Biblical Blaspheming

Explores the persistence of 'blasphemy' in modern secular democracies and examines ways of talking and thinking about the Bible.

This book explores the strange persistence of 'blasphemy' in modern secular democracies by examining how accepted and prohibited ways of talking and thinking about the Bible and religion have changed over time. In a series of wide-ranging studies engaging disciplines such as politics, literature and visual theory, Yvonne Sherwood brings the Bible into dialogue with a host of interlocutors including John Locke, John Donne and the 9/11 hijackers, as well as artists such as Sarah Lucas and René Magritte. Questions addressed include: • What is the origin of the common belief that the Bible, as opposed to the Qur'an, underpins liberal democratic values? • What kind of artworks does the biblical God specialise in? • If pre-modern Jewish, Christian and Islamic responses to scripture can be more 'critical' than contemporary speech about religion, how does this affect our understanding of secularity, modernity and critique?

This book explores the strange persistence of 'blasphemy' in modern secular democracies by examining how accepted and prohibited ways of talking and thinking about the Bible and religion have changed over time. In a series of wide-ranging studies engaging disciplines such as politics, literature and visual theory, Yvonne Sherwood brings the Bible into dialogue with a host of interlocutors including John Locke, John Donne and the 9/11 hijackers, as well as artists such as Sarah Lucas and Rene Magritte. Questions addressed include: What is the origin of the common belief that the Bible, as opposed to the Qur'an, underpins liberal democratic values? What kind of artworks does the biblical God specialise in? If pre-modern Jewish, Christian and Islamic responses to scripture can be more 'critical' than contemporary speech about religion, how does this affect our understanding of secularity, modernity and critique?

In an increasingly secular world, 'blasphemy' is surely a defunct concept. And yet blasphemy (life God and religion) seems to be on the rise. In this Very Short Introduction Yvonne Sherwood asks why this should be the case, looking at factors such as the increased visibility of religious and racial minorities, new media, and the legacies of colonial blasphemy laws. Throughout, she uncovers new histories, from the story of accidentally blasphemous cartoons to the close associations between blasphemy, sex, and birth control, and asks why some 'blasphemies' have become infamous, while others have disappeared.

Tracing the subject from the Middle Ages to the present, David Nash outlines the history of blasphemy as a concept - from a species of heresy to modern understandings of it as a crime against the sacred and individual religious identity. Investigating its appearance in speech, literature, popular publishing and the cinema, he disinters the likely motives and agendas of blasphemers themselves, as well as offering a glimpse of blasphemy's victims. In particular, he seeks to understand why this seemingly medieval offence has reappeared to become a distinctly modern presence in the West.

Why Jesus was put to death remains a pivotal issue in New Testament scholarship. The Marcan account of the Jewish examination of Jesus lies at the heart of the debate. Darrell Bock defends the historical-cultural veracity of Mark's portrayal through a careful study of the Jewish views on blasphemy and exaltation.

Rewritten in their entirety, these blasphemous new and old testaments are an attempt at a reversal of morals--a dialectical approach to the truth in which the opposite is mirrored against the established with the goal of producing a new transcendent truth uniting the two contradictory views. ." . . a means of challenging zealots to read their own holy books and possibly force them to consider the harder questions and contradictions contained therein, the author decided to rewrite the Bible. Years of indefatigable work later, The Blasphemous Bible was created. All the many stories, verses, and 'facts' contained in the Bible are here rewritten with no apology for the obvious wickedness, cruelties, atrocities, and overall unbelievable fallacies it may be said to chronicle."