With great expertise and the fresh vision of a poet, Elvey draws disparate sources together into a searching eco-feminist conversation. This is a compelling appraisal of what it takes to face the traumas of ecological damage, colonialism and patriarchy and move towards the flourishing of all, including our more-than-human kin." --Vicky Balabanski, Adelaide College of Divinity, Australia

"This book is a breath of fresh air. Its braided ecological feminist materialist approach breathes exhortation, encouragement and consolation to enable shifts in perception. This book energises impelling action for a future unlike the present in cooperation with Earth and the more than human in all their vibrant materiality." --Kathleen P. Rushton, Independent Biblical Interpreter, New Zealand

"Anne Elvey's work is a deeply personal, ongoing wrestle with Scripture and the nature of its demands in a deeply unjust world. It is a challenging and compassionate journey of ecological entanglement, poetic feminism, and fundamental ecological understanding, urging us to let ourselves be embraced by a more complete, just, and harmonious world." --Christina Petterson, Australian National University, Australia

"Anne Elvey has written a very helpful guide to addressing the crisis of climate change in the context of biblical hermeneutics and feminist scholarship." --Kathryn Wills, The International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church

"[T]here is much in the text to stimulate and challenge ... I commend Reading with Earth as an important contribution." --Revd John Reader, William Temple Foundation, UK, Modern Believing

About the Author