Beal’s Chapter Two: The Bible and Horror – Reading Guide
Terms to Watch out for:
Psalms
Leviathan
Egypt
Exodus
Covenant – not in the text; I will give it to you in class.
Questions to guide your reading:
1. Pages 25-30 are structured around an opposition that Beal finds in two
biblical psalms. What does he think that Psalm 104 ritually communicates
about monsters and creation?
2. What does Beal think Psalm 74 ritually communicates about monsters and
creation?
3. What is the historical context of Psalm 74 and how does Beal use that
history to help us understand what the psalm is ritually communicating?
4. Beal points to Psalm 74 as an example of how religious traditions tend to
make their enemies into monsters. In the case of the Hebrew Bible, on
what assumption does this rest? That is, what understanding (of the world,
God, the nation) lies behind and justifies this tendency to turn enemies
into monsters?