Brief Account of Animism in Biblical Studies

Bibliographic Data

ID12901497
AuthorsMari Joerstad (0009-0001-5753-6127, Duke University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume14
Issue2
Pages250-270
Publication date2020-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-4907 • E-ISSN: 1749-4915
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/jsrnc.39249
OpenAlexW3090616599
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited33

The study of animism influenced early to mid-twentieth-century biblical scholars, especially on the topic of how ancient Israelites related to nature. Since then, biblical studies have paid less attention to animism, though assumptions about what animism is and how it relates to monotheism continue to shape discussions about nature in the Hebrew Bible. However, since attention to animism has been scant in recent biblical scholarship, these assumptions reflect descriptions of animism put forward by scholars like Edward Burnett Tylor and James George Frazer, which speak of animism as an early and primitive form of religion, inferior to European religions. Biblical scholars doing work in the field of Bible and ecology should instead look to ‘new animism’. Attention to ‘new animism’ can contribute to interpretations of otherwise difficult biblical texts, provide tools of environmental ethics, and perhaps improve dialogues with indigenous communities

Animism · Sociology · Anthropology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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