Biblical Theology

Abstract

Biblical Theology John Thomas Willis, Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, and William J. Urbrock 1353. John Barton, "Old Testament Ethics: Story or Style?" Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls, 113-29 [see #1505]. Conservatives deal with the Bible on the lines of legalism, opposing same-sex marriage, while endorsing keeping the Sabbath, tithing, and capital punishment. Liberals oppose the idea of normative OT regulations such as the laws in Leviticus, and highlight rather the overall character, drift, and emphasis of OT texts based on loving God with all the heart and one's neighbor as oneself. B. proposes that the best course in thinking about OT ethics is to read the OT as a guide to a style of living, a source of mottos and epigrams for the good life, and a text that can shape the reader in significant ways. It may be time for the domination of narrative in Christian readings of the OT to yield to a more wisdom-centered approach, and for the Bible to be seen as contributing to the construction of a lifestyle, rather than as telling a story meant to serve as a paradigm for the story of our own lives.—J.W. 1354. Luigi Castangia, "Abissi del cosmo e dell'uomo. Gli inferi nel pensiero biblico," HT 26 (2017) 47-60. C.'s essay deals with the underworld in the Bible, with a focus on poetic texts. In so doing, he presents an etymological analysis of the Bible's main "underworld terms" (šĕʾôl, šaḥat, tĕhôm, and mĕṣûlâ) that serves to highlight the close connections between biblical and ANE texts regarding the underworld. The meaning of each term is sketched by C. in light of the contexts in which it occurs. The second part of C.'s essay focuses on Jonah 2 and Proverbs, noting that in these texts the Bible's cosmological language for the underworld undergoes an anthropological and ethical transposition, in which cosmological depths become an abyss of distress or a chasm of evil and sin. This metaphorical dynamic does not, however, occur in all cases. Rather, certain underworld terms remain anchored in their cosmological sense, while others [End Page 461] more readily lend themselves to the above-mentioned shift. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1355. Cyprien Comte, "L'espoir de Dieu: Conversion (Shoûv) humaine et repentir (Niḥām) de YHWH dans la Bible hébraïque," BLE 119 (2018) 73-89. Five texts of the Hebrew Bible present human conversion (šûb) as the cause of Yhwh's own "repentance" (niḥām). In 1 Samuel 15, Saul "turns away" (šûb) from God's will, with the result that God "repents" of having made him king of Israel and announces his rejection. The other four texts, i.e., Jer 18:1-12 (Jeremiah's visit to the potter's workshop); Jeremiah 26 (Jeremiah's trial); Joel (the prophet's call to repentance); and Jonah 3–4 (Jonah in Nineveh) report a prophetic summons to repentance and—in most instances—the hearers' response to these. Divine "repentance," grounded as this is in Yhwh's mercy, i.e., his readiness to "adapt" his own behavior in response to humans' behavior in the face of his words to them, surfaces particularly in contexts of prophetic discourse, the aim of which is to evoke conversion from the hearers. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1356. Alexander Deeg, "'Auch für dich' und das messianische 'Heute.' Überlegungen zur Hermeneutik des Alten Testaments aus homiletischer Perspektive," Hermeneutik des Alten Testaments, 166-87 [see #1531]. D. is a professor of practical theology in the Evangelical Faculty of the University of Leipzig who is heavily involved in the Christian-Jewish dialogue. His essay features reflections concerning the use of the OT in Christian preaching. The essay's five overarching headings are as follows: (1) The Co-existence of Christianity and Judaism and Israel's Bible, or: The Setting in Life of Christian Hermeneutics of the OT; (2) Contemporary Challenges for a Sermon on the OT; (3) The OT as a Context for Truth and Tonality in the Church's Proclamation: Hermeneutical Considerations; (4) "For You...