Biblical Narrative Research Articles

Register and Rhetoric

Abstract Despite 4QMMT having been informally called a “Halakhic Letter” since its first publication, more recently some scholars have expressed skepticism as to the original genre of this text. This article aims to provide empirical and theoretical support for what one might call the orthodox position: that this text was in fact a letter originally. By means of a detailed linguistic comparison between 4QMMT and the Damascus Document, it will be shown that despite many surface similarities between these texts in terms of structure and rhetoric, they present extremely divergent grammars. This in turn raises a fundamental question: how could two texts likely produced by the same community be so different linguistically? It will be argued that the most plausible explanation is that these two texts were written in distinct registers in order to accommodate to distinct literary genres. While the language of MMT can reasonably be called closer to the contemporary vernacular, the Damascus Document seems to be patterned after the language of the higher register of biblical narrative. From here, sociolinguistic research will be employed in an effort to show that the epistolary genre reliably reflects a lower register across languages and cultures, thereby justifying the orthodox position with respect to MMT.

A Monarchy and a Half: the Ancient Israelite Statehood Evaluated

This is the last article in the series of six articles, which altogether deal with the reconstruction of the history of the Ancient Israel. Its task is to offer the most plausible model of the emergence and the subsequent development as monarchic states of the kingdoms of Judaea and Israel. Methodologically, the research is based upon the narrative analysis. The key question is whether did exist the unified monarchy with Jerusalem as its capital during the rule of King David. To answer the question whether it did exist indeed and if yes then in what form one must compare the Biblical narratives with their author's ideology. The research shows that the actual “unified monarchy” was It appears that the unified monarchy was more likely “a project”, which in the actual narration was turned into the narrated past.

Thinking Outside the Panel: Rewriting Rebekah in R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis

AbstractThe rise in popularity of comic book Bibles has brought with it the opportunity to interrogate, challenge, reframe and reimagine difficult aspects of sacred scripture through text–image retellings. By their nature and format, comic books are uncontrollable vehicles of cultural expression, and in the case of biblical comic books, religious expression. As such, they can offer retellings of biblical narratives which challenge established practices of biblical interpretation normally rooted in patriarchal and conservative ideologies and may open the text up to more creative interpretations which are not restrained by those traditional approaches of reading the Bible. This article considers R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis, Illustrated by R. Crumb (2009) as a case study which focuses on the character of Rebekah (Gen. 24:15–67 and 25:19–28), demonstrating how the combination of text and image acts as a commentary to the biblical narrative as well as reframing Rebekah as a matriarchal leader, a move which is not reflected in the words but is depicted through accompanying images. The case study demonstrates how biblical comic books can move beyond the constraints of traditional biblical scholarship to reinterpret characters and stories from perspectives previously unvisited.

Illustration und Textaneignung

Johannes Gutenberg designed his edition of the Vulgate without illustrations. However, the subsequent evolution of media affected the vernacular appropriation of the Holy Scripture. Vernacular printed Bibles typically featured extensive pictorial representations of the biblical narrative. From an iconographic perspective, this case study examines which types or parts of the images were maintained, transferred but also reconfigured in the woodcuts. In addition, from the perspective of reader-response criticism, it analyzes how the placement of illustrations guides, structures and augments the reading of the Holy Scripture. While the canonical biblical text follows a 14th-century German translation, these illustrations offer new ways of understanding. By looking at the conceptions of Creation, Paradise and Fall of Man in pre-Reformation printed Bibles, this case study examines how religious knowledge changed through these processes of appropriation in the context of a print production which was no longer dominated by clerical but commercial interests. Finally, the findings are compared with Luther’s Bible.

