Showing papers in "Horizons in Biblical Theology in 1998"

How To Read an Abhorrent Text: Deuteronomy 13 and the Nature of Authority

Abstract: In my previous work in deuteronomic law, Social Justice and Deuteronomyl, I investigated, among other things, the way that a biblical legal text can be used to address analogous problems in a place and time (the reader's2 present) where the actual content of that text (that is, the words of the laws themselves) no longer has any direct relevance. There, I said that the issue was one of \"relevance\" and the roadblocks preventing an easy resolution of that issue were those of \"difference and . transference,\" or \"the whole spectrum of difficulties ... created by the span of years and custom which lie between the present of the text and the present of the reader. \"3 One difficulty which that previous study did not face was how one can resolve the issue of \"difference and transference\" in the face of a text

Power, Otherness, and Gender in the Biblical Short Stories

Abstract: The concern of this article will be with the books of Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Judith, and Tobit I would argue that we might profitably compare these five books with regard to themes running throughout them All evidence similarities in how they portray power relationships, alienation and otherness, theology and divine activity, gender categories, and how their protagonists attain ultimate success Though this set does not represent a collection of works traditionally grouped together in biblical studies,1 find, nonetheless, that these five literary documents evidence ample similarities that we may beneficially consider how they relate to one another First and most obvious is that each of these books is a free-standing work which is named by a single character, and thus the action is (at least initially) focused around this individual They are all most likely compositions of the same general time period in Jewish history, during the Second Temple period All are narrative in structure and brief in length, and might be seen as representatives of a short story genre2 In all of them we find continuations and reworkings of ideas from the Torah and the Prophets3 Also, they all function as diaspora narratives; that is, addressing issues that Jews would have been facing in the diaspora Esther, Daniel, and Tobit are written directly about diaspora situations Ruth and Judith, though set within in the geographical boundaries of Judah, likewise deal with the question of the relationship between Israelites and other peoples and how to successfully live with other cultures

Brueggemann's Old Testament Theology: A Review Article

Abstract: There is a sameness about Old Testament theologies that makes the reading of most of them more a chore than a treat. The subject-matter will be about the same in every book-will it not?_and variety, if any, will be found in the way it is organized. Most of the discussions of Old Testament theology, in fact, have to do with how to organize it. Thus, it was a treat when Gerhard von Rad's work appeared, for it was a truly original approach, filled with new insights and hints at where future research might go.1 The same may be said of Walter Brueggemann's book.2 It will be widely discussed, because of the impressive learning of its author, its original structure, and its bold effort to find a way through the confusion that marks much of biblical scholarship at the end of the twentieth century. In addition to providing the material one expects to find in such a work, B. writes with the passion of one who is out to make a case. The theme of the book is testimony, and the book itself is also a testimony. This review article represents one, early effort to appreciate and evaluate this important work. The book begins with two lengthy chapters surveying the history of Old Testament theology and the issues currently facing those who would engage in that enterprise. The heart of the book is divided into four sections, whose titles already reveal that this is a highly original way of organizing the work: I. Israel's Core Testimony, II. Israel's Counter-testimony, III. Israel's Unsolicited Testimony, and IV. Israel's Embodied Testimony. The four chapters of the final section (Prospects for Theological Interpretation) expand on the position B. had outlined for himself earlier in the book. Without comment on the rich detail of the work, it may be possible to reflect on its originality by asking three questions: Where does he stand? How does he work? What has he contributed ?