The Multivalence of Biblical Texts and Theological Meanings. Edited by CHRISTINE HELMER.

Abstract

Achieving a rapprochement between theology and the Bible has eluded scholars since the eighteenth-century rise of historical-critical studies of previously sacrosanct scriptural texts to a position of pre-eminence in the scholarly world. This collection represents an often stimulating, if flawed, attempt to achieve that goal. The fundamental difficulty lies in radical differences between the text on the one hand (contradictory, infuriating, and provocative) and theological discourse on the other (logical, coherent, and formally systematic). Before the modern era allegorical and typological approaches created the appearance of system in the biblical texts, but are scarcely available today. While many of the essayists in Helmer's symposium are aware of the problems and seek to address them, more often than not the connection is through a tacit confessional position. Helmer's introduction emphasises the link between theology and text which is constituted by ‘Biblical Theology’, understood as theology already within the Bible, and theology implied by or in harmony with the biblical text. These are not entirely separate categories, and they allow for a (controlled) multiplicity of theological interpretation. There follows a group of essays in which the text is the primary focus of attention. Thus David Carr's interesting survey of theological interpretations of the Song of Songs illustrating both the dangers posed by anti-Semitism and crude gender-biased interpretations, and the opportunities presented by legitimate ‘fuller sense’ readings, and C. R. Seitz's fine essay using the idea of literary and theological ‘fixity’ to present interpretations of Isaiah 7–11. The relationship between literary fixity and various literary contexts is explored through a series of pairings, suggested by the text, which have a bearing on the identity of the messiah: Ahaz and the prophet's strangely named children; Ahaz and Hezekiah; Hezekiah and Josiah; Josiah and the servant. He then discusses the way that interpreters (whether Jewish or Christian) place themselves both in relation to the fixed text and through the exploration of larger theological meanings.