the Testaments

One of the important principles when studying religious texts, and especially interpreting sacred texts, is to pay attention to the historical debates on whether or not the sacred text has been distorted in the course of history. In other words, to what extent are these texts valid? Shiite and Sunni scholars have raised the issue of the Qur'an's immunity from distortion and falsification in their interpretations, which is in opposite to the view of Western scholars on the issue of distortion in the Testaments. Based on a qualitative method with a content analytical approach, this research examined the reasons for the distortion or non-distortion of the Holy Qur’an and the Testaments, in line with an investigation into the issue of distortion and its dimensions. Findings show that the distortion of the Qur’an may be considered only in terms of meanings while it is completely different in the Testaments. In fact, the problem of making Testaments by humans and the historic disappearance of the Torah and the divine Bible prove that we should speak of their falsification, not distortion.

This paper examines how patriarchal control impacts both women and nature in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments in light of Val Plumwood’s environmentalism. Plumwood critiques dualistic thinking that privileges masculinity and culture over femininity and nature, outlining five mechanisms of domination—“backgrounding,” “radical exclusion,” “incorporation,” “instrumentalism,” and “homogenization”— that create a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority. Drawing on this framework, the study investigates how The Testaments portrays the intertwined oppression of women and the environment in the male-dominated society of Gilead, highlighting their shared struggle for survival. The novel not only depicts how dualisms sustain oppression but also reveals moments of resistance and survival that challenge these binaries. By bringing ecological and feminist concerns into dialogue, this paper highlights the interconnectedness of environmental degradation and gendered violence. It ultimately argues for dismantling oppressive dualisms in favor of an alternative worldview based on intrinsic value, mutual respect, and symbiosis between all genders and nature.