The Monstrous Other and the Biblical Narrative of Ruth

Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017) restages the biblical narrative of Ruth in Cold War America, crystallizing the parallel through setting numerous scenes at a local cinema that is playing The Story of Ruth (1960). The book of Ruth tells the tale of how a non-Israelite outsider could be welcomed into the kingdom of God and ultimately into the lineage of Christ. Likewise, del Toro populates his tale with multiple outsiders—multiple ‘Ruths’—including a mute woman, an African American cleaner, a Russian Communist, and an elderly homosexual male. However, these are merely reflections of the ultimate outsider, Del Toro’s ‘Monster’. A new and anthropomorphic species of fish has been caught by the government, and these four outsiders must bind together in order to return him to the sea. During this process, the mute Elisa and the Monster make love, transgressing multiple sexual norms of the age and symbolizing true unity with ‘the other’ (all while being equally as ribald as Ruth at the foot of Boaz’ bed). This ‘otherness’ is contrasted throughout by the main antagonist, Strickland, who quotes bible verses about power in order to justify his own abusive behaviour, suggesting that the central ideological tension in the narrative is between a theology of power and a theology of liberation. The film then ends with the villain dying, while the mute Elisa is resurrected and given the promise of “happily ever after,” paralleling the coming of Christ from the line of Ruth and suggesting that the only way into the kingdom of heaven is through embracing ‘the other’. This parallel is likely intentional, for del Toro similarly ended Pan’s Labyrinth (2007) with the protagonist resurrecting to heaven. Thus, del Toro—himself a Mexican immigrant—has used film and theology to craft a modern version of Ruth that transgresses multiple boundaries in a way similar to the ancient version. Further, in making his modern Ruth into a sea-monster, he not only hints at ethnic, normative and cultural liberation for humans, but the embracing of a trans-human liberation that could include animals and possibly even the future rights of AI.

Astrobiology and Fallenness—Baptising Spock

ABSTRACT In this article I bring together the topics of astrobiology and the Christian teaching of fallenness, asking whether we have good theological reasons for supposing one way or another that non-earthly life is fallen. To do so, I first examine the historical work done surrounding this topic, then turn to the biblical narrative and argue that the Bible would seem to suggest a cosmos which is indeed fallen. Finally, I examine how we might identify fallenness in astrobiological life, using the sciences as a helpful partner to expand on our understanding of fallenness and its cosmic extent.

The Discourse Functions of Overspecified Anaphoric Expressions in Biblical Hebrew Narrative: Genesis 12-24 as a Test Case

Abstract In Biblical Hebrew, as in other languages, anaphoric reference is often overspecified; that is, an anaphoric noun (lexical anaphora) is used in a place where the inflection of the verb (inflectional anaphora) would be a sufficient indicator as to who is being referred to. The present study investigates the function of overspecified subject referents in Biblical Hebrew narrative discourse. It is found that overspecification can be associated with three main textual phenomena, namely, events of general relevance, subject referent initiative, and various textual discontinuities. The function of indicating subject referent initiative lies behind many of the occurrences of lexical anaphora at the beginning of episodic units, but it may also occur within episodes. The different functions of overspecification and inflectional anaphora arise as a result of the different mental processes triggered by lexical and deictic anaphora, whereby the former evokes general, contextindependent knowledge about the referent and impedes the access to the information contained in the previous clause, whereas the latter makes it immediately available.

In All Music There Is Bach

No ordinary musician, Bach was a composer whose works were deeply influenced by personal faith and who expressed his theology through music. Transcending denominationalism, his compositions have an ecumenicity belonging to Church Tradition and express the movement of the human spirit reaching for the divine. Its universal, mystical tenor was never fully appreciated by his own cultural age, even though he was considered a great organist. Overlooked and later rediscovered, Bach drew inspiration from past composers for whom music as art was an expression of the longing of the human spirit for the divine, in contrast to an emerging view of art and culture as having the human person as the measure of all. A source of inspiration for later composers, the music is that of a man of the Church responding to the call of biblical narratives reflecting the faith for which Luther stood and about which Arndt wrote a text that was read by some Russian saints. It is the Church calendar, its rhythm of holydays and remembrances, that structured Bach’s life and work. Love for his theological music continues despite social and cultural upheavals.

Erfaring av pasjonshistorien til salig liv.

