Disabling Methodology in Hebrew Bible Studies

Author(s):  
Jeremy Schipper
Keyword(s):  
2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus W. Gericke

This article argued that the utilisation of philosophy of religion in the study of the Hebrew Bible is possible if we look beyond the stereotype of erroneously equating the auxiliary field with natural theology, apologetics or atheological criticism. Fruitful possibilities for interdisciplinary research are available in the form of descriptive varieties of philosophy of religion primarily concerned with understanding and the clarification of meaning rather than with the stereotypical tasks of propositional justification or critical evaluation. Three examples are discussed in the article: analytic traditions (Wittgensteinianism and ordinarylanguage philosophy), phenomenological perspectives involving reduction (bracketing) and comparative philosophy of religion that works in tandem with the history of religion and comparative religion.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-81
Author(s):  
Harvey E. Goldberg

AbstractInteraction between anthropology and biblical scholarship began because of perceived similarities between “simpler” societies and the practices and ideas seen in the Bible. After some disengagement in the first half of the twentieth century, new cross-disciplinary possibilities were envisioned as the structuralist approach emerged in anthropology. Ritual and mythology were major topics that received attention and structuralist methods were partially adopted by some biblical scholars. Anthropological research itself extended to complex societies and also affected historical studies, yielding models of inquiry that engaged a range of disciplines. Among the issues explored in this essay are ritual and notions of purity in the Bible, and the place of literacy in Israelite society and culture. These discussions are followed by three examples of structuralist-inspired analysis that partially take into account historical and literacy-based facets of the Bible.


2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Miller

This article examines recent studies of ethnicity in the Hebrew Bible. A subsequent article will analyze similar studies of the New Testament writings. After a brief overview of selected trends in the study of ethnic identity, I organize my analysis according to broad historical periods in the biblical narrative: pre-monarchic, monarchic, and exilic/postexilic eras with monographs receiving the bulk of attention. I conclude that three persistent problems hinder progress in these investigations. First, the inability of scholars to agree upon dates for biblical texts, our best source for ascertaining ethnicity, limits our capacity to locate them within specific socio-historical contexts and thereby reconstruct Israel's ethnic identity at a given time and place. Second, the evidence that can be dated most accurately, archaeological remains, provides inadequate data for drawing conclusions about ethnic self-perceptions. Finally, vague definitions of ethnicity result in imprecise characterizations of Israel's identity. Such methodological and theoretical difficulties are not unique to this young sub-discipline of Hebrew Bible studies, nor should they detract from the fact that analysis of ethnic dynamics in the Hebrew Bible is a promising development in the overall study of ancient Israelite identity.


The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible brings together thirty-seven essential essays written by leading international scholars, examining crucial points of analysis within the field of feminist Hebrew Bible studies. Organized into four major areas — globalization, neoliberalism, media, and intersectionality, the essays provide vibrant, relevant, and innovative contributions to the field. The topics of analysis focus heavily on gender and queer identity, with essays touching on African, Korean, and European feminist hermeneutics, womanist and interreligious readings, ecofeminist and animal biblical studies, migration biblical studies, the role of gender binary voices in evangelical-egalitarian approaches, oand the examination of scripture in light of trans women’s voices. The volume includes essays examining the Old Testament as recited in music, literature, film, and video games. In short, the book offers a vision for feminist biblical scholarship beyond the hegemonic status quo prevalent in the field of biblical studies, in many religious organizations and institutions that claim the Bible as a sacred text, and among the public that often mentions the Bible to establish religious, political, and socio-cultural restrictions for gendered practices. The exegetically and hermeneutically diverse essays demonstrate that feminist biblical scholarship forges ahead with the task of engaging the many issues and practices that keep the gender caste system in place even in the early part of the twenty-first century. The essays of this volume thus offer conceptual and exegetical ways forward at a historic moment of global transformation and emerging possibilities.


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