Biblical Scholarship Research Articles

‘Forget your people and your father’s house’ (Ps 45:11): The Hebrew Bible, marriage rites and spousal abuse in contemporary Ghana

Spousal abuse is one of the foremost threats to peaceful coexistence in families the world over. In Ghana, stakeholders, particularly Christian leaders, have raised concerns about the increasing violence associated with spousal abuse, which sometimes results in the death of victims. Although both men and women suffer abuse in marriages, those meted out to women are prevalent. While substantial effort has been made by biblical scholars to discuss these problems in the light of the New Testament teachings on marriage, a gap still remains on what light the Hebrew Bible could shed on these matters. This article, using the distinctive interest approach of African biblical hermeneutics, examines Psalm 45 as a text of Hebrew Poetry intended to accompany the marriage ritual. It argues that the portrayal of the bride and groom, and the admonitions offered in the psalm contain some of the same disturbing elements present in contemporary Ghanaian marriage celebrations, elements that engender spousal abuse. The article proposes both a theological and cultural review of these elements as a way of attenuating their combined negative effect on the marriage institution in contemporary Ghana.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This brings African biblical hermeneutics into dialogue with issues in gender studies, World Christianity, Pastoral Theology and the Exegesis of the Hebrew Psalter.

Plural Elohim as anyame in Psalm 82 of The Asante Twi Bible: A colonial imposition

Postcolonial theoretical examinations on the translation of the Bible in Africa have revealed the systematic process of domination and restructuring of the worldview of Africans. The colonial agenda that coloured the missiological thrust influenced the choice of words and concepts used to translate the Scriptures. By examining the word Elohim in Psalm 82, this article highlights how this development is realised in the translation of the Asante Twi Bible. For instance, in Psalm 82, the plural Elohim has been translated as anyame in the Asante Twi Bible, a translation that is not only inappropriate but alters the religious worldview of the Asante people. As a mission agenda, the term anyame was coined to redefine the religion of the Akan people as polytheism. This redefinition has had a profound and longstanding impact on the language and religious thinking of the people. At the least, this article recommends a constructive reading of Psalm 82 in the Asante Twi Bible in order to decolonise it from colonial impositions that sought to wrongly qualify the life and thought of the people. At the most, the article calls on African biblical scholars to pay more attention to the impact of colonialism in their interpretation of the Bible in order to draw attention to changes in structure of the indigenous language and thought patterns, and to look for creative ways to redeem traditions of the African people.Contribution: The study demonstrates the continuous need to decolonise the Bible in Africa in order to help recover some of Africa’s religio-cultural identity lost during the missionary drive.

John’s realised eschatology as an expression of the wisdom of God

Wisdom has often been assigned as an attribute of God and links to Wisdom theology in the fourth Gospel that are well presented in scholarship by the works of Sharon Ringe, Elizabeth Johnson, Jörg Frey and Mary Coloe. Yet, John’s Gospel never uses the term Wisdom. So, what scriptural evidence can demonstrate that a Wisdom theology can be found in the fourth Gospel? What is clear in John’s Gospel is that there has been a move from an apocalyptic eschatology to one that is realised and sapiential. Hence, this article attempts to show that this change in eschatological outlook can be linked to the first century understanding of the figure of Wisdom, who had emerged as a divine figure that brought the heavenly into the earthly realm. This article uses a literary critical approach, utilising the Bible as the primary source along with key Johannine biblical scholars, to show that through the use of the attributes of Wisdom, the Johannine evangelist and the Johannine community have appropriated the key aspects of the female divine Sophia onto the notion of the divine Logos, who is in John synonymous with Jesus, the Nazarene. Using scriptural texts from both the First and Second Testaments about the notion of Wisdom and the work of key Johannine scholars, this article shows how John’s use of the concept of Logos, also ascribed to Wisdom in Wisdom 18:15, strongly parallels the attributes of divine Wisdom. This article argues that although John’s Gospel does not explicitly use the term Wisdom, the parallels between the biblical concept of divine Wisdom and divine Logos are numerous. Eternal life is a central concept in John’s Gospel and only found in the biblical Wisdom literature in association with divine Wisdom (Wis 5:5). This notion of immortality or eternal life in the book of Wisdom was the quality of life that Sophia offered the righteous (Wis 6:18; 8:17, 21) and became a central theme in the Johannine narrative, considering their experience of Jesus’ resurrection being now, rather than in the future (Jn 4:23; 5:25). The centrality of the wisdom of God was reflected in the figure of divine Wisdom, who was named in the First Testament literature as God’s incarnated envoy. However, in the Second Testament in the person of Jesus, John’s Gospel showed that the divine Logos is a manifestation of divine Wisdom’s all-powerful Word, finding a resting place in human history, imbuing its eschatology with a realised focus rather than a futuristic focus.Contribution: This article deals with the attribute of Wisdom as it is associated with the understanding of who God is. God has revealed God’s self in creation and through scripture, by the figure of divine Wisdom and the figure of the divine Logos. These two figures share many common attributes, of which one central feature is that of providing human beings with the opportunity to enter eternal life with the Divine One.