In the Twin Realms of Denmark-Norway the king was also responsible for the religious life of his subjects. Kirkeritualet [The Church Ritual] of 1685 was an expression of the king’s care for his subjects. It included even guidelines for the priest’s spiritual care for those condemned to death. A “pious repentance”, rooted in the mystical tradition, became an important aspect of Lutheran Christianity following the Reformation. A reckoning with sin, conversion, and the interiorization of faith, following the Order of Salvation, was the path to a new and eternal life. It was by interiorizing the biblical narrative – for those condemned to death, the Passion of Christ – that one took part in such a sanctifying process. The spiritual advisor made the biblical text affective and present, using rhetorical means, in order to transform the heart. After uniting with Christ in the Eucharist the condemned could go to his death on the path to eternal life.

The Midrashic Impulse

The Midrashic Impulse

The book of Jonah and the theme of exile

This article examines the exilic theme of many inner-biblical allusions in the book of Jonah. Although there are few allusions to the Babylonian exile itself, allusions to the primeval and exodus narratives focus upon and draw out the exilic motifs in those texts. The allusions characterize the prophet Jonah, accentuating his wrongdoing and dissatisfaction while also indicating a more hopeful outcome for him than the ending of the book would otherwise suggest. Furthermore, the allusions illustrate the literary approach of the author in using biblical narratives to enrich his own story while simultaneously influencing the reader’s interpretation of the texts that he evokes. This insight into the author’s techniques is informative for exploring other instances of inner-biblical allusion in the book.

Learning to be a Biblical Scribe: Examples from the Letter Writing Genre

The paper illustrates how scribal education shaped and influenced biblical literature. It discusses how educational curriculum can be reconstructed from Hebrew inscriptions and comparative examples in cuneiform literature. The Hebrew educational curriculum was adapted from cuneiform models in the 12th century BCE. These models were known in Canaan, and then used by early alphabetic scribes. The best repository of ancient Hebrew scribal practice comes from the desert fortress of Kuntillet ʿAjrud where all the categories of elementary scribal education are known. Perhaps the most important of these was letter writing, which was a basic part of a scribe’s everyday duties. Not surprisingly, letter writing was also one of the foundations of scribal education, and it was adapted and used for writing biblical literature in ways both mundane and profound. This included both the structuring of biblical narrative and the genre of writing prophets.

The Unfavored: Judah and Saul in the Narratives of Genesis and 1 Samuel. By Josef Sykora

In this book Josef Sykora builds on recent scholarly work on the concept of election, in particular noting the approach of both Jon Levenson and Joel Kaminsky in examining chosenness as a central feature of the Hebrew Bible, and the focus of a number of scholars on the fate of the unchosen outsider in biblical narrative. Sykora takes a different tack however, tackling two narratives relating specifically to chosenness and the unchosen within Israel itself, both of which contain ‘difficult’ passages often assumed to be later editorial additions to the text. Sykora examines the figure of Judah within the Joseph cycle of Genesis 37–50, and the portrayal of Saul in 1 Samuel 13–15, in each case using an experimental reading of the text without the seemingly ‘intrusive’ passages which seem to sit awkwardly within the canonical text. In the Judah/Joseph narrative, Genesis 38 and 49 are removed for later analysis,...

“Reality – Is it a Horror?”

This paper discusses the works of author Richard S. Shaver, who rose to prominence in the science fiction world in the 1940s with stories describing a vast underworld of caverns under the surface of the earth. These caverns were inhabited by evil beings called “dero” that used high-tech devices to torment the inhabitants of the surface world. Shaver, who had spent several years in mental institutions prior to his writing career, claimed his stories were true, and Amazing’s editor, Raymond A. Palmer, aggressively promted the “Shaver Mystery.” This prompted a backlash from science fiction fandom against both Shaver and Palmer. This paper gives an overview of Shaver’s career and explores his world-system as a form of theodicy, drawing in particular on his novel Mandark, a retelling of portions of the Bible narrative. Shaver’s monsters and their devices are examples of an “influencing machine,” a commonly-occurring delusional phenomenon first described by psychologist Victor Tausk in 1919, an externalized force that a patient believes is the source of thoughts and sensations. This paper argues that, for Shaver, the dero provided a psychological framework for processing tragic and traumatic events, externalizing tormenting forces into monsters. His fiction then became a force for combatting those torments within a narrative context. Like other conspiracy theories, the Shaver Mystery seeks to impose order on a chaotic world.

