Biblical Metaphor Research Articles

Modernity and the Great Depression: The Transformation of American Society, 1930–1941 by Kenneth J. Bindas

Reviewed by: Modernity and the Great Depression: The Transformation of American Society, 1930–1941 by Kenneth J. Bindas David Welky Modernity and the Great Depression: The Transformation of American Society, 1930–1941. By Kenneth J. Bindas. CultureAmerica. ( Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2017. Pp. [x], 277. $39.95, ISBN 978–0-7006–2400-3.) Modernity and modernism, as historians have understood at least since Richard Brown published his seminal Modernization: The Transformation of American Life, 1600–1865 (New York, 1976), are more than temporal concepts. Modern not only is synonymous with now but also conveys values and principles that help societies interpret the world around them. Historian Kenneth J. Bindas draws heavily from contemporary magazines, newspapers, and other printed sources to argue that the Great Depression marked the zenith of modernism in America. Unlike historians who stress the sociocultural continuities between the 1930s and previous decades, Bindas maintains that the economic collapse created space for a new worldview called modernism, which preached that rationalism, order, planning, and progress were the keys to solving contemporary problems and ushering in a brighter future. This brand of modernism had both secular and sacred roots. It emerged from the technological advances of the early twentieth century, the efficiency movement epitomized by Frederick Taylor, the writings of technocratic thinkers, and the ideas of liberal Christians seeking up-to-date methods of perfecting society. Ultimately, modernism became a kind of civic religion, steeped in a language of salvation—as evidenced by, for example, Franklin D. Roosevelt's appropriation of biblical metaphors in his first inaugural address—that was fixated on improving this world rather than accessing the next one. Bindas acknowledges that modernism is a slippery concept that meant different things to different people and was more of a zeitgeist than a fixed set of principles. He links the search for rationalism, order, planning, and progress to four areas of 1930s America: the New Deal, the world's fairs, interior decoration, and music. The Civilian Conservation Corps, for example, inculcated young Americans with the belief that centralized direction could transform virgin nature into organized, useful, and communally beneficial spaces. World's fairs highlighted the social importance of rational-minded scientists whose research paved the way toward a future without shortages or suffering. Modernism's grip loosened in the 1960s and 1970s, in part because of the return of prosperity. Americans watching their new televisions in suburban living rooms grew suspicious of modernist values such as community and centralized planning. Moreover, modernism became a victim of its own success. Americans had been told that modernism would create a utopia. When that failed to materialize and as the protests of the 1960s exposed lingering fissures in the country's social fabric, the disillusioned turned inward and sought meaning in individualism, laissez-faire conservatism, New Age spiritualism, and other antimodern philosophies. What was once revolutionary had become stale and square. Bindas's thesis is compelling, and his well-drawn examples point to the importance of the loose conglomeration of concepts called modernism. While this reviewer appreciates his focused treatment, one wishes he had expanded his exploration in a few additional directions. A more thorough analysis of [End Page 207] modernism in Hollywood film seems crucial to the larger picture. Although Bindas briefly addresses the modernist bent of cowboy movies, the topic seems ripe for further discussion. Moreover, while he astutely shows how modernism repackaged traditionalist ideas for a new generation, a deeper treatment of how modernism coexisted with the various traditionalist movements of the age would have been welcome. Finally, the author implies connections between capitalism, consumerism, and modernism; the world's fairs that promoted reason and order also sold products and enhanced brand awareness. Modernism, it seems, was at times as much a business venture as a social blueprint. A clearer demonstration of how these forces intermingled and of the ramifications of those interactions might shed light on the tensions that animated the modernist impulse. Nevertheless, Bindas's provocative and imaginative interpretation of a crucial moment in the development of contemporary America is both thoughtful and thought provoking, opening new avenues of inquiry for future historians. David Welky University of Central Arkansas Copyright © 2018 The Southern Historical Association...

Wąż i jego symbolika w Biblii

Wąż i żmija należą do najbardziej popularnych symboli. Występują w tej roli w niemal wszystkich kulturach świata. Starożytny Bliski Wschód znał zarówno pozytywne, jak i negatywne skojarzenia związane z symboliką węża. W Biblii przeważają raczej te drugie. Wąż reprezentuje tu najczęściej chaos, świat magii, sytuacje zagrożenia, śmierć i podstęp. W licznych metaforach i porównaniach można znaleźć jednak czasem także pozytywne przykłady związane z wężem lub żmiją. W tle niektórych wypowiedzi, zwłaszcza z Księgi Wyjścia (Wj 4; 7) i Księgi Liczb (Lb 21), również dostrzec można takie pozytywne aspekty związane z symboliką węża. Reprezentuje on w tych tekstach YHWH oraz posiadaną przez Niego moc uzdrawiania.

