ABSTRACT
From its beginning, human civilization has been associated to varying degrees with the discovery, production, and use of minerals and metals. And since not all places on earth are equally endowed with these deposits, mining gave rise to vigorous trade early in human history. Trade in minerals and metals continues to our own day, since we cannot do without them, even if the industry is fraught with tensions and conflicts between communities and businesses over land-use, and is marked by an ambiguity of purpose in the dignity-deficit with which it tends to leave communities and the environment. This chapter presents the way this industry and the minerals which give rise to it are used to present phases of religious history in the Bible and some of its fundamental teachings, such as the transcendental character of God’s covenant law, as wisdom, and the perfection of his presence, as pure gold, through redemption in Christ.
