In a world beset by climatic emergencies, the continuing resonance of the flood story is perhaps easy to understand. Whether in the tortured alpha male intensity of Russell Crowe's Noah, in Darren Aronofsky's eponymous 2014 film, or other recent derivations, the biblical narrative has become a lightning rod for gathering environmental anxieties. However, Philip C. Almond's masterful exploration of Western cultural history uncovers a far more complex Noah than is commonly recognised: not just the father of humanity but also the first shipbuilder, navigator, zookeeper, farmer, grape grower, and wine maker. Noah's pivotal significance is revealed as much in his forgotten secular as in his religious receptions, and their major impact on such disciplines as geology, geography, biology, and zoology. While Noah's many interpretations over two millennia might seem to offer a common message of hope, the author's sober conclusion is that deliverance now lies not in divine but rather in human hands.
| ISBN: | 9781009557221 |
| Publication date: | 3rd April 2025 |
| Author: | Philip C Almond |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 396 pages |
| Genres: |
History of religion Old Testaments History of ideas Religion and science Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval |
In a world beset by climatic emergencies, the continuing resonance of the flood story is perhaps easy to understand. Whether in the tortured alpha male intensity of Russell Crowe's Noah, in Darren Aronofsky's eponymous 2014 film, or other recent derivations, the biblical narrative has become a lightning rod for gathering environmental anxieties. However, Philip C. Almond's masterful exploration of Western cultural history uncovers a far more complex Noah than is commonly recognised: not just the father of humanity but also the first shipbuilder, navigator, zookeeper, farmer, grape grower, and wine maker. Noah's pivotal significance is revealed as much in his forgotten secular as in his religious receptions, and their major impact on such disciplines as geology, geography, biology, and zoology. While Noah's many interpretations over two millennia might seem to offer a common message of hope, the author's sober conclusion is that deliverance now lies not in divine but rather in human hands.
Noah and the Flood in Western Thought features in the following genres: History of religion, Old Testaments, History of ideas, Religion and science, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval
Noah and the Flood in Western Thought is available in Hardback
Noah and the Flood in Western Thought was written by Philip C Almond and published by Cambridge University Press
Noah and the Flood in Western Thought has 396 pages
£31.50