Lesson 1 Flashcards
How did the Enlightenment approach biblical interpretation, and what were the results of this
approach?
A. The presuppositions of the Enlightenment
1. Human reason is put forward as the final criterion: man is the measure of all things
2. The universe is a closed system
3. The Bible should be approached like any other book, with no special privileges
B. Results of the Enlightenment
1. The separation of systematic theology from the historical investigation of the Bible
a. By definition, the historical is immanent (not transcendent)
b. Theology and faith deal with the absolute and transcendent
2. The false goal of an objective interpretation
3. Historical investigation cannot use the Bible as an historical document, and rather must be based on archeology, the inscriptions, artifacts, and other historical information pertaining to era under consideration
4. Three principles of Historical investigation
a. Skepticism
b. Analogy: test historical accuracy by modern experience
c. Coherence: every event has a natural, historical cause
5. Conclusion of the Enlightenment: Ancient Israel is a myth - it never existed
What is the Documentary Hypothesis and how does it work? What are some of the problems of this
view and what has helped to erode its influence?
3. The Documentary Hypothesis (also called source criticism) popularized by J. Wellhausen in Prolegomena to the History of Israel (1876)
a. An evolutionary view of Israel’s history
b. The Pentateuch came together in a series of stages over several centuries
c. Four distinct documents (called sources) were brought together by redactors
d. The four documents can be separated on the basis of the following:
i. Use of the divine name (Yahweh and Elohim)
ii. Doublets: the same story repeated more than once
iii. Two creation accounts (Gen 1:1-2:4; 2:5ff)
iv. Two Abrahamic covenants (Gen 15, 17)
v. Style and vocabulary
vi. Different theological perspectives
e. J
i. Around 950 B.C.
ii. Originated in Judah
iii. Uses the name of Yahweh
iv. Theological focus on humanity and the earth
v. Contact with God directly
vi. Begins in Gen 2
f. E
i. Around 800 B.C.
ii. Emphasizes northern matters
iii. Uses the name Elohim
iv. Theological focus on religion and morality
v. Contact with God mediated by dreams or angels
vi. Begins in Gen 15
g. D
i. Around 621 B.C.
ii. Led to the reformation under Josiah
iii. Theology of retributive justice
iv. The book of Deuteronomy
h. P
i. Around 500 B.C. (post-exile)
ii. Focuses on areas associated with the priesthood
iii. Genealogy, worship, ritual, law
B. Problems with the Documentary Hypothesis
1. Problems with the sources
a. The sources have continued to be divided (e.g., J1, J2, E1 and E2 [Smend], or the supposed “L” source)
b. The abandonment of an E source
2. Better understanding of ANE texts
3. The failure to demonstrate that the four hypothetical documents existed independently and possessed a significant degree of unity, and a lack of evidence that a redactor destroyed the unity of these documents
a . A tension between a redactor who left seams and the high quality of the text
b. Genesis is described as “deeply fractured and beautifully shaped” (Carr 1996, vii)
c. John Barton concludes: “we cannot argue both that it (the Pentateuch) is so full of inconsistencies that it must be highly composite and that it is so consistent and well-integrated that the redactor must have had a masterly touch with his source materials” (Barton 1984, 58)
d. “The conjuring trick of the disappearing redactor.”
C. The demise of the Documentary Hypothesis
1. The emphasis on the literary quality of Scripture
2. Some early (20th Century) critical scholars, such as A. Alt, Gerhard von Rad, and Martin Noth, argued that there existed a kernel of authentic historical tradition in the early history accounts
3. W. F. Albright, E. A. Speiser, and C. H. Gordon piled up parallels between patriarchal stories and the second millennium laws and social customs of the ANE
What are the diachronic and synchronic approaches to biblical interpretation?
A. Diachronic approaches: emphasize the historical development of the text
Focuses on how theological structures and God’s revelations evolved over time. This approach compares languages or meanings across different periods of time. For example, it might consider how the meaning of a biblical story has changed over time.
1. Form criticism (Hermann Gunkel)
a. Identified basic literary types (genres) based on similar content, mood, and linguistic form
b. Identified individual or communal life situations (Sitz im Leben)
c. Stressed the oral origin of the genre
2. Traditions criticism (Gerhad von Rad and Martin Noth)
a. Works on the assumption that as a tradition grows, layers will be added to the tradition that can later be separated from the tradition
b. Interested in who shaped the tradition (priests, prophets, wise men)
c. Interested in the geographical setting of the tradition
B. Synchronic approaches: emphasize the final form of the text with little concern for how the text reached its final form
Focuses on a specific period of time, theologian, or theological school. This approach is similar to studying scenes in a movie, rather than the entire history.
1. (Re)birth of the literary approach
a. SBL Presidential Address by James Muilenburg, ‘Form Criticism and Beyond.’ (1969, 1-18)
b. Calls on scholars to go beyond the analysis of small units of the text and its prehistory to look more at the final form of the text
c. See also Alter, ‘The Art of Biblical Narrative’ (1981)
d. Seeks to understand the literary conventions of Hebrew stories and poems to understanding their meaning
e. Rebirth: the Enlightenment had separated biblical studies from literary analysis
2. Rhetorical criticism: not what is said but how it is said
3. Canonical criticism (Brevard Childs)
a. Focuses on how the final form of the text (the canonical form) functioned as authoritative within the community
b. Interested in the theology of the text
4. Structuralism: origins in linguistics (Ferdinand de Saussure)
a. A literary work is an arbitrary system of signs
b. The meaning of the text is found in the text's conventional code
5. Reader-response approaches: the reader shares in the act of literary communication
a. In some approaches the reader determines the meaning of the text
b. Ideological criticism: Marxist and feminist interpretations
6. Deconstruction (Jacques Derrida)
a. Questions the relationship between the sign and that which is signified
b. Denies an absolute signifier, such as God, to ground the meaning of the text
c. Since there is no meaning in a text, the only option is to play with the text
7. Contemporary post-structural approaches seek to undermine the text in the interests of their own passing concerns
a. Since there is no determinate meaning, we should tailor our interpretation to meet the needs of the group we are addressing, who are paying for our wares
b. See also Clines (1993, 79-90)
c. Post-modern interpretation
d. Denies that there is a single view that can encompass all truth
e. Leads to methodological pluralism and ideological interpretation
What are the characteristics of the biblical writing of history? Describe each of the characteristics.
VI. The Biblical Writing of History
A. Selective
a. They choose to emphasize specific things according to the story they are telling.
b. Example: Pharoh’s name is not mentioned but midwive’s names are.
B. Factual, but not always chronological
a. Example: Gen 10 – 11.
C. Theological
a. Account and interpretation of God’s acts in history.
b. Message from God Himself
