Where Is God in the Megilloth?
Subtitle: A Dialogue on the Ambiguity of Divine Presence and Absence
Publisher: BRILL
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
ISBN-13: 9789004368705
Subjects: God, biblical teaching; Bible, criticism, interpretation, etc.
Description: "In 'Where is God in the Megilloth?' Melton constructs a dialogue among Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs centred on this question, in an effort to settle the debate about whether God is present or absent in these books. Their juxtaposition in the Hebrew Bible highlights their shared theme of apparent divine absence, but, paradoxically, traces of God's presence are unearthed as well. By examining various aspects of this theme, including the literary absence of God, divine abandonment, God-talk, allusive language, God's providence, and divine silence, it becomes clear that the ambiguity of divine presence and absence in the Megilloth presents a significant challenge to current conceptualizations of divine presence and absence in the Hebrew Bible."--