The Dialogues of Jeremiah : Toward a Phenomenology of Exile

An emerging consensus maintains that the exile was not as extensive as the Old Testament claims. However, that it held singular importance for the book of Jeremiah is beyond question. Modine argues that Jeremiah represents a range of options for understanding and responding to the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. This volume reads the diverse contents of Jeremiah as a kind of dialogue between competing perceptions of the exile. The author argues that coherence is to be found precisely in the incoherent, as it reflects the communal trauma of exile. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. Framing the Dialogues 2. Dialogues with God 3. Dialogues with Religious Opponents 4. Dialogues with Survivors 5. Dialogues with Political Leaders 6. Dialogues with a (Re-) Constituted Community Conclusion Bibliography Index This volume reads the diverse contents of Jeremiah as a kind of dialogue between competing perceptions of the exile. The author argues that coherence is to be found precisely in the incoherence, as it reflects the communal trauma of exile