Philosophy, Theology, and Philosophical-Theological Biblical Exegesis

TDB

What Is History?

The differences between the ways professional historians understand and practice the discipline of history and how these textbooks do are the focus of this chapter. These curricula proudly differentiate themselves from other histories; they reject them as secular and instead make history a narrative of God’s actions and judgments. They trace God’s successive providential relationships with His chosen people. Faith, they contend, not only allows the historian to discern the godly and the sinful, largely through biblical exegesis, but also to judge the past by the standards of current evangelical and right-wing Christianity and the political and economic policies it promotes. History becomes a means of religious and political proselytization and propaganda. These textbooks differ profoundly in argument, epistemology, method, notion of causation, and use of evidence from the professional practice of history.

Bach and Theology

Amid a flourishing of interest in the theological dimensions of Bach’s output, relatively little attention has been paid to what the disciplines of biblical exegesis and systematic theology can bring to Bach studies. In the first part of the chapter, two major issues are examined: “anti-Judaism” in Bach, and his vision of time and eternity. Approaching the St. John Passion through close exegesis of John’s Gospel shows that Bach is a subtler and more independent figure than some current discussions of his alleged “anti-Judaism” imply. With regard to time and eternity, it is argued (against Karol Berger) that Bach displays a profound understanding of what a distinctively Christian metaphysics entails. The second part of the chapter asks what Bach might bring to the theologian. Two matters are considered—Bach’s creativity, and his layering of different theological lines—to show how his music can enable theology to be better attuned to its subject matter.

TELAAH TERHADAP BINDING AND LOOSING PRAYER: SEJAUH MANA OTORITAS ORANG PERCAYA DALAM PEPERANGAN ROHANI?

ABSTRACT This article discusses the problem about binding and loosing prayer or deliverance prayer in its popular term. For the proponent, this concept, binding and loosing prayer is considered the important part in spiritual warfare that had to be practiced every day. Whereas the group who refuse assume this kind of prayer is arisen more from experience than the thorough biblical exegesis. This article will discuss the controversy about this binding and loose prayer and then examine the biblical verses that use to be basic for this prayer for answer the main question, to what extent the authority that believer has in spiritual warfare. Abstrak Tulisan ini membahas problematika seputar doa mengikat dan melepaskan (binding and loosing prayer) atau yang juga populer dengan sebutan doa pelepasan. Bagi kalangan yang menganjurkannya, doa ini dianggap merupakan bagian penting dalam peperangan rohani yang harus dilakukan orang percaya setiap hari. Sedangkan bagi mereka yang menolaknya, doa ini lebih didasarkan pada pengalaman daripada penafsiran yang benar terhadap Alkitab. Tulisan ini akan membahas pro dan kontra tersebut kemudian menelaah ayat-ayat Alkitab yang biasanya dipakai untuk membenarkan praktik ini untuk kemudian menjawab pertanyaan utama: sejauh mana otoritas orang percaya dalam peperangan rohani.

Jeremiah and Inner Biblical Exegesis

Bringing inner biblical exegesis as a methodology to the study of Jeremiah has opened venues to discuss Jeremiah in two quite separate spheres: The book and its literary evolution, as well as the prophetic activity in its early oral-written stages. This chapter is aimed at presenting the great benefits and the many pitfalls that these cross-lines (of methodology and Jeremiah) provide for the study of the prophetic book, and not least, for the basic methodological presumptions of inner biblical exegesis as part of the study of intertextuality in prophetic literature. Focusing on interpretive (i.e., adaptation/actualization) techniques within the plethora of intertextual relationships, this chapter takes the utilization of pentateuchal traditions (rarely, texts) in Jeremiah as a case study, and calls to question some of the basic scholarly assumptions concerning Jeremiah: the differences of style (poetry and prose) and the options to differentiate the prophet from his followers/tradents/editors.

From Chronology to Theology

In the late 1580s, a controversy erupted that would devastate Broughton’s career and haunt him for the rest of his days. The source of this agitation was a short chronological pamphlet, A Concent of Scripture, which was published by Broughton in 1589 and attacked in the lectures of the Oxford theologian John Rainolds. This chapter explores how this seemingly unassuming work could provoke such intense conflict, locating the roots of the dispute in the overlap between the dynamic but difficult world of biblical chronology and the combative arena of academic theology. Influenced by the damning verdicts passed by Broughton’s antagonists, modern historians have dismissed Broughton’s Concent as motivated solely by zealous biblicism, a reaction against the daringly innovative work of the chronologer Joseph Scaliger, whose methods were upheld by Rainolds. In contrast, this chapter details the rich tradition of reformed Hebraism in which Broughton’s chronological work was situated, and outlines the manifold disciplines, from the study of rabbinic literature to biblical translation, to which it contributed. It argues that at the heart of this controversy lay not technical questions about chronological method, but larger questions about biblical exegesis and hermeneutics. It also begins to illustrate some of the dangers that faced the early modern scholar who attempted to traverse the perilous terrain of biblical history, by showing how Rainolds’ lectures and the controversy they propagated made dangerous associations between Broughton’s work and crypto-Catholicism.

The Trinitarian Doctrine of Isidore of Pelusium

The correspondence of Isidore of Pelusium (360–435/440?), which consists of approximately two thousand letters, deals to a considerable extent with spiritual teachings and biblical exegesis and to a lesser degree with theological subjects. This article focuses specifically on Isidore’s Trinitarian doctrine and aims to bring to light its sources. The examination of the predominant anti-Arian and anti-Neo-Arian arguments and of the biblical passages Isidore deployed to support his doctrinal points illustrates two aspects of interest: on the one hand, it reveals Isidore as a derivative representative of Neo-Nicene orthodoxy acquainted with different anti-Anomoean works; on the other hand, it confirms the well-established view that Isidore was a resourceful and cultivated exegete.

Conclusion

The Conclusion revisits the principal findings of each chapter and reflects on the lasting achievements of Jerome’s opus Paulinum, especially vis-à-vis the interpretive work of contemporary Latin-language commentators on Paul. Through his four Pauline commentaries he set out to equip Christians in a single weighty reference work with every tool they might need, right at their fingertips, for the advanced study of Paul, and in adapting the form and substance of the Greek exegetical tradition to an entirely new cultural and linguistic context, Jerome effectively recalibrated and retooled Latin biblical exegesis and created what was for all practical purposes a new species of the Pauline commentary in Latin.

A decolonial biblical perspective on Jesus inspired by Fanon and Biko

This paper makes an original contribution against the background of relevant postcolonial discourse by means of the methods of postcolonial and social-scientific biblical exegesis from the perspective of critical correlation. The main aim of the paper is to bring into dialogue the insights of Frantz Fanon and Steve Biko, with the latest insights in biblical scholarship on the parables. This study finds that the New Testament can be read critically through the lens of core ideas of Fanon and Biko in critical correlation with understandings of Jesus as reacting against Roman Imperial domination and exploitation. The paper concludes with the suggestion that postcolonial reading scenarios, like the ones we have suggested in this paper, be used in theological training to relate New Testament Exegesis to contemporary challenges around decoloniality in South Africa.Contribution: The main contribution of this paper is providing key insights into decolonial and postcolonial readings of Jesus as an agent of change reacting against Roman imperial domination and exploitation, addressing the agenda of the special HTS collection of essays focused on the reception of biblical discourse in Africa.