Every system is a construction, something that has been assembled, and construction entails exclusion. Every system excludes -- is, in fact, a system of exclusions. Deconstruction seeks out those points within a system where it disguises the fact of its incompleteness, its failure to cohere as a self-contained whole. By locating these points and applying a kind of leverage to them, one deconstructs the system. This amounts neither to destroying nor dismantling the system in toto, but rather demonstrating how the (w)hole, through the making of its logical and rhetorical contradictions, maintains the illusion of completeness. 

In contrast to the source criticism of the Bible, then, the construction that deconstruction disassembles is not the history of the text's assembly. Rather it is the grammar or logic of the text's linguistic organization (its structure) and the rhetoric of its expression that is dismantled. To deconstruct is to identify points of failure in a system, points at which it is able to feign coherence only by excluding and forgetting that which it cannot assimilate, that which is "other" to it. Derrida asks: "what if what cannot be assimilated, the absolute indigestible, played a fundamental role in the system, an abyssal role rather?" (Derrida, 1986b:151a). 

As a practice of reading, deconstruction makes explicit what is hidden, repressed, or denied in any ordinary reading. Every reading is blinded by a set of presuppositions about the nature of texts and of reality, and yet without some such assumptions no reading would be possible. Deconstructionists such as Derrida and de Man readily admit that these strictures apply as well to their own readings -- that is, that their readings also need to be deconstructed. No neutral or objective reading is ever possible; reading is always interested. Deconstruction rejects all "container" theories of meaning. Meaning is not in the text but is brought to it and imposed upon it. The understanding of the author or of the original audience is not decisive; it is merely one reading among many. Texts may lend themselves more to some readings than to others, but the results of any reading have more to do with the reader's interests than with the text itself. Interpretation is an expression of power, the result of violence exercised upon the text in the act of reading, which is always an act of appropriation, a taking possession. 

 Against this hermeneutic of violence, deconstruction offers another metaphor to describe the reading process: play, with its connotations of free experimentation and endless alternatives. This becomes erotic play, jouissance, for a writer such as Barthes. If the written text be subject to the interests and desires of its readers, it is also by its very nature disseminated at large in the world, free of the restrictive control of an author or any authoritative body. The goal of a deconstructive reading is not some sort of decisive conclusion or valid interpretation. Deconstructive readings tend to circle about the textual object, playing with it and teasing it, seeking out the marks and folds that reveal the logic of its construction, the exclusions and deceptions that make it what it is. Although they are often quite respectful, these readings are never reverential. 

Adam, A.K.M.  What is Postmodern Biblical Criticism?  Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.
The volume attempts to make sense of the complexities of postmodernist thought within theology and biblical studies. With clear definitions, excellent examples and step-by-step reasoning the newcomer is lead through the maze of jargon and confusion that sometimes seems to surround postmodernism. Book cover image from Barnes and Noble.
BS476 .A32 1995

Aichele, George, et al, eds. The Postmodern Bible. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
BS 476 .P67 1995

Armour, Ellen True.  Deconstruction and Feminist Theology (Thesis).  Vanderbilt University, 1993.
Divinity Special Collection
BT83.55 .A766 1993

________. Deconstruction, Feminist Theology, and the Problem of Difference: Subverting the Race/Gender. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
99800083757 (on order)

Caputo, John D.  The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida:  Religion without Religion.  Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
B809.6. P37 1997

Castelli, Elizabeth. Imitating Paul: A Discourse of Power. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991.
A Foucauldian reading of selected Pauline texts combined with a feminist critical perspective. Book cover image from Barnes and Noble.
BS 2650.2 .C37 1991

Culler, Jonathan D.  On Deconstruction:  Theory and Criticism after Structuralism.  Ithaca, NY:  Cornell University Press, 1982.
PN98 .D43 C8 1982

Erickson, Millard J. Postmodernizing the Faith: Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1998.
BT 28 .E73 1998

Fretheim, Terence E. The Bible as Word of God: In A Postmodern Age. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1998.
BS 480 .F74 1998 

Grenz, Stanley.  A Primer on Postmodernism.  Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B.  Eerdmans, 1996.
B 831.2 .G74 1996

Haynes, Stephen R. and McKenzie, Steven L. (Editors). To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Its Application.  Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993.
BS 511.2 .T64 1993

Ingraffia, Brian D.  Postmodern Theory and Biblical Theology: Vanguishing God's Shadow.  Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
BT28 .I56 1995

Jobling, David and Moore, Stephen, eds.  "Poststructuralism as Exegesis." Semeia 54. Atlanta: Scholars.
Ten poststructuralist readings of texts drawn from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.
BS 410 .S45

Kepnes, Steven, ed. Interpreting Judaism in a Postmodern Age.  New Perspectives on Jewish Studies. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
BM 565 .I58 1996

King, Ursula, ed. Faith and Praxis in a Postmodern Age.  London: Cassell, 1998.
BL 65 .P73 F358 1998

Loy, David, ed. Healing Deconstruction: Postmodern Thought in Buddhism and Christianity. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1996.
BR 128 .B8 H35 1996

Middleton, J. Richard.  Truth is Stranger Than It Used To Be:  Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age.  Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1995.
BT 28 .M533 1995

Moore, Stephen D.  Mark and Luke in Poststructuralist Perpectives: Jesus Begins to Write. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.
One of the first book-length treatments of gospel narrative from a poststructuralist perspective.  Mark and Luke in intertextual dialogue with Derrida, Lacan, and Foucault.
BS 2585.2 .M66 1992

________. Poststructuralism and the New Testament: Derrida and Foucalt at the foot of the Cross.  Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.
BS2377.6 .M66 1994

Penchansky, David. The Politics of Biblical Theology: A Postmodern Reading. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1995.
BS 543 .P44 1995

Phillips, Gary, ed.  "Postructural Criticism and the Bible." Semeia 51.  Atlanta: Scholars.
Ten essays that address theological and exegetical topics emerging from poststructural critique of history and discourse.
BS 410 .S45

Rutledge, David.  Reading Marginally:  Feminism, Deconstruction, and the Bible.  Leiden; New York:  Brill, 1996.
This volume provides an introduction to the `deconstuctive' criticism of Jacques Derrida, discussing its relevance to feminism in general, and to feminist interpretation of the Bible in particular.
BS521.4 .R87 1996

Seeley, David.  Deconstructing the New Testament. Leiden; New York: Brill, 1994.
The book presents an essentially exegetical examination of New Testament texts, but using the deconstructive strategies associated with French philosopher Jacques Derrida. The author avoids the technical jargon of deconstructionism while showing how close its process is to familiar forms of Biblical form and source criticism, and applying it to an inquiry of the often contradictory motives and historical circumstances influencing the evangelists.
BS2361.2 .S435 1994

Taylor, Mark C. About Religion: Economies of Faith in Virtual Culture.  Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago, 1999.
99800044389 (on order)

Tilley, Terrence W.  Postmodern Theologies: The Challenge of Religious Diversity.  Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1995.
BL 65 .P73 T55 1995

Veith Jr., Gene Edward. Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture.  Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1994.
BR115 .C8 V37 1994

Ward, Graham, ed. The Postmodern God: A Theological Reader. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1997.
BD 573 .P67 1997