Εντροπη: Shame and Identity Formation in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch

Since the 1980s, biblical scholars have started to employ the framework of “honor and shame” to study the culture of the ancient Mediterranean region. However, this application of the social–scientific honor–shame model has led to “massive generalizations of ‘honor’ and ‘shame’”. In particular, when focusing on the concept of honor/shame rather than its lexemes, the social–scientific school ignores the nuanced nature of each Greek word group related to shame. By studying classical Greek literature, Douglas Cairns further points out a puzzling situation that the word group αἰδώς contains polarized meanings of both “to shame” and “to respect”. In this paper, we examine the puzzling double meanings of “to shame/to respect” by focusing on the use of the word group ἐντροπή in the letters of Ignatius of Antioch. This paper argues that the word group ἐντροπὴ serves a rhetorical purpose of protecting the church’s identity by rejecting beliefs/customs that are unacceptable to Christianity and promoting unity in the churches through obedience to church authorities. This paper also explores the fundamental epistemological issue of understanding emotion words in its ancient context. It provides a provisional definition for ἐντροπή, that it is a self-inhibitory emotion of sensitivity to one’s proper place in social interaction to protect one’s self-image.

Genesis 2–3 as a Primal Scene for Weak Metaphysics

Abstract In this paper, I examine the role that the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Genesis 2–3, plays for philosophers and biblical scholars who advocate a weak metaphysics. In particular, I discuss writings by Mark Glouberman, Richard Kearney and Gianni Vattimo. I examine the question of whether and in what sense Genesis 2–3 can be said to be a primal scene for weak thinking or weak metaphysics.

“Sunsum” and “Honhom” in African Socioreligioculture and Spirituality

Sunsum and Honhom in the African socioreligioculture and spirituality present a complexity of functionality and purpose that provides distinctive context to the interplay of dimensions that define existence (being). In any case, ‘existence’ or ‘being’ must possess distinctive functionality and a purpose that defines the specificity of their spiritual or physical purposes. The study which examines the meaning, significance and relevance of Sunsum and Honhom within the African socioreligioculture and spirituality attempts to decipher their implications for Christianity, Theology and Biblical scholarship especially in Africa and beyond. It used ethno-anthropology and socio-phenomenology which examined the meaning, significance and relevance of sunsum and honhom not just as a linguistic preference or juxtaposition but as a dimension, or functionality that establishes both an epistemology and a nomenclature that provide the right approach and methods for nurturing or relating with people or elements within the physical and spiritual cosmology. The study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the functionality of Sunsum and Honhom within African socioreligioculture and spirituality and how they affect how human beings or elements within the African Socioreligioculture and Spirituality are perceived or related to/with. Keywords: Sunsum, Honhom, Honam, Spirituality, Africa

Protestant Bible Scholarship: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and Anti-Judaism, by Arjen F. Bakker, René Bloch, Yael Fisch, Paula Frederiksen and Hindy Najman, eds.

Protestant Bible Scholarship: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and Anti-Judaism, by Arjen F. Bakker, René Bloch, Yael Fisch, Paula Frederiksen and Hindy Najman, eds.

