Books in the Scriptural Traces series

This volume takes readers on a fascinating journey through the visual arts of Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands, contemplating the multivocal dialogues that occur between these artistic media and the texts and traditions of the Bible. With their distinctively antipodean perspectives, contributors explore the innovative ways that both creators and beholders of Oceanic arts draw upon their contexts and cultures in order to open up creative engagements with the stories, themes and theologies of the biblical traditions. Various motifs weave their way throughout the volume, including antipodean landscapes and ecology, (post)colonialism, philosophy, Oceanic spiritualities and the often contested engagements between western and indigenous cultures. Within this weaving process, each essay invites readers to contemplate these various forms of visual culture through Oceanic eyes, and to appreciate the fresh insights that this process can bring to reading and interpreting the biblical traditions. The result is a rich and interdisciplinary array of conversations that will capture the attention of readers within the fields of biblical reception studies, cultural studies, theology and art history.

This volume examines and discusses selected Bible documentaries and academically informed dramatizations of the Bible. With a major focus on recent productions in UK mainline television within the past 15 years, the contributors also engage with productions from the USA.After a critical introduction by Helen K. Bond, charting and reflecting on the use of the Bible on television in recent years, the book falls into three sections. First, a number of influential filmmakers and producers, including Ray Bruce and Jean- Claude Bragard, discuss their work in relation to the context and constraints oftelevision - especially religious television - programming. The volume then moves to reflections of various academics who have acted as 'talking heads', historical consultants and presenters, allowing discussion of different aspects of the process, including the extent to which they had influence and how their contributions were used. Finally, a number of scholars assess the finished products, discussing what they tell us about the modern reception of the Bible, with additional consideration of how these productions influence biblical scholars and contribute to the scholarly agenda.