Between Theology and Text Criticism as Interpreted on the Psalms by Hans-Joachim Kraus

Цель настоящего исследования - показать, каким образом немецкий учёный Ганс-Иоахим Краус (1918-2000 гг.) совместил теологический подход к исследованию Писания с историко-критическим. Это делается на примере его экзегезы 109 и 131 псалмов, входящей в известнейший труд Крауса - трёхтомный комментарий на Псалтирь. Для решения поставленной задачи проводится анализ предпосылок научного подхода Крауса, которые связаны с верой Бога, открываемой Ветхим Заветом. Далее демонстрируется методология Крауса по реконструкции исторической и культовой среды, в которой формировались библейские поэмы. Как показывает исследование, Краус активно использует небиблейские источники, проводит текстологический анализ рукописей, показывая какую роль могли играть псалмы в культе почитания Сиона и иерусалимского царя. Краус избегает использование типологии и аллегории и осторожно подходит к вопросу об исполнении ветхозаветных пророчеств в Новом Завете. Как учёный, он доказывает, что Писание содержит фактологическую информацию, которой можно верить. Его строго академический и в то же время по-христиански благоговейный подход к исследованию Библии, на наш взгляд, может служить ответом на вопрос, как может сочетаться вера с научным познанием Библии. One of those German scholars who tried to combine the theological with the historical-critical approach to the Scriptures studies was Hans-Joachim Kraus (1918-2000). Kraus’s most famous work is a three-volume commentary on the Psalter. Using the exegesis of Psalms 109 and 131 as an example, the author of this article shows how Kraus balanced between theology and historical criticism. For this, an analysis of his premises of the faith in the living God is carried out. I try to demonstrate Kraus’s methodology in reconstructing the historical cultic environment in which the biblical poems were formed. As my study shows, Kraus actively uses non-biblical sources, conducts theological analysis of manuscripts, showing what role the psalms could play in the veneration of Zion and Jerusalem king. Kraus avoids the use of typology and allegory and is cautious about fulfilling Old Testament prophecy in the New Testament. As a scientist, he argues that Scripture contains factual information that can be believed. His strictly academic and at the same time Christian-reverent approach to Bible study, in my opinion, can serve as an answer to the question: how can faith be combined with scientific investigation of the Bible.

Brought to Ruin

Chapter 3 examines the impact of biblical archaeology on the production and reception of the Doré Bible, arguing that the recuperations of historical fragments are consistent with broader societal anxieties. Questions surrounding the Bible’s historical credibility (propelled by Enlightenment rationalism) prompted new, ostensibly scientific investigations of biblical sources and sites. Archaeological excavations in the Middle East and North Africa revealed fragments of ancient pasts that engendered new approaches to the representation of biblical subjects. These fragments, the often problematic manner in which they were appropriated into Doré’s illustrations, and the popular reception of the images reveal a distinct anxiety about the narratives of biblical civilizations and what they presage about the present and future. The illustrations speak to the circumstances of French interests and the status of the nation in an era wrought by repeated revolutions that seemed as potentially catastrophic as the events of the Bible.

Akram Khan’s Approaches to Biblical Sources in His Tafsīrsoho Qur’an Sharif

This paper examines, following an analytical and descriptive methodology, Akram Khan’s approaches towards Biblical sources in his commentary on Qur’an known as Tafsīrsoho Qur’an Sharif (The Noble Qur’an with Tafsīr), and, thereby, intends to understand his methodology in Qur’anic exegesis. Akram Khan denies the acceptance of Biblical sources more than once in his work. Even he attacks on authors and narrators who narrated, or allowed them in their works or showed a positive approach towards them. Akram Khan’s rigorous stance against Biblical narratives and strong criticism of the exegeses who allowed those sources in their works can often lead to the assumption that he simply does not find Biblical sources reliable, like many classical and modern writers. But a close inspection reveals that it is not the soundness and validity of Biblical sources what makes him reject them, rather it is more about his preference of reason and rationalism.

Distribution of archaeological material scatters and soils at the site of Abila of the Decapolis, northern Jordan

<p>Patterns and intensities of past land use are mostly unknown. However, soils in the vicinity of archaeological sites usually carry significant amounts of material culture (mostly pottery sherds) which testify to past human activity. We surveyed surface transects of material culture and soil distribution, radiating from the city center of ancient Abila of the Decapolis. The city had been abandoned during the Medieval and was never resettled, which minimizes the presence of material culture from younger periods. In addition, earlier studies suggested that soil erosion of the rather level limestone plateau surrounding the site was rather limited, indicating that actual land surfaces largely represent those of antiquity. Our survey encountered strongly varying quantities of material culture, which correspond to some soil properties such as concentrations of faeces biomarkers of pork excrements. As the material culture mainly dates to Late Antiquity, and as pork consumption during the Islamic periods is rather unlikely, this indicates that the distribution of the archaeological material was to some degree connected with pig breeding during Antiquity. A possible practice leading to sherd deposition on fields could be manuring, such as from applying dung including pork excrements, but ratios of N-isotopes do not suggest that fields surrounding Abila were subject to application of larger amounts of manure. Therefore, it seems very likely that material culture deposition on the land surrounding Abila was partly connected with the herding of pigs, a land use practice that is attested in Biblical sources on the region.</p>