Biblical Scholarship Research Articles

Spinoza și Uriel da Costa. Schița unei filiații analitice

The paper circumscribes, through a specific history of ideas approach, the influence on Spinozaʼs philosophy and his radical biblical analysis of the unique intelectual and religios model of marranos ‒ Sephardic “secret Jews” forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain and Portugal, later converted to Judaism in their exile in the Netherlands in particular. From the “radical cases” of heterodox marranos, the paper presents the historical and linguistic coordinates of Uriel da Costa’s biblical criticism, followed by Spinoza as well, and also the similarities of thought and existential parcours between the two thinkers.

Alone and Naked: Reading the Torture of Jesus alongside the Torture of Miriam Leitão

Abstract Recent biblical scholarship has called for more careful and detailed attention to the experiences of torture victims to better understand the crucifixion of Jesus (Menéndez- Antuña 2022). To this end, this article examines the torture of Miriam Leitão, one of Brazil’s most prominent journalists. Leitão’s torture in 1972 is attested in the report Brasil: Nunca Mais (1985), compiled by the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, which records that she was left in a dark room with a boa constrictor. In 2014 Leitão disclosed in an interview that during her time with the snake she was naked. I argue Leitão’s account of being ‘alone and naked’ offers insights into the repeated stripping of Jesus in the praetorium in Matthew 27:26–31, and his forced nudity on the cross. Recognising crucifixion as torture helps towards understanding and naming the mocking of Jesus as sexual abuse.

“They Feasted Their Eyes”: Nadab, Abihu, and the Original Sin

Abstract In this article, I argue that the classic rabbinic interpretation of the sin of Nadab and Abihu—that they “feasted their eyes upon the Shekinah”—has strong textual support in the biblical account itself (Lev 10:1–2), which contemporary biblical scholarship helps us to see. While some recent interpreters have argued that it is impossible to know what the brothers did wrong and that the story is intentionally ambiguous, I will argue that a solid theological interpretation is possible and that the rabbis were right when they claimed that the brothers were guilty of arrogance and greed. Furthermore, recent scholarship has made it clear that the closest theological parallel to the Nadab and Abihu event is the story of Adam and Eve. Putting these stories side-by-side, one discovers fascinating echoes between them, which helps us to better understand the sin of the priestly brothers, as well as the sin of Adam and Eve, all of whom are fallen priests in garden sanctuaries. Given that both events occur at the beginning of creation (the first, the macrocosm, and the second, the microcosm), these sins have cosmic significance. By contemplating this reoccurring “original sin,” we also confront the mystery of humanity’s fallen condition and the need for redemption.

African biblical studies and the question of methodology: A focus on New Testament scholarship in Nigeria

African biblical studies (ABS) focus on biblical interpretation in Africa. Although new, it has gained massive recognition among African biblical scholars as the biblical interpretation focus that best suits the peculiar challenges that face African Christians. Its emergence, of course, was reactionary to the Western approach to the interpretation of the Bible in Africa and the practice of Christianity as well, which failed to take into cognisance the peculiar needs of African Christians. In New Testament scholarship in Nigeria, ABS has come to dominate biblical interpretation, being the most preferred by New Testament scholars. However, this article notices a persistent problem with regard to methodological rigour in ABS in Nigeria. This article aims to call the attention of New Testament scholars in Nigeria to methodological rigour while engaging in ABS as this is also part of the reasons breaking into mainstream New Testament scholarship has become a problem for many of these scholars. This equally leads to poor global visibility and competitiveness on the part of many Nigerian New Testament scholars. The approach to the discussion in the work is analytical and descriptive with a touch of personal observation.Contribution: This article calls attention to the need for ABS scholars in Nigeria to emphasise methodological rigour in their research. While this will lead to recognition of the works of ABS practitioners in Nigeria and beyond, this article makes a case for academic excellence which is the hallmark of good biblical scholarship.

