ABSTRACT
The city is an ambiguous symbol in the Bible. The founder of the first city is the murderer, Cain. The city of Jerusalem is the place chosen by God, yet is also a place of wrong-doing and injustice. Jesus seems to have largely avoided cities except Jerusalem, where he was crucified. 'The City in Biblical Perspective' examines the archaeological and social background of the urban biblical world and explores the implications of the deliberate ambiguities in the biblical text. The book aims to deepen our understanding of both the biblical and the contemporary city by asking how the Bible's complex understanding of the city can illuminate our own ever more urban time.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |45 pages
The City in the Old Testament
chapter |16 pages
The Israelite City: History and Archaeology
chapter |21 pages
The Israelite city – biblical perspectives
chapter |2 pages
Making Connections
part |55 pages
The city in the New Testament