De la comedia al auto sacramental: del honor al perdón en Lope de Vega

The author of this article reviews the critical bibliography of the sacramental plays by Lope to show how scholars have always considered that this writer adapted elements and resources taken from his comedies into the sacramental plays. Actually, this article analyses the code of honor relevant in comic comedies and tragedies with different results. But this convention is also coherent with the sacramental genre, because it is supported by images and biblical metaphors and, in this case, they force a determined end. Equally, we have to take into consideration that the playwright employs other means specific of the auto sacramental to allow the allegory to operate and connect its two allegorical levels.

“When Noah built the ark…”

Abstract This article investigates the use of biblical stories and text in the preaching of Joshua Feuerstein, a popular Facebook evangelist, and focuses on how biblical stories are used to position the viewer in comparison to biblical characters and texts. Taking a discourse dynamics approach (Cameron & Maslen, 2010), a corpus of 8 short videos (17 minutes 34 seconds) and their comments (2,295) taken from the Facebook are analysed first, for the presence of metaphorical language and stories taken from the Bible. Second, they are analysed for the role of metaphor in the narrative positioning (Bamberg, 1997) of the viewer, particularly as it relates to Gibbs’s notion of ‘allegorises’, or the ‘allegoric impulse’ (Gibbs, 2011). The corresponding text comments from the videos are then also analysed for the presence of the same biblical metaphor, focusing on how commenters interact with the metaphor and Feuerstein’s positioning of them. Findings show that biblical metaphorical language is used to position viewers and their struggles in the context of larger storylines that compare everyday experiences to biblical texts. This comparison can happen both in explicit narrative positioning of viewers with explicit reference to the Bible, and implicit positioning, through the use of unmarked biblical language. Analysis of viewer comments shows that use of metaphorical language is successful in building a sense of camaraderie and shared belief among the viewer and Feuerstein, as well as viewers with one another.

“Truth is like a vast tree”

This article focuses on Gandhi’s use of biblical metaphor in the English translation of his autobiography “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” (1940). The aim of the analysis is to show how Gandhi appropriated Christian ideology to his own life story when presenting it to an English-speaking audience. Given that metaphor use is “seldom neutral” (Semino, 2008, p. 32), underlying conceptual mappings can be revealing, particularly when the same conceptual frame is employed systematically across a text or discourse situation. Analysis of the English translation reveals a use of biblical metaphor which may constitute a deliberate appropriation of Christian ideology. This article suggests potential motivations for this appropriation, linking the text’s metaphor use to Gandhi’s desire to reform Hinduism and intention to counter the rising tide of Hindu-Christian conversion that threatened the success of his campaign for Indian political and spiritual independence.

Chleb i woda jako metafory słowa Bożego w czterech Ewangeliach

Chleb i woda należą do najbardziej znanych biblijnych metafor słowa Bożego. Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia studium ich występowania w czterech Ewangeliach na tle Starego Testamentu. Analiza bezpośrednich wzmianek o chlebie i wodzie nie wyczerpuje jednak podjętego tematu. Dlatego przedmiotem zainteresowania są również terminy, które do nich nawiązują, jak pokarm, źródło, łaknienie, pragnienie, karmienie, picie. Studium metafor słowa Bożego wykazuje zarówno kontynuację biblijnych idei w czterech Ewangeliach, jak i całkowitą nowość w wyrażeniu tego Słowa, które stało się ciałem (J 1, 14).