Saul’s Israel, the “Hebrews,” and Identity Politics in 1 Samuel 13–14

Abstract This article offers a critical reassessment of the Bible’s עברים (ʿibrîm) and the problems of identification associated with the label with a focus on the two anomalous cases in 1 Sam 13–14 that deviate from an overarching pattern of the gentilic term’s etic usage. Building on the literary-historical and philological analysis of 1 Sam 13:3 and 14:2, I delineate the limits of a previous interpretive spectrum and argue that the identity of the “Hebrews” in these two passages is characterized by their collective capability of choosing and transferring political allegiance. This mobile aspect of negotiating political identity that the label “Hebrew” carries is further compared with the usage of the Akkadian term ʿibrum from Mari and the depiction of David’s loyalty to the Philistines and the designation of Hebrews in 1 Sam 29:3. By offering an alternative translation of the “Hebrew(s),” I challenge a conventional categorical paradigm associated with the interpretation of gentilics in biblical scholarship.

Theological study of “the enemies” in the Psalter and the Yorùbá worldview

The violent prayers in imprecatory Psalms have attracted serious criticism among Christians and Biblical scholars who find it difficult to reconcile the spirit of vengeance in the Psalms with the injunction of Jesus Christ that says, “Pray for your enemies and those who persecute you” (Mt 5:43-48). Biblical scholars have done profound research on imprecatory Psalms, but none of them has given significant attention to the activities of the enemies which motivated this present study. Therefore, this article examines the concept of enemies in the Psalter and the Yorùbá worldview to gain insight into the spiritual implications of dealing with enemies in each context. In addition to a review of the literature on the Psalter, a textual analysis of Psalms 35, 69, and 109 was carried out. Also, Yorùbá proverbs and pithy sayings lend credence to the Yorùbá perspective of the enemies. It was discovered that the enemies in each of the contexts were bent on destroying their perceived foes. Consequently, individuals in each cultural setting tried to be freed from the clutches of these enemies. The essay concludes that the Psalter and the Yorùbá worldview have brought different angles to the concept of enemies, which would help appreciate the complexities of enemies on a global scale. The article recommends that individuals should not give up in the face of challenges emanating from enemies and their activities.

A Critical Analysis of Selected Issues in the Book of Daniel: Implications for Contemporary Christianity

The book of Daniel is one of the frequently-quoted books when it comes to issues regarding resilience in one’s faith. The setting of the book and the events surrounding Daniel’s life in Babylon have many lessons for contemporary Christians. The purpose of this article was to bring out certain features and issues in the book of Daniel to present to readers relevant aspects of the context within which the book was written and to consequently equip them to successfully interpret and apply the message of Prophet Daniel. The paper is a literature-based research that gathered data from books and commentaries on Daniel and analyzed them critically to make meaning of the biblical book. One of the key findings was that God sovereignly guards his people and makes them have victory over evil. This study aimed at arousing interest in biblical scholarship on prophetic literature, especially the Book of Daniel. The paper encouraged contemporary believers to be resilient in their faith as they live in a world full of evil deeds. In times of difficult circumstances, Daniel persisted in not hesitating or giving up his faith to follow the patterns of the evil world; rather, he placed God above all things, and succeeded in his endeavours. Keywords: Daniel, God, Christianity, Old Testament

DICTIONARY OF PAUL AND HIS LETTERS: A COMPENDIUM OF CONTEMPORARY BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP. 2nd edition. Edited by ScotMcKnight, Lynn H.Cohick, and Nijay K.Gupta. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. Pp. xxx + 1223. Hardback, $70.00.

DICTIONARY OF PAUL AND HIS LETTERS: A COMPENDIUM OF CONTEMPORARY BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP. 2nd edition. Edited by ScotMcKnight, Lynn H.Cohick, and Nijay K.Gupta. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023. Pp. xxx + 1223. Hardback, $70.00.

Kohelet’s Escape: The Heart Freely Subordinated to Divine Navigation

It is often claimed that Ecclesiastes constitutes an irremediable enigma which flies in the face of traditional Hebrew cosmology, making the author’s intended meaning not much more than a bewildering speculative task. Biblical scholars disagree on just about every aspect of this ancient Hebraic work: authorship, date, structure, narrative framework, and even its connection to a Creator God. This essay utilizes Ballantine’s strategic rhetorical perspective to introduce and wade through some of the central controversies and debates about the meaning of Ecclesiastes: Is earthly life meaningful or meaningless ? Is there eternal meaning to earthly life or not? Is the earthly life of human beings pointless and futile or not? If the simple pleasures of earthly life are gifts from God, then how can earthly life itself be ‘hevel’? and more. Somewhat surprisingly, it concludes that Ecclesiastes is anything but an enigma when viewed rhetorically, and certainly not in contravention of basic Hebraic and Christian biblical principles about the sovereign importance of believing in God and obeying the Commandments, even despite all the trials and tribulations offered by earthly life.

