Modernity, History and the Theological Interpretation of the Bible

2001 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel B. Green
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Constructive Theology ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Internal Relations

One of the more noticeable features of the landscape of theological studies, broadly conceived, is the trouble-some relationship between biblical studies and systematic or constructive theology. Following the programmatic comments of Colin Gunton, by ‘systematic theology’, I refer to that theology which is concerned (1) to elucidate in coherent fashion the internal relations of one aspect of belief to other potentially related beliefs; (2) to demonstrate an understanding of the relation between the content of theology and ‘the sources specific to the faith’; and (3) to evince an awareness of the relation between the content of theology and general claims for truth in human culture, not least those of philosophy and science. It is with this enterprise, the doing of systematic theology, that biblical studies has come in the last two centuries to have increasingly poor relations.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Thomas H. McCall
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Constructive Theology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Theological Discourse

Recent years have seen the flowering of something called the “theological interpretation of Scripture.” This is, very roughly, what happens when biblical scholars and theologians alike read the Bible to see what it tells us about God. For several centuries, the discipline of biblical studies has been not only distinguished but also separated from theological discourse. There have been many notable exceptions, of course, but the all-too-common results have been these: biblical scholars often interpret the texts with other aims in mind (sometimes reading with a theological lens has been discouraged as unscholarly and thus improper), and theologians often do their work of constructive theology without serious engagement with biblical scholarship or even with the Christian Scriptures. Recent years have also seen the rise (or perhaps re-birth) of something now called “analytic theology.” Analytic theology is, very roughly, what happens when philosophers who are interested in doctrine and theologians who think that there is (or might be) value in the appropriate use of philosophical tools get together. It is now a burgeoning movement, and analytic theologians are making contributions on a wide range of issues and topics, and from a variety of perspectives and approaches. We have not, however, witnessed a great deal of interaction between those who engage in the theological interpretation of Scripture and those who practice analytic theology....

A Most Peculiar Book

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Swenson
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Real Thing ◽  
The Real ◽  
Authoritative Text ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
Full Throttle

The Bible, we are constantly reminded, is the bestselling book of all time. It is read with intense devotion by hundreds of millions of people, stands as authoritative text for Judaism and Christianity, and informs and affects the politics and lives of the religious and nonreligious around the world. But how well do we really know it? The Bible is so familiar, so ubiquitous that we take our knowledge of it for granted. Yet in some cases, the Bible we think we know is a pale imitation of the real thing. This book addresses the dirty little secret of biblical studies—that the Bible is a weird book, by modern standards. A collection of ancient stories, poetry, and more written by multiple authors, held together by the tenuous string of tradition, the Bible often undermines our modern assumptions. It is full of surprises and contradictions, unexplained impossibilities, terrifying supernatural creatures, and heroes doing horrible deeds. In total, it offers neither a systematic theology nor a singular worldview. Still, there is a tendency to reduce the complexities of the Bible to aphorisms, bumper stickers, and slogans. But what exactly does it mean to be “unclean”? Who really killed Goliath? Does Jesus condemn nonbelievers to Hell? What does it mean “to believe,” in the first place? Rather than dismiss the Bible as an outlandish or irrelevant relic of antiquity, this book leans into the messiness full throttle, guiding readers through a Bible that will to many feel brand new.

The Bible as a Document of the Church: A Personal View

2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (6) ◽  
pp. 276-285
Author(s):  
George G. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The Church

Following some general remarks on recent significant trends in biblical studies, I note that these will exacerbate the gulf between church and academy with respect to biblical interpretation. A brief introduction to the official documents of the Church of Scotland shows that they provide little indication of how the Bible should be interpreted as a document of the church. In view of the ideological nature of many of the biblical texts an argument against too ready recourse to theological interpretation is outlined.

Theology and the Historical-Critical Study of the Bible

2011 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Capetz
Keyword(s):  
Family Resemblance ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Salient Characteristic ◽  
Critical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Scholar

One salient characteristic of our current situation is the emergence of a growing consensus among theologians and biblical scholars alike that the time has come to “dethrone” historical criticism as the reigning paradigm of scriptural exegesis for the sake of recovering a theological interpretation of the Bible on behalf of the church.1 To illustrate this new development, I have chosen to focus on the arguments of three prominent biblical scholars, each of whom has made a sustained case about the negative effects of historical criticism upon theological exegesis: They are Brevard S. Childs, Christopher R. Seitz, and Dale B. Martin. All three scholars have close ties to Yale and, not surprisingly, they bear a sort of family resemblance to one another inasmuch as their work partakes of theological themes and concerns that have been prominent at that school in recent decades. Notwithstanding their antagonistic posture toward historical criticism, all three are gifted practitioners of the very method whose dominance they seek to overturn. Since I am not a biblical scholar, I must enter into discussion with them as a theologian who is equally concerned about the relations between biblical studies and theology. At the outset, however, it is necessary to clarify that my own theological orientation prevents me from embracing their call to depose historical criticism. As a liberal Protestant for whom historical-critical interpretation of both the biblical and the post-biblical tradition is constitutive of theology's proper task, their initial premise that historical criticism is somehow inimical to a theological treatment of the Bible strikes me as false and misleading. Contrary to the impression given by their explicit formulations, it appears that the real target of their polemics is not historical scholarship per se but, rather, the normative uses to which it is put in theologies informed by it.