„Weź swój krzyż i idź za Jezusem…”. Wizerunek człowieka niosącego krzyż jako alegoria życia zakonnego

Artykuł jest przyczynkiem do badań nad ideą naśladowania Chrystusa, wyrażoną w ikonografii chrześcijańskiej za pomocą obrazowej metafory dźwigania krzyża wespół z Chrystusem. „Kto nie bierze swojego krzyża, a idzie za mną, nie jest mnie godzien” (Mt 10, 38) – z mocą nauczał Chrystus. „Kto chce pójść za mną, niech się zaprze samego siebie, niech weźmie swój krzyż i niech mnie naśladuje” (Mk 8, 34, par. Mt 16, 24). Wierni temu przesłaniu komentatorzy tekstów biblijnych, egzegeci, teologowie i mistycy przez kolejne wieki rozwijali, pogłębiali, komentowali i objaśniali ideę naśladowania Chrystusa, posługując się chętnie także biblijną metaforą „wzięcia krzyża na swoje ramiona”.

Hybridity and ambivalence: the consequence of the diaspora compromise

ABSTRACTNo culture is totally pure and unaffected at the platforms of cultural interactions worldwide. Cultures are dynamic, hence producing mongrels or hybrids after cultural transplantations and cross-pollinations. The paper has examined the effects of cultural hybridity and ambivalence in the works of Maya Angelou, Samuel Selvon, Buchi Emecheta, Doris Jean Austin and Michelle Cliff as: ‘diaspora compromise’. The study is hinged on Biblical metaphor as its main theoretical frame work, since theories such as postcolonial theory, Blame theory, Melting Pot metaphor and the Mosaic metaphor could not offer a lasting solution to the maladies of ethnocentrism and racism in human societies like the Biblical metaphor of ‘one body with many parts’, which seems to be the best for now. The foregoing is preceded by an analysis of the concepts: cultural hybridity and diasporic ambivalence. Strands of the diaspora compromise are discussed in the paper as extrapolations from Angelou’s novel All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes, Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners, Emecheta’s Kehinde and The New Tribe, Austin’s Looking for Home and Cliff’s No Telephone to Heaven, present their protagonists as victims of cultural hybridity and ambivalence who hanker with no remedy to their state of cultural limbo in the diaspora or in their motherland. It is hoped that when the Biblical metaphor is applied to the vicissitudes of cultural diversity will facilitate the interface and interdependence of different cultures for the overall benefit of mankind, as one body with many parts, where an injury to one is an injury to the entire body.

Hugo Chávez’s Appropriation of the Liberationist Legacy in Latin America

Hugo Chávez (1954–2013), the former president of Venezuela (1999–2013), brought Latin American populism to a global audience through his rhetorical remarks and controversial appearance in the global media. Theological and biblical metaphors were part of this rhetoric. The article argues that Chávez’s appropriation of theological metaphors in his populist political discourse could be considered as a symptom of the continuing influence and relevance of liberation theology in Latin America during the two last decades of victorious leftism on the continent. On one hand, liberation theology as a social movement had been weakened, especially within the Catholic Church. On the other, the bureaucratic language from the neoliberal era, tied to the Washington consensus, was to a high degree exhausted and replaced by a populist language that paved the way for the inflow of religious and Christian metaphors into politics. Chávez’s use of these metaphors in a way that was consistent with liberation theology points to Christian and Latin American liberationist discourse as a crucial factor in the resurgence of the political left within a religiously vibrant region

Vas electionis: el Apóstol Pablo en el comentario de Santo Tomás a la Carta Ad Romanos

The article focuses on various texts of Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans: on the one hand, the prologue, which concerns the whole Corpus Paulinum and contains a portrait of the Apostle based on the biblical metaphor vas electionis ; on the other hand, the commentary of Aquinas on some parts of Romans where Paul speaks about himself referring to his own life and mission. Both types of texts differ in their literary genre and modes of biblical interpretation, but coincide in presenting the personality of Paul: in the prologue, as the portrait of a saint, whereas the commentary of the selected texts points to Paul’s life on earth with his virtues in fieri , which in the prologue are shown as perfectly achieved.

Odniesienia biblijne i ich rola w Bulli kanonizacyjnej św. Jadwigi Śląskiej

The Bulla issued by Clement IV on 26 March 1267 is the official document in which Saint Hedwig of Silesia was declared a Saint of the Catholic Church. An analysis of the papal document reveals that it is permeated with biblical spirit. This is manifested by numerous biblical references in the form of short citations, paraphrases of the excerpts from the Holy Scripture, biblical metaphors and mentions of biblical characters. The author of the Bulla used all those biblical references to outline the spiritual profile of Saint Hedwig and describe her role as a Saint who intercedes in Heavens for those who live on Earth. In the light of the Bulla, Saint Hedwig appears as a woman whose life was firmly grounded in the biblical foundations.