Editorial

To commemorate the jubilee of the death and canonization of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Santo Tomás Institute of Balmesiana organized the 10th Symposium of Thomistic Studies, St. Thomas Aquinas, Master of the Sacred Page. The event took place at the Abat Oliba CEU University in Barcelona from May 10th to 12th, 2024. Other institutions, in particular, the Association pour le Centenaire Thomas d’Aquin (ACTA) from Toulouse, contributed greatly to the organization of the symposium. This event aimed to explore St. Thomas’ use of Sacred Scripture in his role as a biblical scholar. This is one of the aspects of the doctrine of Aquinas that has recently gained prominence, as there has been a renewed appreciation for the central role that Sacred Scripture played in the theology of the Angelic Doctor, frequently referred to as “biblical Thomism”. The purpose of the symposium was not only historical but also doctrinal, aiming to shed light on contemporary biblical hermeneutics and exegesis. The symposium was structured around the three core activities of the medieval scholar: legere, disputare, and praedicare, with the intention to understand the place of Sacred Scripture in each of these. It began with several introductory issues that addressed Aquinas' biblical hermeneutics and its foundations, with enriching contributions from professors Martínez, Amado, Loiseau, and Manresa. Next, the symposium delved into Aquinas' biblical exegesis, focusing on his commentaries on St. John, St. Paul, and a book of the Old Testament, with insightful presentations by Professors Giambrone, Roszak, and Ossandón. The following sessions were dedicated to the examination of how St. Thomas utilized disputare in his construction of a theological system. Professors Margelidon, Aroztegi, and Prieto offered valuable reflections on grace, the sacraments, and divine knowledge. Finally, the symposium turned to Aquinas' praedicare and his use of Scripture in preaching, with illuminating presentations by professors Smith, Vijgen, and Perrin. Thomas Olivier Venard concluded the symposium by discussing the contemporary relevance of Aquinas' biblical hermeneutics. We are pleased to offer the reader a substantial number of these enriching contributions in both this and the next issue of Bíblica et Patristica. We are grateful to the Editorial Board for their willingness to publish the texts and, in this way, familiarise the readers with the fruitful discussions we experienced in Barcelona in May.

Colonizing Frank Moore Cross: The Dead Sea Scrolls in 1950s Popular Media

Abstract Early presentations of the Dead Sea Scrolls in popular media relied on orientalist tropes and a narrow Christian horizon to create relevance and prestige for the scrolls, which contributed to strong religious interest in them and a market for unprovenanced Dead Sea Scrolls fragments and forgeries. Such a strategy also constructed public authority for the Bible scholars working on the scrolls. This article treats the colonialist approach in the earliest popular works on the scrolls in the United States, written by Edmund Wilson, Frank Moore Cross, and Alex Small, and shows how the stories they tell set the stage for religious veneration of the scrolls and popular acclaim of the scholars.

Mary and Maternal Health: Decolonizing Luke 1–2 Amidst the Crisis of Teen Pregnancy

This study responds to the central question: ‘What do you see as the tasks, methods, and aims of New Testament studies, given the demands and priorities of the context in which you work?’ From a decolonizing perspective, biblical scholarship’s crucial role is fostering interdisciplinary approaches to help address 21st-century challenges set within the communal see-judge-act-evaluate-celebrate/ritualize framework. As a test case, this study characterizes Mary, her maternal health, and the perils of pregnancy in Luke 1–2 from a decolonizing angle within the context of the teenage pregnancy crisis in the Philippines. This decolonizing and interdisciplinary approach involves utilizing a synergy of contextual biblical hermeneutics in interpreting Luke 1–2 as an attempt to ensure that New Testament studies remain a relevant source of inspiration for actionable responses to promote teenage maternal health.

“Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given”: Lukan Table Practices in the Faith Formation of Christian Communities

Luke’s Eucharistic pattern not only serves as a Christological marker, but formative pattern for Christian faith communities. In this article, I appeal to Luke’s Eucharistic pattern to advance the claim that hospitable Eucharistic table practices are not only consistent with Luke’s Christology but also form faith that is capable of confronting and dismantling psychological disgust responses to outsiders. This motif is expanded in Luke–Acts, where acts of table fellowship become the places where socio-moral barriers are transgressed, signaling the good news of the gospel, especially for Gentiles. Drawing from biblical scholarship as well as recent work in psychology, I will advance the claim that hospitable Eucharistic practices not only expose disgust psychology in the faith formation of persons but also act as a potential balm, forming persons according to the good news proclaimed in Luke–Acts.

Hidden in Plain Sight? The Case of the Invisible Queer Womanist Biblical Scholar

Hidden in Plain Sight? The Case of the Invisible Queer Womanist Biblical Scholar

Eastern Light on Jerusalem

If the Post-Exilic period is now held to be the main phase of scribal production for the Hebrew Bible, understanding education in the Persian Empire is essential. Biblical scholarship has largely depended on evidence from earlier (Babylonian) or later (Hellenistic) periods, which is not applicable. This essay draws on direct evidence of Persian education in the eastern provinces to suggest a model of broader Persian scribalism.

Geslachtsgemeenschap zonder huwelijk als een multidimensionale zonde

Bruce Malina’s views on sexuality continue to exercise a major influence on contemporary Biblical scholarship. His position was that the Bible in general, and the Torah specifically, approve of sexual intercourse without marriage, as long as it is a voluntary act and the parties are not engaged to or married to someone other and it is not a commercial act. An analysis of the primary sources, as well as the Rabbinic commentaries and the tradition of the Western Church, shows that this view fails to do justice to semantic use of ‘fornication’ [תוּנְז] in the Thora, as well as to related incidences of πορνεία in the Septuagint and the New Testament. This article argues, on the basis of a text-oriented philological reading of the ancient texts, that these condemn sexual intercourse without an established marriage as a multidimensional sin. Both historical Rabbinic and Apostolic traditions claim a continued validity for this moral evaluation.Contribution: This article seeks to understand the source-orientated nature of the historical evaluation of sexual intercourse outside marriage in the Jewish and Christian tradition. The results of this enquiry show that a text-oriented approach within the context of tradition allows no room for sexual intercourse without marriage but condemns this as a multidimensional sin. The implication of this is that liberal opinions such as those of Malina are fundamentally not an exegesis of the text in historical context, but a form of meaning assignment. The influence of the philosophy of existentialism and postmodernism on Biblical studies in this development requires further research.

A CRITICAL STUDY OF ACTS 2-4 IN THE LIGHT OF KARL MARX’S “RELIGION IS THE OPIUM OF THE MASSES”

Karl Marx’s analysis and critique of religion captured in his statement: Religion is the opium of the masses is perhaps one of the most famous and most quoted by theists and atheists. Unfortunately, most of those doing the quoting do not really understand exactly what Marx meant, probably due to an incomplete understanding of Marx’s general theories on economics and society. Marx’s theory on religion as the opium of the masses is based on his belief that religion had certain practical functions both positive and negative to perform in the society. Such practical functions are seen and observed in the contemporary world. His theory was critically examined in the light of Acts 2-4 in order to discover its effect and implications for church and society using economic strait. The methodology adopted is historical critical method and redaction criticism in biblical scholarship. However, many factors are considered responsible for oppression and social disorder. In agreement with some aspects of Marx’s view on religion, this paper observes and recommends need for psychological emancipation from religious dogmatism.

Conceptualising Images of God: Distinguishing Between God of Grace and God of Law

ABSTRACT Clearly differentiated images of God are essential tools for empirical theologians and other data-based academics researching within the field of psychology. However, images so far suggested do not correspond to those used by biblical scholars. The latter tend to regard differentiated images of God as alien to the style and understanding of the Bible. However, at two creative points within the biblical tradition itself, the post-Exile and post-Easter theologians developed sharply defined understandings of God, and hence the religious life and message. These could be described as “law” and “grace” approaches, using biblical language; but the basic idea has to do with a question set early in Genesis about the comparative success of God’s grace as opposed to human sin, generating a division between optimism and pessimism, and responses ranging from “confident” to “anxious”. These categories may be worth exploring further for their usefulness in empirical study.