Brevard Childs and the treasures of darkness

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Collin Cornell
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
1 Kings

AbstractContemporary biblical studies is populated by ‘comparativists’ and ‘theological interpreters’: scholars who read the Bible in the context of ancient artefacts, and scholars who read it in the context of Christian theology, respectively. These camps relate to one another mostly by feuding – or by mutual avoidance. The Old Testament theologian Brevard Childs is usually taken as a champion in the cause of theological interpretation, and so also as reinforcing one side of the disciplinary division. But under certain conditions, Childs also authorised the use of ancient artefacts (‘the treasures of darkness’) for reading scripture theologically. This article reactivates the latter possibility within Childs’ interpretive programme, especially through two cases studies: the first by Childs himself, when he uses the Sargon Legend to interpret Exodus 2; and the second a reprise of Childs’ procedure, using the Mesha Inscription to interpret 1 Kings 22.

scholarly journals MAKNA ROHANI DALAM EKSEGESIS PRA-MODERN: Sebuah Pengantar Kepada Teologi Eksegesis Henri de Lubac

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edy Jhon Piter Gurning
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Subject

Abstrak: Dalam 25 tahun terakhir ini, Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS) berkembang dan menjadi pokok diskusi para sarjana biblika dan teologi sistematika. Sebagai sebuah cara untuk memahami Alkitab, TIS mengapresiasi metode hermeneutika pra-modern. Bertentangan dengan pemahaman modern bahwa hanya ada satu makna dalam teks, para pendukung TIS mempercayai ada banyak level makna dalam teks Alkitab. Penulis akan berargumentasi untuk membuktikan kebenaran argumen akan adanya banyak level makna dalam teks Alkitab dengan menelusuri pemikiran Henri de Lubac.     Abstract: In the last 25 years, Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS) has developed and become the subject of discussion of scholars of biblical and systematic theology. As a way to understand the Bible, TIS appreciates the pre-modern hermeneutics method. Contrary to the modern understanding that there is only one meaning in the text, TIS supporters believe there are many levels of meaning in the biblical text. The author will argue for the existence of many levels of meaning in the biblical text by tracing Henri de Lubac's thoughts.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christian Humanism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Nazi Regime ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Christian Humanism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Theological Politics

Based on a comprehensive reading of his entire work, in this book Jens Zimmermann presents Bonhoeffer’s theological ethos as a Christian humanism, that is, as an understanding of the gospel rooted in apostolic and patristic writers who believed God to have renewed humanity in the incarnation. The heartbeat of Bonhoeffer’s Christianity that unifies and motivates his theological writing, his preaching, and his political convictions, including his opposition to the Nazi regime, is the conviction that Christianity as participation in the new humanity established by Christ is about becoming fully human by becoming Christlike. In eight chapters, the author details Bonhoeffer’s humanistic theology following from this incarnational starting point: a Christ-centered anthropology that shows a deep kinship with patristic Christology, a hermeneutically structured theology, an ethic focused on Christ-formation, a biblical hermeneutic centered on God’s transforming presence, and a theological politics aimed at human flourishing. In offering a comprehensive reading of his theology as Christian humanism, Zimmermann not only places Bonhoeffer in the context of the patristic and greater Christian tradition but also makes apparent the relevance of Bonhoeffer’s thought for a number of contemporary concerns: hermeneutic theory, the theological interpretation of the Bible, the relation of reason to faith, the importance of natural law, and the significance of religion for secular societies. Bonhoeffer turns out to be a Christian humanist and a modern theologian who models the deeply orthodox and yet ecumenical, expansive Christianity demanded by our time.

Teaching the Bible and Popular Media as Part of Contemporary Rape Culture

2020 ◽  
pp. 423-439
Author(s):  
Beatrice J. W. Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Rape Culture ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Cultural Myths ◽  
Biblical Texts

This essay explores pedagogical strategies for addressing rape culture in biblical studies courses, employing Genesis 34 and Judges 19–21 as primary texts. The first section discusses the nature of popular culture and its impact on gender. The following four sections highlight cultural myths about sexual assault by focusing on significant biblical texts and incorporating aspects of popular media to facilitate conversations about rape culture. The conclusion summarizes the main points and encourage further studies that combine the study of popular media and biblical texts. Overall, the essay contributes to the reading and teaching of the Bible within contemporary rape culture so that students become critical interpreters of biblical texts, as they become resistant readers of past and present rape culture.

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