“The Heavens and the Earth Shake”: Reconsidering Nonhuman Creation in Conversation with African, Evangelical, and Mainline Hermeneutics

Abstract

This study responds to the often-siloed nature of biblical studies and the need for greater attention to nonhuman creation in the prophetic books of Joel, Amos, and Jonah through hermeneutical analysis and exegesis. The first portion constitutes a hermeneutical dialogue that entails examining, analyzing, and responding to the ecologically-sensitive hermeneutics of three diverse reading communities, namely Euro-American evangelical, Euro-American mainline, and African Christian scholars. The second portion utilizes the insights of this dialogue along with close reading practices to reconsider nonhuman creation in these prophetic texts. In Joel, Amos, and Jonah, nonhuman creation occupies a variety of roles; it suffers alongside human creation, acts as a divine agent against creation, partners with YHWH to deliver YHWH’s message and judgment, and forms an essential rhetorical element of the prophetic critique. Collectively, these roles underscore the importance of nonhuman creation in the HB/OT, and the methodology that yields these conclusions demonstrates the promise of a broad reading community.