Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Hofreiter
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
History Of Exegesis ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
Military Campaigns ◽  
Apostolic Fathers ◽  
Effective History

This book investigates the effective history of some of the most problematic passages in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): passages involving the concept or practice of herem. These texts contain prima facie divine commands to commit genocide as well as descriptions of genocidal military campaigns commended by God. The book presents and analyses the solutions that Christian interpreters from antiquity until today have proposed to the concomitant moral and hermeneutical challenges. A number of ways in which the texts have been used to justify violence and war or to criticize Christianity are also addressed. Apart from offering the most comprehensive presentation of the effective history (Wirkungsgeschichte) of herem texts to date, the book presents an analysis and critical evaluation of the theological and hermeneutical assumptions underlying each of the several approaches and their exegetical and practical consequences. The resulting taxonomy and hermeneutical map is an original contribution to the history of exegesis and to the study of religion and violence. It may also help Christian and other religious readers today make sense of these troubling biblical texts. Apart from an introduction and conclusion, this book contains four diachronic chapters in which the various exegetical approaches are set out: pre-critical (from the OT to the Apostolic Fathers), dissenting (Marcion and other ancient critics), figurative (from Origen to high medieval times), divine command ethics (from Augustine to Calvin) and violent (from Ambrose via the Crusades to Puritan North America). A fifth chapter presents near-contemporary reiterations and variations of the historic approaches.

scholarly journals “Varii errores qui ab origine mundi emerserunt”. The semantic scope of the term “heresy” in Philastrius’ of Brescia Diversarum hereseon liber

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 315-325
Author(s):  
Mariusz Szram
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church ◽  
Semantic Scope

The bishop of Brescia, Philastrius, author of the first Latin catalogue of he­resies, written between 380 and 388, presented in his treaty an extremely large number of heterodox movements: 28 within Judaism and 128 in early Christianity. This comes as a result of a wide understanding of the term heresis. For Philastrius this term was synonymous with the term error, recognized as any deviation from the universal truth in the history of the world, inspired by Satan as “the father of lies”, ocurring primarily in Judaism and Christianity. Among the early Christian views defined by the bishop of Brescia as heresy five groups can be distinguished. The first group includes mainly the erroneous views on fundamental theological questions contained in the rule of faith, such as the concept of a creator God and saviour Jesus Christ. The second set of he­resies, closely related with the previous one, contains the erroneous doctrines of anthropology, such as questioning the resurrection of the human body or the view of the materiality of the human soul. The third group includes the views related to the misinterpretation of Scripture, especially exaggerated literal interpretations of the texts of the Old Testament, as well as the cosmological views which do not agree with descriptions contained within the Bible. The fourth group contains the moral issues related to the based on laxism or rigorism way of life, as well as to the attitude of lack of deference to the laws of the Church, but non-threatening the primary truths of the Christian faith. The fifth group of heresies includes the movements defined by the authors of the late patristic period as a schizm, while the term schisma is not at all used by the bishop of Brescia in his work. The semantic scope of the term heresis in Philastrius’ treaty went beyond the noncompliance with the regula fidei. According to the bishop of Brescia each offense – whether in doctrinal teaching or practice of life, as well as with regard to the understanding of the text of Scripture – is a heresy because it offends God and the Church. Therefore, in Philastrius opinion one should not differentiate between superior and minor error, but equally condemn them as attitudes directed against God as the Father of Truth.

Hiob zwischen probatio, patientia und blasphemia

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Johann Anselm Steiger
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Book Of Job ◽  
Literary Forms ◽  
History Of Exegesis ◽  
Lyrical Poetry ◽  
History Of

AbstractThis article provides an overview of the history of exegesis of the book of Job in 16th and 17th century Lutheranism. Early reformers such as Johannes Bugenhagen, Johannes Brenz, and Hieronymus Weller, a pupil of Luther, published commentaries about this philologically as well as theologically difficult narration of the Old Testament. In the 17th century, interpreters of Job made use of a variety of literary forms, including lyrical poetry (e. g. Sigmund von Birken). A highlight of the Job exegesis in baroque Lutheranism lies in the comprehensive commentary published by Sebastian Schmidt of Strasburg in 1670. The article closes by paying particular attention to the iconography of the multi-part copper engraving, created by Albert Christian Kalle for the Job exegesis by the pastor Christoph Scultetus of Stettin in 1647.

Looking On the Bright Side of Israel's History

1999 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
K.L. Noll
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
History Textbook ◽  
Academic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bright Side ◽  
Theology Students

AbstractThe Preface of John Bright's popular textbook, A History of Israel, states that Bright targeted the "undergraduate theological student." Although presented as an academic history textbook, the content of the book amounts to a theology of the Protestant Old Testament, written in accord with a popular Protestant movement of the mid-twentieth century. This study examines Bright's motives for composing his History as discerned from unpublished letters of the period, and as discerned from a rhetorical evaluation of the textbook. Apparently, Bright did not consider himself a historian; rather, he thought himself to be a theologian who theologizes about history. Critical evaluation of Bright's effort concludes that Bright misconstrued the role of the historian precisely because he viewed that role through the eyes of a theologian. Nevertheless, he models an approach to the presentation of history that is valuable for future writers of textbooks targeted at theology students.

