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By David M. Carr - An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible
Excellent Book
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First published February 2, 2010
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About the author
David M. Carr
17 books10 followersDavid M. Carr is Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Over his decades-long academic career, he has become an international authority on the formation of the Bible, ancient scribal culture, and issues of the Bible and sexuality.
Decades into a career as a biblical scholar, he suffered a life-threatening bicycle accident that changed his view of the scriptures he had devoted his life to studying. As he grappled with his own individual trauma and survival of it, he became interested in how the collective trauma of Israel and the early church had shaped the Bible. He saw that these holy texts are defined by survival of communal catastrophe. This is part of what makes them special, what made them last. The result of this basic insight is Carr's forthcoming work, Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origins (Yale University Press, Fall 2014).
His academic journey to that point started with dropping out of high school at age sixteen to attend college full-time and completing a BA in Philosophy at Carleton College at age eighteen in 1980. Eight years later, in 1988, he finished his Ph.D. with a focus on the Old Testament and Early Judaism at Claremont Graduate University.
Since then he has taught full time for twenty-five years, first at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio (1988-1999) and the last fifteen years at Union Theological Seminary in New York City (1999-present). Some of his publications have been directed to fellow specialists on the Bible, such as Reading the Fractures of Genesis (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature (Oxford University Press, 2005) and The Formation of the Hebrew Bible: A New Reconstruction (Oxford University Press, 2011). While other publications have been directed to a broader audience of students and the general public such as Carr's Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality and the Bible (Oxford University Press, 2001).
A father/stepfather of four, Carr lives, rides his bicycle and plays funk-blues organ in New York City with his wife and fellow biblical scholar, Colleen Conway.
Decades into a career as a biblical scholar, he suffered a life-threatening bicycle accident that changed his view of the scriptures he had devoted his life to studying. As he grappled with his own individual trauma and survival of it, he became interested in how the collective trauma of Israel and the early church had shaped the Bible. He saw that these holy texts are defined by survival of communal catastrophe. This is part of what makes them special, what made them last. The result of this basic insight is Carr's forthcoming work, Holy Resilience: The Bible's Traumatic Origins (Yale University Press, Fall 2014).
His academic journey to that point started with dropping out of high school at age sixteen to attend college full-time and completing a BA in Philosophy at Carleton College at age eighteen in 1980. Eight years later, in 1988, he finished his Ph.D. with a focus on the Old Testament and Early Judaism at Claremont Graduate University.
Since then he has taught full time for twenty-five years, first at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio (1988-1999) and the last fifteen years at Union Theological Seminary in New York City (1999-present). Some of his publications have been directed to fellow specialists on the Bible, such as Reading the Fractures of Genesis (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature (Oxford University Press, 2005) and The Formation of the Hebrew Bible: A New Reconstruction (Oxford University Press, 2011). While other publications have been directed to a broader audience of students and the general public such as Carr's Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality and the Bible (Oxford University Press, 2001).
A father/stepfather of four, Carr lives, rides his bicycle and plays funk-blues organ in New York City with his wife and fellow biblical scholar, Colleen Conway.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2014
This is a textbook rather than a work of scholarship or a popularization of scholarship for readers interested in the topic. Nevertheless, it is an excellent introduction to the subject. Carr is fair-minded and notes where his views are different from those of others, and gives other viewpoints their due. The setting of the Hebrew Bible (better appellation than Old Testament, despite the Aramaic sections) in its cultural and imperial context is invaluable and unique, and give the reader an excellent appreciation of how the texts could have developed. Rather than following the order of the canon or its purported chronology, the author presents each set of texts in the period in which he things it developed, and the results are truly eye-opening. While I wonder about some of his assumptions (e.g. the historicity of the Davidic/Solomonic monarchy) and conclusions (nd in spite of its sometimes idiosyncratic points of view (e.g. early dating of Song of Songs and Proverbs) anyone interested in the topic will get alot out of this book.
January 1, 2013
I read this for a course I took with Dr. Carr. The structure is fairly unique - he discusses the historical context primarily, and then the books of the Bible as they come up chronologically. Carr dates some of the Biblical books at unorthodox times, like the Song of Songs and some parts of Exodus/Joshua, but he's careful to point out where his scholarship differs from that of the majority of his peers.
Note that Carr is fairly liberal on social issues, and some of those are discussed in this book - particularly feminist issues and sexuality issues. For me that's a plus, for others it may not be. He's very aware of his own perspective, though, and that self-awareness balances out any sense of bias.
Note that Carr is fairly liberal on social issues, and some of those are discussed in this book - particularly feminist issues and sexuality issues. For me that's a plus, for others it may not be. He's very aware of his own perspective, though, and that self-awareness balances out any sense of bias.
October 24, 2013
And excellent overview of the historical/critical landscape on the Old Testament.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews