Rape Culture, Gender Violence, and Religion - Biblical Perspectives

This book explores the Bible's ongoing relevance in contemporary discussions around rape culture and gender violence. Each chapter considers the ways that biblical texts and themes engage with various forms of gender violence, including the subjective, physical violence of rape, the symbolic violence of misogynistic and heteronormative discourses, and the structural violence of patriarchal power systems. The authors within this volume attempt to name (and shame) the multiple forms of gender violence present within the biblical traditions, contesting the erasure of this violence within both the biblical texts themselves and their interpretive traditions. They also consider the complex connections between biblical gender violence and the perpetuation and validation of rape culture in contemporary popular culture. This volume invites new and ongoing conversations about the Bible's complicity in rape-supportive cultures and practices, challenging readers to read these texts in light of the global crisis of gender violence.

Caroline Blyth is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Auckland. Recent publications include Reimagining Delilah's Afterlives as Femme Fatale (2017). She is co-editor of the Bible and Critical Theory journal, and founding member of the Shiloh Project, an interdisciplinary research group studying gender violence and religion.

Emily Colgan is Lecturer in Theology at Trinity Methodist Theological College, Auckland, and contributor to the Shiloh Project.

Katie B. Edwards is Director of the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies and Senior Lecturer in the School of English, University of Sheffield. She is current co-editor of the Biblical Reception journal, and founding member of the Shiloh Project.