God’s Body and the Material Turn: Divine (Im)Materiality in Biblical Theophanies

AbstractAlthough biblical scholars are increasingly turning their attention to the question of God’s body, few clarify how precisely this “body” complicates the long-held claim that God is immaterial. The present article addresses this oversight by attending to the ways in which biblical accounts of God’s body intersect with wider tradents of thought on materiality and immateriality, including, above all, the recent cross-disciplinary “turn” known as new materialism. The article begins by discussing what biblical scholars mean when they say “God’s body” and how biblical theophanies in particular complicate the belief that God is immaterial. It then discusses new materialism and how key emphases in this scholarly shift similarly complicate the belief in God’s immateriality. Third and finally, the article returns to biblical theophanies by reading these accounts through a new materialist lens, focusing in particular on God’s manifestations in material, nonhuman forms. In the end, I suggest not only that biblical theophanies problematize traditional ways of conceiving God within the history of biblical interpretation but also that new materialism can better enable us to see how these accounts portray the relationship between God and embodied materialities.

Ewe Cosmology and Spirituality: Implications for Christianity, Theology and Biblical Scholarship in Africa

Ewe Cosmology and Spirituality: Implications for Christianity, Theology and Biblical Scholarship in Africa

Discerning the Letter: Erasmus and Luther on the Literal Sense of Psalm 2

Abstract This comparative study will examine the ways Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther understood the literal sense of Scripture in their expositions of Ps 2. Building off of G. Sujin Pak’s book, The Judaizing Calvin: Sixteenth-Century Debates over the Messianic Psalms, this study seeks to incorporate Erasmus and compare his exegesis and hermeneutic to the early Luther’s expositions of Ps 2. The article aims to demonstrate how these two exegetes converged (and diverged) in their understanding of the literal sense and to explore what part the literal sense played in their interpretation of Scripture. Further, it will consider the relationship these exegetes have to their antecedent exegetical tradition as well as the role history and philology played in their exegesis and how Christ was related to the literal sense of Scripture. The final section of this study ends with a recommendation for contemporary biblical scholars and theologians in the task of biblical interpretation today.

Orientaliści i orientalistyka w międzywojennym Wilnie (1920–1939)

In interwar Poland, academic Oriental studies developed in three distinct centres, although the Orientalist community remained decentralized. In Vilnius, several scholars in this field were active and conducted both research and instruction of Oriental languages. Among them were Poles, Jews, Karaites and Tatars. Professionally, they were also diverse, including linguists, biblical scholars, Palestinologists, museologists, lecturers, and rabbis. Their academic pursuits encompassed religious studies, Semitic studies (with a focus on Hebrew), Ancient Eastern philology, Sanskrit, Ottoman Turkish studies, Turkish dialectology, Karaim studies, and ethnographic studies of the Polish Orient. In terms of education, they were involved in both school and university instruction, teaching Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, and Karaim. Noteworthy figures among these scholars in Vilnius included: Antoni Cichoński, Zofia Dubińska, Aleksander Dubiński, Dawid Neiger, Paweł Nowicki, Jan Otrębski, Seraja Szapszał, Jakub Szynkiewicz, Franciszek Tyczkowski, Bolesław Wilanowski, Ali Ismaił Woronowicz, Ananiasz Zajączkowski, and Włodzimierz Zajączkowski, along with Władysław Zimnicki. However, the research on Jewish, Tatar (Quranic) and Karaim education in Vilnius remains scant. Beyond scholarly and pedagogical pursuits, Orientalist activities in Vilnius extended to numerous institutions, including the Jewish Library, the Karaim and Tatar Museum, and various associations (including the Polish Oriental Society). Moreover, the city served as a hub for many periodicals, such as “Myśl Karaimska,” “Rocznik Tatarski,” “Życie Tatarskie,” as well as many Jewish magazines. Vilnius also hosted two Congresses of Polish Orientalists (in 1932 and 1937).