Saturday, July 28, 2018

Lester, Prophetic Rivalry, Gender, and Economics

NEW BOOK FROM MOHR SIEBECK: Olivia Stewart Lester. Prophetic Rivalry, Gender, and Economics. A Study in Revelation and Sibylline Oracles 4–5. [Prophetische Rivalität, Geschlecht und Wirtschaft. Eine Untersuchung zur Offenbarung und den Sibyllinischen Orakeln 4–5.] 2018. XIII, 239 pages. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 466. 79,00 € sewn paper ISBN 978-3-16-155651-7.
Published in English.
Olivia Stewart Lester examines true and false prophecy at the intersections of interpretation, gender, and economics in Revelation, Sibylline Oracles 4–5, and contemporary ancient Mediterranean texts. With respect to gender, these texts construct a discourse of divine violence against prophets, in which masculine divine domination of both male and female prophets reinforces the authenticity of the prophetic message. Regarding economics, John and the Jewish sibyllists resist the economic actions of political groups around them, especially Rome, by imagining an alternate universe with a new prophetic economy. In this economy, God requires restitution from human beings, whose evil behavior incurs debt. The ongoing appeal of prophecy as a rhetorical strategy in Revelation and Sibylline Oracles 4–5, and the ongoing rivalries in which these texts engage, argue for prophecy's continuing significance in a larger ancient Mediterranean religious context.
For a summary of the PhD dissertation on which this book is based, see here. Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch.

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