Description
We are bombarded with images of climate chaos, rising sea-levels and displaced people. There is a growing feeling of discontent, anger, and fear in the face of the crisis. How can the energy created by such emotions be harnessed to help us read scripture in a new way? Losing Ground transforms the fear related to climate change into creative energies for reading the Ruth narrative. Attending to the politics of contextual biblical criticism alongside the shifts in the conversations on climate change to climate justice, climate trauma and climate resilience, the book demonstrates how the Old Testament book of Ruth can be read as dealing with exactly the themes embedded within our fear for the planet – such as food crisis, migration and resilience. Weaving Ruth’s story together with the story of those who, on the frontline of a climate catastrophe, are forced to leave their homes because of rising sea levels, the book offers a powerful and potent contribution which refuses to pretend scripture can be read separately from the every day realities of a climate emergency.