The Power of the Word: Scripture and the Rhetoric of Empire - Tapa dura

What is the purpose of reading the Bible? Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza tackles the tough question of the Bible's role in the world today and how its vision can further a more just world. She shows particularly the radical power of the Word to challenge imperial ways, the humiliation of persons, and the use of religion itself to keep people down, today as then. Finally, she offers an understanding of the implications of such a program for the field and practice of biblical studies, an indispensable partner in challenging the status quo.

Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza is the Krister Stendahl Professor of Scripture and Interpretation at Harvard Divinity School and past President of the Society of Biblical Literature. Among her many influential works are Revelation: Vision of a Just World and Rhetoric and Ethic.