Martin Luther’s Biblical Commentary: New Testament

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik H. Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Commentary ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of Exegesis ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of

Martin Luther’s exposition of the Bible was not only fundamental to his academic vocation, it also stood at the very center of his reforming work. Through his interpretation of the New Testament, Luther came to new understanding of the gospel, expressed most directly in the apostle Paul’s teaching on justification. Considering the historical complexities of Luther’s own recollections on the matter, it is quite clear that he regarded his time immersed in the writings of Paul as the turning point for his theology and his approach to the entire Scriptures (cf. LW 34:336f). Furthermore, Luther’s interpretation of the New Testament was imbued with such force that it would influence the entire subsequent history of exegesis: colleagues, students, rivals, and opponents all had to reckon with it. However, as a professor, Luther’s exegetical lectures and commentaries were more often concerned with the Old Testament. Most of Luther’s New Testament interpretation is found in his preaching, which, following the lectionary, usually considered a text from one of the Gospels or Epistles. His reforms of worship in Wittenberg also called for weekly serial preaching on Matthew and John for the instruction of the people. From these texts, we have some of the richest sustained reflections on the Gospels in the 16th century. Not only was the substance of his interpretation influential, Luther’s contribution to exegetical method and the hermeneutical problem also opened new possibilities for biblical interpretation that would resonate with both Christian piety and critical, early modern scholarship.

Jonah: A Study in Old Testament Hermeneutics

1958 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brevard S. Childs
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
God's Love ◽  
History Of Exegesis ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation ◽  
Surprising Fact

In the history of exegesis there have been few books within the Old Testament which have roused more vigorous controversy than the interpretation of the Book of Jonah. There was a time when one's orthodoxy could be quickly determined simply on the basis of opinions held regarding its historicity. Yet in spite of the stormy past it is a surprising fact that in modern times there has been a great unanimity of interpretation reached among Old Testament scholars. On the one hand, the attempt of the older expositors, such as Pusey and Orelli, to defend the book as literal history has been almost universally rejected as untenable. On the other hand, the allegorical interpretation of G. A. Smith has found few followers. Rather, the great majority of modern scholars have reached the conclusion that the book of Jonah is simply a narrative which the author used as a means of conveying a general truth in an interesting and effective manner. R. H. Pheiffer is typical when he calls it ‘a short story with a moral’. The spiritual message of the book is the lesson that God's love is not exclusively confined to Israel, but that Israel carries a responsibility of sharing it with others.

The Apocrypha in the History of Early Christianity

2021 ◽  
pp. 51-73
Author(s):  
Tobias Nicklas
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of ◽  
Apostolic Fathers

Whereas the New Testament never actually quotes from any of the Apocrypha, we can, however, find evidence that at least some of the Apocrypha were indeed of impact for several New Testament writings. The same can be said about the Apostolic Fathers, some pieces of early Christian Apocrypha and, of course, many later authors. Whereas it is clear that neither Judith nor the books of the Maccabees were used only as historical sources—and that a text like 4 Maccabees never referred to by any writer—a full and detailed overview of the use and impact of the Old Testament Apocrypha remains a desideratum.

History of the Study of Apocrypha in Early Medieval England

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Brandon W. Hawk
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Medieval England ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Early Judaism ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Early English

Literature written in England between about 500 and 1100 CE attests to a wide range of traditions, although it is clear that Christian sources were the most influential. Biblical apocrypha feature prominently across this corpus of literature, as early English authors clearly relied on a range of extra-biblical texts and traditions related to works under the umbrella of what have been called “Old Testament Pseudepigrapha” and “New Testament/Christian Apocrypha." While scholars of pseudepigrapha and apocrypha have long trained their eyes upon literature from the first few centuries of early Judaism and early Christianity, the medieval period has much to offer. This article presents a survey of significant developments and key threads in the history of scholarship on apocrypha in early medieval England. My purpose is not to offer a comprehensive bibliography, but to highlight major studies that have focused on the transmission of specific apocrypha, contributed to knowledge about medieval uses of apocrypha, and shaped the field from the nineteenth century up to the present. Bringing together major publications on the subject presents a striking picture of the state of the field as well as future directions.

Itumeleng Mosala: Giving Theology Its World, Feet and Hands

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takatso Mofokeng
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Black People ◽  
Black Consciousness ◽  
History Of ◽  
Black Consciousness Movement

Worthy of celebration is the contribution made by Itumeleng Mosala (hereafter Mosala) to the Black Methodist Consultation, the theological community in Southern Africa, and the Black Consciousness Movement. This article attempts to give theology its world, feet and hands in the person of Mosala. The article departs from the narration of the history of Mosala. It locates Mosala within township life and Old Testament scholarship. Furthermore, the article searches for suitable and effective weapons of intellectual struggle in light of Mosala’s life. The aim of this article is to celebrate the indelible footprints that Mosala made as he communed with black people.

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