Overview
A Biblical Perspective on What It Means to Be Human
This major work by a widely respected Old Testament scholar and theologian unpacks a biblical perspective on fundamental questions of what it means to be human. J. Gordon McConville explores how a biblical view of humanity provides a foundation for Christian reflection on ethics, economics, politics, and church life and practice. The book shows that the Old Testament's view of humanity as "earthed" and "embodied" plays an essential part in a well-rounded Christian theology and spirituality, and applies the theological concept of the "image of God" to all areas of human existence.
This major work by a widely respected Old Testament scholar and theologian unpacks a biblical perspective on fundamental questions of what it means to be human. J. Gordon McConville explores how a biblical view of humanity provides a foundation for Christian reflection on ethics, economics, politics, and church life and practice. The book shows that the Old Testament's view of humanity as "earthed" and "embodied" plays an essential part in a well-rounded Christian theology and spirituality, and applies the theological concept of the "image of God" to all areas of human existence.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction: On Thinking about Being Human
1. Humanity in the Image of God (Imago Dei)
2. "Like God" in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2-3)
3. The Human "Constitution" in the Old Testament
4. The Situated Self
5. The Old Testament's Transformations and the "Spiritual Sense"
6. Embodiments: Place and Memory
7. The Political Self
8. Male and Female
9. Work and Creativity
10. The Old Testament and Human Formation: The Psalms
Indexes
Introduction: On Thinking about Being Human
1. Humanity in the Image of God (Imago Dei)
2. "Like God" in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2-3)
3. The Human "Constitution" in the Old Testament
4. The Situated Self
5. The Old Testament's Transformations and the "Spiritual Sense"
6. Embodiments: Place and Memory
7. The Political Self
8. Male and Female
9. Work and Creativity
10. The Old Testament and Human Formation: The Psalms
Indexes
Endorsements
"What might the Old Testament teach us about being human in community with God, other humans, and the world today? Gordon McConville expertly leads the reader in an engaging theological journey through the Old Testament to answer that question. He offers intelligently argued and biblically grounded understandings of a broad range of topics: human transformation, spirituality, community, health, ecology, knowledge, emotion, language, politics, sexuality, work, and creativity. A spiritual feast of Old Testament insight into what it means to be human that takes seriously both the Bible and our twenty-first-century contexts."
Dennis Olson, Charles Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
"McConville offers a richly textured account of our humanity as the Hebrew Bible portrays it. His 'spiritual' reading is both scholarly and engaging for a diverse audience, as he explores variously the material, political, gendered and sexual, as well as prayerful dimensions of human living 'in the image of God.'"
Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School
"What does it mean to be human? Gordon McConville explores God's revelation in the Old Testament in response to this question. With insight and profundity, he illuminates our understanding, but more importantly he shows how the Old Testament invites us to spiritual transformation centered on worship. I recommend this book to all who want to understand themselves better and to grow as human beings created in the image of God."
Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar of Biblical Studies, Westmont College
"I am grateful to Gordon McConville for this profoundly nuanced study of the Old Testament's embodied vision of being human. McConville's short, lucid chapters display wide acquaintance with a range of biblical scholarship and contemporary issues yet are characterized by attunement to the transformation of the reader. This is a book to be savored."
J. Richard Middleton, professor of biblical worldview and exegesis, Northeastern Seminary
"Gordon McConville has written a superb study of various anthropological issues raised in the Old Testament. Ranging widely across the text, his work provides a clear and stimulating exploration of a very important theological topic in ways that are historically and literarily sensitive. This volume will certainly be a significant resource for biblical and theological studies for the next generation."
Terence E. Fretheim, Elva B. Lovell Professor of Old Testament Emeritus, Luther Seminary
"Noted Old Testament scholar Gordon McConville draws on his disciplinary expertise to provide this fascinating and rich account of humanity in relation to God, to other humans, and to the nonhuman creation. It is wide-ranging in its coverage of Old Testament texts, in its treatment of key aspects of the multifaceted experience of living in this world, and in its relating these to contemporary thinking about the human. The book's careful exegesis and wise theological reflection are always accessible. At the same time, McConville's focus on transformation makes his work a wonderful resource for exploring biblical spirituality in its broadest sense of human flourishing, and in this respect the closing chapter on the Psalms in human formation offers a fitting and inspiring climax."
Andrew T. Lincoln, emeritus professor of New Testament, University of Gloucestershire
"Deeply rooted in biblical theology while dialoguing with broader theological voices, McConville invites us to reconsider the way we view ourselves as human beings. In this book you will learn from a sage whose wise reflections open our eyes to the possibilities of human experience lived in communion with the Creator as well as with one another."
Mark J. Boda, professor of Old Testament, McMaster Divinity College; professor, Faculty of Theology, McMaster University
"Gordon McConville's 'biblical spirituality' of being human in God's world is a study that has to do with self-understanding, transformation, and transcendence. McConville addresses all of the pertinent sections and questions of the Old Testament proper: the imago Dei, being 'like God' in Genesis 2-3, the nature of the human 'constitution,' the situated nature of the self, embodiment, politics, gender, work, and creativity--to name a few. His profundity and dexterity with Scripture is everywhere on display, but he also regularly delves into wider theological literature and even further afield into other relevant studies. Readers will be convinced that 'the inextricability of theology and anthropology is a hallmark of the Old Testament's discourse,' and will be inspired by this wise book that McConville has offered to us, 'not as a theory but as a preamble to a practice.'"
Brent A. Strawn, professor of Old Testament, Emory University
Author
J. Gordon McConville
J. Gordon McConville (PhD, Queen's University, Belfast) is professor emeritus of Old Testament theology at the University of Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire, England. He previously taught at Trinity College, Bristol, and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. McConville has written or edited many books, including Being Human in God's World, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets, and commentaries on Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.