The Bible Is a Book About Land

When land isn’t just land.

Amanda and Amy dive into the complex relationship between land ownership and belonging in the U.S., drawing on biblical interpretations. Amanda emphasized the significance of land in shaping political and religious beliefs, while Amy offered nuanced interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, revealing how it has been used to justify land ownership and extraction.

In this conversation, Amy and Amanda discuss the Bible’s views on land and its interpretation. They explore the contradictory perspectives on land ownership and the connection between land and identity. They also examine the impact of assumptions about land in the United States and the disconnect between urban elites and the land. Amy shares her personal journey of developing a deeper connection with the land through activities like hunting and fly-fishing. The conversation highlights the healing power of the land and the importance of understanding our relationship with it.

Chapters 

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:13 The Bible’s Contradictory Views on Land

08:29 Genesis 1 and the Interpretation of Land

12:22 John Locke and the Interpretation of Land Ownership

14:20 The Connection Between Land and Identity

20:23 The Impact of Assumptions About Land in the United States

23:10 The Disconnect Between Urban Elites and the Land

26:08 The Impact of Land Use on Communities

28:30 Personal Connection to the Land

30:26 The Healing Power of the Land

33:18 The Bible’s View on Our Relationship With the Land

Guest: 

Amy Erickson is Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Iliff School of Theology. Erickson teaches a range of courses in biblical interpretation, including The Body and Sexuality in the Hebrew Bible, The Hebrew Bible and Ecology, and Jonah and Its Afterlives. Her research interests include Hebrew poetry, poetic and mythological texts in ancient West Asian literature, and the Hebrew Bible’s history of interpretation.

She is the author of a commentary on the Book of Jonah and its history of interpretation, titled “Jonah: Introduction and Commentary” (Illuminations; Eerdmans, 2021), and has written articles on Job, Jonah, the Psalms, Zechariah and Amos for academic journals and edited volumes. Erickson is also a regular contributor to WorkingPreacher.org, HuffPost’s ON Scripture, The Christian Century and Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (de Gruyter). She is currently working on a book on the Hebrew Bible and ecology.

An Interview with Eerdmans Publishing Co. about Erickson’s book on Jonah.

Commentary on Psalm 146

Commentary on Psalm 121

Psalm 1: Putting Evil in Its Place

For more episodes and info, visit Complexified at RNS.