The Exegetical Tradition

2021 ◽  
pp. 54-74
Author(s):  
Kenneth Cragg
Keyword(s):  
Exegetical Tradition

Encountering Ambiguity: Muʿtazilī and Twelver Shīʿī Approaches to the Qur'an's Ambiguous Verses

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tehseen Thaver
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Islamic Jurisprudence ◽  
Primary Determinant ◽  
Linguistic Challenges ◽  
Qur'anic Exegesis ◽  
Exegetical Tradition ◽  
Qur'an Commentaries ◽  
Early Islamic

Within the broader discipline of Qur'anic exegesis, the sub-genre of the mutashābihāt al-Qurʾān (the ambiguous verses of the Qur'an) is comprised of works dedicated to the identification and explication of those verses that present theological or linguistic challenges. Yet, the approach, style, and objective of the scholars who have written commentaries on the ambiguous verses are far from monolithic. This essay brings into focus the internal diversity of this important exegetical tradition by focusing on the Qur'an commentaries of two major scholars in fourth/eleventh-century Baghdad, al-Sharīf al-Raḍī (d. 406/1016) and Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025). Al-Raḍī was a prominent Twelver Shīʿī theologian and poet while ʿAbd al-Jabbār was a leading Muʿtazilī theologian during this period; al-Raḍī was also ʿAbd al-Jabbār's student and disciple. Through a close reading of their respective commentaries on two Qur'anic verses, I explore possible interconnections and interactions between Shīʿī and Muʿtazilī traditions of exegesis, and demonstrate that while ʿAbd al-Jabbār mobilised the language of Islamic jurisprudence, al-Raḍī primarily relied on early Islamic poetry and the etymology of the Arabic language. Methodologically, I argue against a conceptual approach that valorises sectarian and theological identity as the primary determinant of hermeneutical desires and sensibilities.

Allegory or Literal Historical Interpretation?: Andrew Fuller’s Critique of Robert Robinson’s View of the Canonicity of the Song of Songs

2019 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-288
Author(s):  
Jeongmo Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Song Of Songs ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Exegetical Tradition

This study deals with Andrew Fuller’s (1754–1815) critique of Robert Robinson of Cambridge (1735–1790) with a particular focus on Fuller’s critique of Robinson’s view of the canonicity of the Song of Songs. Fuller’s defence of the canonicity of the Song of Songs and his interpretation of it evidently follows the mainstream Protestant view of the Reformation and the Post-Reformation eras in continuity with the patristic and medieval exegetical tradition. In particular, standing firm with the predominant exegetical tradition of previous centuries, Fuller takes allegory as the main exegetical method to interpret the Song of Songs. Even though Fuller emphatically rejects the use of vain allegory as a human invention, his interpretation of the Song of Songs indicates that if allegory may be able to connect appropriate features in an Old Testament passage with a greater truth revealed in Christ, he allows for the use of allegory to expose the meaning of the text.

scholarly journals Titian’sChrist with the Coin: Recovering the Spiritual Currency of Numismatics in Renaissance Ferrara

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Nygren
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Activity ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Exegetical Tradition

AbstractTitian paintedChrist with the Coinfor Alfonso d’Este around 1516. The painting served as the cover piece for a collection of ancient coins and has been read as a commentary on politics and taxation. Instead, this article reveals how the painting reconfigured Alfonso’s interaction with ancient coins, transforming the everyday activity of the collector into an occasion of spiritual reformation. Reading numismatic antiquarianism against the exegetical tradition that accrued around the Gospel pericope (Matthew 22:21) reveals the painting as the nexus of two regimes of virtue — one Christian, one classical — both of which turn upon coins as manifold objects.

Messianic Meaning in Psalms 2, 8, 44: the View of Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-113
Author(s):  
Борис Тимофеев
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Theodore Of Mopsuestia ◽  
Exegetical Tradition

Цель статьи - реконструкция экзегетических принципов толкования диодором Тарсийским и Феодором Мопсуэстийским мессианских текстов в псалтири. Эти толкователи известны критическим подходом к прямой мессианской интерпретации пророческого провозвестия ветхого завета. Так, с их точки зрения, из всей псалтири только четыре псалма говорят непосредственно о христе и его времени. Это псалмы 2, 8, 44 и 109. поскольку толкования диодора и Феодора на 109й псалом в настоящее время недоступны, автор ограничился сравнительным анализом их комментариев на псалмы 2, 8 и 44. результаты сравнения помогают прояснить детали герменевтических принципов диодора и Феодора и определить их место в древней христианской экзегетической традиции. This article is an attempt to reconstruct the exegetical principles of the interpretation of messianic texts in the Psalms of Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia. These interpreters are known for their critical approach to the direct messianic interpretation of the Old Testament prophetic proclamation. So, for example, from their point of view, of the entire Psalm, only four psalms speak directly about Christ and his time. These are 2, 8, 44, and 109 Psalms. Since the interpretation of Diodorus and Theodore on Psalm 109 is currently unavailable, we restrict ourselves to analyzing their comments on Psalms 2, 8, and 44. The results of the comparative analysis can help to clarify the details of the hermeneutic principles of Diodorus and Theodore and help determine their place in the ancient Christian exegetical tradition.

II. Looking for the Truth: Plutarch as an Open-Minded Platonist

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 18-39
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Correct Interpretation ◽  
Privileged Position ◽  
Exegetical Tradition ◽  
Academic Tradition

Plutarch saw himself primarily as a philosopher, standing in the long Academic tradition that could be followed back to the ‘divine’ Plato (De cap. ex inim. 90C; Per. 8.2). But when he took his first steps as a philosopher, Plato's works had been (re)read and interpreted for several centuries. As a result, Plutarch had to acquaint himself with a rich exegetical tradition that would shape the lens through which he read Plato and would turn his attention to specific dialogues. For some Platonic dialogues had during this time received a privileged position. In particular, the Timaeus was intensively studied, which led to heated discussions about the correct interpretation of specific passages. A detailed exegesis of this dialogue, complemented with material carefully selected from a few other dialogues, yielded a few Platonic ‘core doctrines’. Many Platonists, for instance, endorsed three fundamental principles, viz. God, matter, and the Forms (the so-called Dreiprinzipienlehre). These Forms were often regarded as the thoughts of God, and the final end of life (the τέλος) was nearly always defined as an assimilation to God (ὁμοίωσις θεῷ) – as far as possible (κατὰ τὸ δυνατόν) – on the basis of a celebrated passage from the Theaetetus (176b1). Such doctrines found their way into school handbooks (like Alcinous’ Didaskalikos or Apuleius’ De Platone), which provided the reader with a systematized Plato. Inconsistencies in Plato's works were explained away, obscure passages were clarified, and later insights (including Peripatetic and Stoic doctrines) were used to reconstruct a coherent Platonic philosophy.

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