The Greatest Metaphor Ever Mixed: Gold in the British Bible, 1750-1850.

Given the frequency of negative references to gold in British allusions to filthy lucre, it emerges as an historical puzzle that Britons resorted to biblical metaphors of gold so often in describing heaven and their aspiration to be purified in God's crucible. This article provides evidence for the prominence of these two metaphors in British religious and secular discourse between 1750 and 1850, and argues that Britons tried to resolve the resulting tensions by celebrating their uniquely abstract valuation of gold, in contrast to less "civilized" connotations of gold in Catholic and non-Christian cultures.

« A single gray flake, like the last host of christendom » : The Road ou l’apocalypse selon St McCarthy

This article focuses on Cormac McCarthy’s religious viewpoint in The Road (2006) and highlights the biblical metaphors and images that bring about a new vision of the apocalypse. Finding God in a godless world lies at the core of McCarthy’s project. Through the motif of the ashes, this essay studies McCarthy’s theological aspiration and the emergence of a new eschatological liturgy thanks to a reinvented Holy Trinity.

Mocking Religion: Penalties and Ironies

Mocking Religion: Penalties and Ironies Peter Heinegg He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. Lev. 24.16 Along with the waves of rage and indignation from the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris have come not a few worried warnings that mocking the deity and faith of our fellows is morally wrong: cruel, insensitive, arrogant, unseemly, and so on. That may be true, but it may also be worthwhile to note that the Hebrew Bible, aka the Old Testament, does not hesitate to dish out such mockery. That does not necessarily validate the use of satirical or contemptuous language about anyone's religion; but it certainly shows how ancient and embedded in tradition such language is. As everyone knows, the Hebrew Bible fiercely rejects the worship of false gods (alien beings sometimes seen as actually existing, sometimes as imaginary). The First Commandment asserts that, “You shall have no other gods before me,” followed by the Second, which forbids bowing down before any image of foreign “divinities.” The reason given is that God is “jealous,” which suggests that, however loathsome they may be, he sees them as real. The punishment for idolatry is death, as spelled out in the ferocious thirteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, which declares that anyone, from a deluded “prophet” or “dreamer of dreams” to ones nearest and dearest (“your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom,” Dt. 13.6), who calls “Let us go after other gods” must be stoned to death; and if an entire city defects, then all its inhabitants and domesticated animals must be put to the sword and the place itself burned to the ground as an offering to the Lord (“it shall be a heap forever, it shall not be built again,” Gen. 13.12–17). True, there is no historical record of a brutal command like that ever being carried out; but the vehemence of the language makes it clear how seriously both God and the Israelite community take the offence of idolatry. And their wrath evidently grew out of a long history of national betrayal, from Aaron's fashioning of the golden calf (an act of desperate ingratitude to the Lord who had just rescued them from the house of bondage in Egypt) to the perverse goings‐on in Israel over six centuries later, when the righteous king Josiah of Judah had his hands full removing idolatrous paraphernalia and the house of the male cult prostitutes from the Temple, destroying the “high places”, slaying their priests, annihilating pagan shrines, and so forth (2 Kings 23). That was a heroic effort, but all in vain, because just a generation after his death (in 709 BCE), Jerusalem was leveled by the Babylonians, and the cream of the population swept away to Babylon to punish the sins of Judah, especially its inveterate habit of breaking the First Commandment. Then too, the prophets, who are generally focused on sins against social justice, also rail against idolatry. In keeping with the ubiquitous biblical metaphor of Israel as an adulterous spouse and the Lord as her furious husband, Jeremiah repeatedly claims that, “upon every high hill and every green tree” (the natural location for shrines of nature gods), “you bowed down as a harlot.” (Jer. 2.20). Ezekiel has a tormented vision of the Temple of Jerusalem defiled by the images of animal deities, by women weeping for Tammuz, and some twenty men worshiping the sun” (Ezek. 8.7–16). Hosea 11.2 sums up the theme of Israel's endless backsliding: “The more I (the Lord) called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and burning incense to idols.” No surprises here. In a polytheistic world, monotheism always was a hard sell; and it would have been strange if the originally nomadic Israelites, with their unsophisticated material culture, had not been drawn to the colorful, alluring, time‐honored cults of their powerful neighbors, and if that attraction had not brought down...

