Full Description
Rhetoric ad Social Justice in Isaiah applies a literary methodology to the book of Isaiah in order critically to explore the nature and sources of the social justice encoded in the world created by the text. After a close reading of Isaiah 1: 16, 17, Gray establishes grounds for a trajectory to Isaiah 58, preparatory to examining if it offers a deepening of the concept of social justice in the Isaianic corpus. Gray raises the issue of divine reliability to assess the impact on the theme of social justice of the rhetoric of universal punishment by the divine/prophetic voice. He evaluates the ways the stark Isaianic dichotomy between reliance on God and anything of human origin is affected by trust in God being destabilized: if trust in God is demonstrated to be difficult on account of legitimate doubts about divine justice, then the way is opened for retaining an active human role in the search for justice. Gray demonstrates the ways that social justice attains primacy in Isaiah, the ways that humanity if given a role in pursuing social justice, and the ways that Isaiah 58 impinges upon the idea of social justice within the book as a whole.
Contents
Introduction "Never Trust the Artist. Trust the Tale" - The Book of Isaiah: A Text-Based Method for a Literary Reading
Chapter One From Failed Rhetoric to the Hope of Justice: Isaiah 1: 16 & 17 to Isaiah 58 - A Trajectory
Chapter Two The Depth and Dimensions of Social Justice in Isaiah 58: 6-10: Solidarity, Self-Giving and the Embrace of Pain
Chapter Three The Rhetoric of Punishment as a Questioning Voice?: "Will Not the Judge of all the Earth do Right?" (Gen. 18: 25) or "Where is the God of Justice?" (Mal. 2: 17)
Chapter Four The Matter of Trust: "On What Are You Basing this Trust of Yours?" (Isa. 36: 4)
Conclusion The Primacy of Justice: "Justice and Justice Alone" (Deut. 16: 20)
Bibliography Works Cited and Consulted
