The Bible and Empire
Postcolonial Explorations

Sugirtharajah explores the complex relationship between the Bible and the colonial enterprise.

R. S. Sugirtharajah (Author)

9780521531917, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 16 June 2005

254 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.41 kg

'There is rich material here for both theologians and historians.' Theology

At a time of renewed interest in Empire, this stimulating volume explores the complex relationship between the Bible and the colonial enterprise, and examines some overlooked aspects of this relationship. These include unconventional retellings of the gospel story of Jesus by Thomas Jefferson and Raja Rammohun Roy; the fate of biblical texts when marshalled by Victorian preachers to strengthen British imperial intentions after the India uprising of 1857; the cultural-political use of the Christian Old Testament, first by the invaders to attack temple practices and rituals, then by the invaded to endorse the temple heritage scorned by missionaries; the dissident hermeneutics of James Long and William Colenso confronting and compromising with colonial ambitions; and finally the subtly seditious deployment of biblical citations in two colonial novels. This innovative book offers both practical and theoretical insights and provides compelling evidence of the continuing importance of postcolonial discourse for biblical studies.

Introduction
1. Textually conjoined twins: Rammohun Roy and Thomas Jefferson and their Bibles
2. Salvos from the Victorian pulpit: conscription of texts by Victorian preachers during the Indian rebellion of 1857
3. Thorns in the crown: the subversive and complicit hermeneutics of John Colenso of Natal and James Long of Bengal
4. Texts and testament: the Hebrew Scriptures in colonial context
5. Imperial fictions and biblical narratives: entertainment and exegesis in colonial novels
Afterword.

Subject Areas: Biblical studies & exegesis [HRCG], History of religion [HRAX], General & world history [HBG], Regional studies [GTB]