This is an important book in the area of Reception Studies of the Bible.

The context and approach of the reader have been underestimated in Biblical Exegesis. The Biblical text is sometimes thought to be above time and space, above mere human contingencies. This has made it monolithic – a stone on which countless individuals have been dashed to pieces.

Yet this interpretation has been developed by interpreters who have institutional power, and who have been unaware that they are interpreting in the interests of those who have such power.

The book looks at past and present interpretations, as well as how certain subjects have been understood within them, including homosexuality, marriage, divorce and Liberation Theology.