New Publication on Psalms as Resistance Poetry

I'm pleased to note that my article that examines the first century BCE Jewish text Psalms of Solomon in light of the features of resistance poetry has just been published in the Journal of Ancient Judaism 9 (2018): 366–385. Here is a link to the article: Psalms of Solomon as Resistance Poetry. The abstract is below:

Two trends in recent scholarship provide a new set of lenses that enable contemporary readers to appreciate more fully the contents and genre of Pss Sol. On the one hand, scholars such as Richard Horsley, Anathea Portier-Young, and Adela Yarbro Collins have now explored the ways in which early Jewish writers engaged in a kind of compositional resistance as they grappled with their traditions in light of the realities of oppressive empires. These approaches enable us to consider the extent to which Pss Sol also may embody a kind of resistant counterdiscourse for the community in which it was edited and preserved. On the other hand, scholars within biblical studies (e.g., Hugh Page's Israel's Poetry of Resistance) and beyond have examined the dynamics of the poetry of resistance. Such poetry has existed in many times, places, and cultures, giving a voice to the oppressed, protecting the memory of victims, and creating a compelling vision of a possible future in which the oppression is overcome. In this article the poetry of Guatemalan poet Julia Esquivel is interwoven with Pss. Sol. to illustrate these dynamics and to illuminate the kinds of concerns that scholars like Barbara Harlow and Carolyn Forché have highlighted within the poetry of witness. Since Pss Sol has yet to be explored through these dual lenses of resistance and resistance poetry, this article examines these early Jewish psalms in light of these scholarly trends. I argue that Pss Sol can be understood as a kind of resistance poetry that enabled a community of Jews in the first century BCE to resist the dominant discourse of both the Roman Empire and its client king, Herod the Great. The themes of history, identity, and possibility that pervade resistance poetry in other times and places are central features of Pss Sol.

Some of this research is reflected now in how I read the early Christian hymns that are embedded in the New Testament. Several of these hymns resonate strongly with the kind of "spirituality of resistance" that the Psalms of Solomon demonstrate, suggesting to me that the earliest Christian hymns were not strictly religious but also reflected other concerns of the early followers of Jesus in their Roman imperial context.

Connecting the Sacredness of Creation with Liberal Arts and Social Justice

Carlow University where I teach identifies five cores values that underlie all that we do: mercy, service, hospitality, discovery, and sacredness of creation. This academic year the value of sacredness of creation is being called out for special attention. Since I’ve been thinking about this value and its implications for what we do in the College of Learning and Innovation, I wanted to capture some of these ideas in a short post.

In Carlow’s values statement the value of sacredness of creation is described in this way:

This value leads us to a respect for each person and for all of creation. In gratitude for the beauty and variety of our world and its inhabitants, we commit to a culture of sustainability and to the preservation of a world where all are reverenced and all may thrive.

Since Carlow is a Catholic, Mercy institution, this value can be seen as a clear theme drawn from the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and underlying Catholic Social Teaching. As such, it is really an outgrowth of the biblical understanding that this world is God’s world. Psalm 24 begins with this declaration: “The earth is the LORD's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” Careful reflection on this annunciation alone would allow us to make a strong claim for the value of all that is in this world, and of all who live in it. Rooted in the Hebrew Bible and affirmed in the New Testament, the sacredness of all creation is arguably a central affirmation of both Jewish and Christian faith traditions.

As a starting point, this value is a clear call to living thoughtfully upon the earth in ways that respect and preserve the beautiful world that we live in. As important as that is, especially today, it also seems to me the sacredness of creations has implications far beyond environmental responsibility.

I see this value making a claim upon our work in the College of Learning and Innovation in two important ways. First, on the largest possible scale, because everything that exists does so by God’s creative will, everything in this world is inherently valuable. This orientation to seeing the world as sacred undergirds the importance of a liberal arts education. Every field of academic study has value for its own sake, if we embrace the value of the sacredness of creation. Fr. Michael Himes of Boston College uses a wonderful expression to speak about what he calls the sacramental principle. He says, “To see things as they are is to see them ‘engraced.’ Everything that is, exists by being held in love by ‘engracement.’” If the earth is the Lord’s, then everything is “engraced”—what is needed is for us to be able to perceive this. This leads to a second implication.

Second, on a more personal scale, the sacredness of creation reflects back on the value, worth, and dignity of every person. This value certainly necessitates that we treat all people with the dignity they deserve. But this value places an additional claim on us: if we hold this value then we are called to respond to situations in which the dignity of humans is violated. Valuing the sacredness of creation thus places an obligation upon us to address social injustices. Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, spent many years of her life living with a Quaker family where she came to embrace the Quaker teaching that “there is that of God in every person.” That belief motivated her life of service and continues to animate the Sisters of Mercy to this day. And thus, this value of the sacredness of creation is deeply rooted in our university’s history.

In short, in this one value is inscribed not only the importance of living with an eye toward the preservation of our environment, but a theological foundation for the study of the liberal arts and for working for the well-being of all people.