Animal studies may be a recent academic development, but our fascination with animals is nothing new. Surviving cave paintings are of animal forms, and closer to us, as Ken Stone points out, animals populate biblical literature from beginning to end. This book explores the significance of animal studies for the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. The field has had relatively little impact on biblical interpretation to date, but combined with biblical scholarship, it sheds useful light on animals, animal symbolism, and the relations among animals, humans, and God—not only for those who study biblical literature and its ancient context, but for contemporary readers concerned with environmental, social, and animal ethics. Without the presence of domesticated and wild animals, neither biblical traditions nor the religions that make use of the Bible would exist in their current forms. Although parts of the Bible draw a clear line between humans and animals, other passages complicate that line in multiple ways and challenge our assumptions about the roles animals play therein. Engaging influential thinkers, including Jacques Derrida, Donna Haraway, and other experts in animal and ecological studies, Reading the Hebrew Bible with Animal Studies shows how prehumanist texts reveal unexpectedly relevant dynamics and themes for our posthumanist age.

Animal studies may be a recent academic development, but our fascination with animals is nothing new. Surviving cave paintings are of animal forms, and closer to us, as Ken Stone points out, animals populate biblical literature from beginning to end. This book explores the significance of animal studies for the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. The field has had relatively little impact on biblical interpretation to date, but combined with biblical scholarship, it sheds useful light on animals, animal symbolism, and the relations among animals, humans, and God-not only for those who study biblical literature and its ancient context, but for contemporary readers concerned with environmental, social, and animal ethics. Without the presence of domesticated and wild animals, neither biblical traditions nor the religions that make use of the Bible would exist in their current forms. Although parts of the Bible draw a clear line between humans and animals, other passages complicate that line in multiple ways and challenge our assumptions about the roles animals play therein. Engaging influential thinkers, including Jacques Derrida, Donna Haraway, and other experts in animal and ecological studies, Reading the Hebrew Bible with Animal Studies shows how prehumanist texts reveal unexpectedly relevant dynamics and themes for our posthumanist age.

4m, 1f / Running Time: 90 minutes plus intermission Period costumes and set pieces, mid to late 19th century Act I, The Loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton, is from Mark Twain's story of two people falling in love at a great distance with the aid of that brand-new invention, the telephone. Alonzo in Maine and Rosannah in California meet by the accident of crossed wires and each falls in love with an imagined ideal of the other. So complete is their self-deception that even when brought face to face they cannot recognize each other. Love is found, lost, and found again. Played as period melodrama, but the relevance to 21st century dating habits is clear. Act II, Bartleby, the Scrivener, is dramatized from Herman Melville's slyly funny but ultimately tragic story. Building on the theme of human connections made and missed, this act takes a darker turn, looking at people who occupy the closest of quarters and yet don't really communicate at all. Bartleby, employed as a copyist in a law office of the 1840s, inexplicably begins to refuse to work, forcing his colleagues to ask themselves the transforming question that ends the play: What do we owe to the people who come into our lives? "Excellent new musical." - Critic's Choice, LA Times "Extraordinary ... skillful and unusually thoughtful ... succeeds brilliantly." - Variety "Marvelous adaptations ... stylish and enthralling ... haunting score ... brilliant." - Critic's Pick, Backstage "Striking ... absolutely first rate work." - EDGE Los Angeles

The use of astrodynes takes much of the guesswork out of chart interpretation by mathematically determining the relative power in a horoscope. Simply put, astrodynes allow a greater precision in birth chart interpretation. Previously, the chart ruler was considered to be the ruler of the Ascendant. Now, the strongest planets, signs, and houses can easily be determined, leading to more accurate assessment of vocation, temperament, and compatibility. The level of harmony or discord will indicate the fortune that can be attracted by each factor. There is a difference between power, which is a potential for action, and harmony, which is the effect of the action. The amount of strength in the chart will show how insistent are the desires, or specific areas of life. Whether they express in harmony or with difficulty has little to do with the amount of power they have. There- fore, the first step in a better understanding of how to use astrodynes in a birth chart is to understand what power is in a chart, what harmony is, and the difference between the two. The author explains these differences and focuses on the interpretation of astrodynes, including specifics about each planet, house and aspect.

The essays in "Bible Trouble" all engage queer theories for purposes of biblical interpretation, a rare effort to date within biblical scholarship. The title phrase "Bible Trouble" plays on "Judith Butler's Gender Trouble", gesturing toward a primary text for contemporary queer theory. The essays consider, among others, the Lazarus story, the Ethiopian eunuch, "gender trouble" in "Judges 4 and 5", the "Song of Songs", and an unorthodox coupling of the books of Samuel and the film "Paris Is Burning". This volume "troubles" not only the boundaries between biblical scholarship and queer theory but also the boundaries between different frameworks currently used in the analysis of biblical literature, including sexuality, gender, race, class, history, and literature. The contributors are Ellen T. Armour, Michael Joseph Brown, Sean D. Burke, Heidi Epstein, Deryn Guest, Jione Havea, Teresa J. Hornsby, Lynn R. Huber, S. Tamar Kamionkowski, Joseph A. Marchal, Jeremy Punt, Erin Runions, Ken Stone, Gillian Townsley, Jay Twomey, and Manuel Villalobos.