Съвременна миниатюрна дърворезба. Теми и сюжети в творчеството на Кирил Томанов

Contemporary miniature wood carving and its place on the scene of visual arts today. The main themes and motifs in the miniature carvings by Kiril Tomanov are discussed, as well as the materials used by the author. The article analyzes the complex compositions which the artist has made in order to creatively interpret biblical narratives.

Liturgy and the Discerning Worldview: On the Relationship between Liturgy and Ethics

What is the relation between ethical discernment and liturgy? Do Christian rituals provide enough space for ethical thinking? What is the nature of the certainty that discernment in ritual is correct? This study explores these questions in the context of the recent debate on the relationship between liturgy and ethics. It proceeds in five steps. Firstly, it briefly outlines the question of the foundation of Christian ethics with the help of the theology of Karl Barth. Secondly, it presents the joint task of ethics and liturgy, which teach us to see the world sub specie Christi. Thirdly, following Gordon Lathrop, it treats the problem of ritual constructing false worldviews: the hierarchical distortion, the distortion of the closed circle, and spiritual consumerism. In the next part, it explores how different ritual strategies open the space for actual ethical thinking in liturgy. The last part focuses on the role of biblical narrative, images, and symbols that represent the crucial source of the discerning worldview. The concluding reflection returns to the opening questions arguing that our discernment must be always aware of its particularity and perspective. The unbroken certainty of seeing can only be placed on the eschatological horizon.

Promissory Narration: Toward a Revised Narrative Homiletic in an Age of Identities

This essay offers a third way of thinking about experience and identity in narrative preaching—a homiletical-theological one in relation to the character of the gospel as promise. I begin by building on a trajectory of research that sees an intimate relationship between biblical narrative and promise, especially the work of Ronald Thiemann, Christopher Morse, and James Kay. With Kay’s help, I then turn to an especially rich opportunity for revising what Morse first called promissory narration by means of Carolyn Helsel’s appropriation of Paul Ricoeur’s The Course of Recognition in relation to the problem of white racism. In the process, I will also bring Ricoeur’s work on promise and narrated identity to help rethink how promissory narration might help narrative preachers work through a course of recognition and transformation of identity in ways that move past the liberal/postliberal impasse about experience that has dogged especially white narrative homiletics.

Reading Genesis: A Literary and Theological Commentary

Reading Genesis: A Literary and Theological Commentary

Reading Hebrew Bible Narratives, written by J. Andrew Dearman, 2019

Reading Hebrew Bible Narratives, written by J. Andrew Dearman, 2019

Protestant evangelical pilgrimages: hagiography, supernatural influence, and spiritual mapping

ABSTRACT Christian pilgrimage sites can be separated into three broad categories: Biblical sites (e.g. Jerusalem, Ephesus, Patmos, and other locations where significant events happen in the Biblical narratives); older Catholic and Anglican sites whose importance has been established over a long history of many centuries (e.g. the Vatican, Lourdes, Canterbury); and lastly, newer sites associated with more recently established Protestant denominations and groups such as Methodism, Lutheranism, Pentecostalism, and others. With a shorter history and lacking either the Biblical significance or the political or national dimension of Catholicism and Anglicanism, other Protestant sites can be considered “popular” or “excentric” sites. These construct their significance through strategies relying on evangelical and Pentecostal discourses and meanings, particularly the construction of great spiritual figures who wield supernatural and invisible influence over history and society. These constructions propose a Spiritual Mapping that is superimposed onto historical and political events, creating an alternative significance for touristic purposes. This paper examines two sites for Protestant evangelical pilgrimages, centered on the figures of John Wesley and Rees Howells, that demonstrate this touristic construction of protestant hagiography, supernatural influence, and Spiritual Mapping.