They Were All Together in One Place?: Toward Minority Biblical Criticism

Critics from three major racial/ethnic minority communities in the United States-African American, Asian American, and Latino/a American-focus on the problematic of race and ethnicity in the Bible and in contemporary biblical interpretation. With keen eyes on both ancient text and contemporary context, contributors pay close attention to how racial/ethnic dynamics intersect with other differential relations of power such as gender, class, sexuality, and colonialism. In groundbreaking interaction, they also consider their readings alongside those of other racial/ethnic minority communities. The volume includes an introduction pointing out the crucial role of this work within minority criticism by looking at its historical trajectory, critical findings, and future directions. The contributors are Cheryl B. Anderson, Francisco O. Garc!a-Treto, Jean-Pierre Ruiz, Frank M. Yamada, Gale A. Yee, Jae-Won Lee, Gay L. Byron, Fernando F. Segovia, Randall C. Bailey, Tat-siong Benny Liew, Demetrius K. Williams, Mayra Rivera Rivera, Evelyn L. Parker, and James Kyung-Jin Lee.

Randall C. Bailey is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Hebrew Bible at Interdenominational Theological Center. He has edited a number of volumes including Yet With a Steady Beat: Contemporary U.S. Afrocentric Biblical Interpretation (Society of Biblical Literature), The College Press NIV Commentary: Exodus (College Press), and The Recovery of Black Presence: An Interdisciplinary Exploration (Abingdon). Tat-siong Benny Liew is Associate Professor of New Testament at Pacific School of Religion. He is the author of What Is Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics? Reading the New Testament (University of Hawai‘i), and Politics of Parousia: Reading Mark Inter(con)textually (Brill). He also edited the last issue of the journal Semeia, “The Bible in Asian America.” Fernando F. Segovia is Oberlin Graduate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Vanderbilt University. He has authored or edited numerous books including Reading From This Place (two volumes from Augsburg Fortress), A Dream Unfinished: Theological Reflections on America from the Margins (Orbis),and Postcolonial Commentary on the New Testament Writings (T&T Clark).