Interpreting Biblical Metaphors: Introducing the Invariance Principle

The scholarship concerning biblical metaphor has profited widely from the conceptual (cognitive) approach to metaphor, but a key principle from this approach, the Invariance Principle, has been widely overlooked as a valuable tool for the interpretation of biblical metaphors. The Invariance Principle allows biblical scholars to evaluate logically and with consistency the many varied interpretations that are often generated from exegetically difficult metaphors. This principle stipulates that the logical relationships of a metaphor’s source domain (the metaphorical elements) must correspond to the structure of logical relationships in the target domain (the literal elements). An extended analysis of the partridge metaphor in the riddle-based proverb of Jer 17:11 demonstrates how the Invariance Principle can be used to evaluate previous interpretations and to provide logical structure for generating a fresh interpretation to this proverb.

Interpretation as a factor influencing translation: the case of a biblical metaphor

This paper identifies interpretation as a crucial factor influencing translation of biblical metaphors. Data are drawn from five Chinese Bible translations. Qualitative analysis is conducted. The results show that it is highly likely for translators’ interpretation of biblical metaphors to affect the metaphor translation. More researches probing into translation variations of biblical metaphors in Chinese Bible translations are called for.

So Pleasant, so Addictive: Some Remarks on Alexander Pruss’ Work One Body

In this article in a form of a review I analyze at length A. Pruss’ book One Body , pointing at where I agree with him and stressing several flaws in his arguments. The general line of thought, which is exploring the biblical metaphor of “being one body,” is ultimately sufficient for me from the theological, but not the philosophical point of view.

Biblical Metaphor: The Cosmic Garden Heritage

An inquiry into the nature of metaphor, as it has evolved since Aristotle and particularly in the late twentieth century, allows fresh consideration of biblical texts. Using as a sample trope the ancient Near Eastern and biblical figure of the cosmic garden where humans live with the gods until they are exiled, the article works out the implications of the image, using prophetic texts and cognitive theory. Briefly and generally, then, three other texts are considered: Genesis 2-3, Deuteronomy, Song of Songs, where the figure is present but signifying differently. The article closes with a consideration of how moderns may be addressed by this biblical metaphor.

Evangelicals’ Sanctification of Marriage through the Metaphor of Jesus as a Husband

Researchers have examined how perceiving marriage as “sacred” or believing God is manifest in marriage is associated with marital functioning and satisfaction, but little is known about how biblical family metaphors (e.g., God is father) inform Christians’ interpretations of family relationships. Few studies explore the perspective of individuals who believe in, interpret and apply these metaphors to their relationships. This study uses Hermeneutic Theory to examine how Evangelicals apply the metaphor of Jesus as husband and the church as bride to their intimate relationships and spirituality. Qualitative interviews with 15 Evangelicals explored the meaning, interpretations, and processes of marital relationships in light of the Christ-groom God image. Participants indicated many ways the metaphor was useful: value partners more; invest more in the relationship; strive to demonstrate love, patience, etc. toward partners; and guidance in relationship structuring. They discussed how their couple relationships opened positive and negative possibilities for relating to God. Gender hierarchy and implication that husbands are the “head” or “Christ” figure in marriage caused incongruence for some participants as did the difficulty of comparing a person or human relationship to a spiritual metaphor. Application, implications, and ideas for future research are discussed.

Yahweh the Dragon: Exploring a Neglected Biblical Metaphor for the Divine Warrior and the Translation of ’Ap

In the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh is often depicted as a divine warrior, executing vengeance against his enemies. Some of these texts employ the image of Yahweh as a dragon-like creature who pours forth smoke from his nostrils and fire from his mouth. This article surveys the background of this metaphor by describing deities and monsters that breathe fire in the literature of ancient Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, as well as the dragon-like Leviathan in Job (41.10-13 [Eng. 18-21]). Against this background, the article examines the two texts that most clearly exhibit the metaphor (2 Sam 22.9 // Ps 18.9 [Eng. 8]; Isa 30.27-33) and considers its implications for the translation of ’ap in these and other passages (Isa 42.25; Deut 32.22; Num 11.1). Although the LXX and modern translations uniformly render ’ap as “anger” in most of these passages, this article argues that it is more consonant with the dragon metaphor to translate the term as “nose” or “nostrils” (i.e., “the burning of his nostrils”).