ProPent and its Implied Conversation Partners’

This contribution is a slightly edited invited presentation at the Society for Biblical Literature annual international conference at the University of Pretoria, 3-7 July 2023, at a panel discussion titled “The role of context in Biblical Studies / exegesis”. A broad overview-interpretation of the past half a century Pentateuch studies in South Africa is offered, indicating implied, though seldom stated, dynamics of Hebrew Bible scholarship, doing so by means of an Aesopian interpretation. These concrete webs of meaning in substantial ways steer also the guild of Pentateuch scholars in South Africa in our time, in how historical exegesis has had to be arranged.

Confronting the cataracts of whiteness to see the invisible: reflections on the transmission and reception of the Bible in post-apartheid South Africa

The goal of this article is to draw on some of the latest insights in biblical studies on the challenges posed to the reflection, transmission, and reception of the Bible with relevance to a post-apartheid South African context. The author engages with prominent figures in the field of Biblical Studies and critical race theory such as David Horrell, in order to address the issue of whiteness and its impact on marginalisation. The aim is to foster a deeper understanding of the ways in which certain voices have been rendered invisible and to continue to question and challenge these dynamics. This paper delves into the interpretation of the Bible in Africa, using the perspectives of scholars such as Thomas Wartenberg in conjunction with the ideas of Charles W. Mills, W. Jennings, R. Ellison, and Steven Biko, as well as other notable figures, to criticallyreflect on the role of biblical scholarship in the process of restoring historically marginalised voices within the contextof past injustices.

“If I forget you Jerusalem” (Ps. 137:4). The Transmission of Sacred Discourse in the Bible and in African Indigenous Sacred Texts

African biblical scholars have long advocated a shift in existing exegetical and hermeneutical approaches. The reasons include not simply the inadequacy of these approaches in dealing with the existential questions of contemporary African societies, but also their lack of effectiveness in transmitting the results of the exegetical process to receptor cultures in Africa, partly to be blamed on their colonialist legacy. One pathway to resolving the above challenge, which remains insufficiently explored, is to engage in a dialogue between the biblical text and African indigenous sacred texts. This paper, using a dialogical approach of African biblical hermeneutics, brings Psalm 137 into dialogue with the Adinkra amammere (tradition), an indigenous text of the Akan of Ghana. It argues that reading these texts together uncovers their complementary views on the preservation and transmission of sacred discourse and could facilitate reception of the biblical message in contemporary Ghanian society.

Evangelization among the Chagga of Rombo: A dialectical Process

The historical encounter between Christian faith and African Traditional Religion has given birth to different attitudes, beginning with that of rejection on the part of the first bearers of Christianity and their allies to the attitude of tolerance and acceptance that led to the need for a thorough and deeper understanding of both African Traditional Religions and Christian faith. When one talks of African culture and religion there is consensus that the two are inseparable. With a broad understanding of culture as a complex whole including the whole way of life including religion, it is possible to see that even the Good News is carried within a cultural matrix, that must uncloak itself in order to enable those who accept it, live it in their culture. In this encounter, through a continuous dialogue, the Gospel message received through a particular Christian tradition is assessed in order to be assimilated to the African religion-culture, and in turn this African religion-culture is exposed to biblical criticism, being challenged in order to render it conform to the Gospel. Conversion was a dialectical process involving the dynamic interaction between potential converts and missionaries with discontinuity and continuity of some elements of their beliefs and practices. If conversion is taken to involve a dialectical process, it is possible that many Chagga would have accepted Christianity after a period of experiencing its requirements and conditions and especially after tasting the spiritual aspects which touched their inner self and their reason of being, no matter their initial motives. This can be the reason for the strength acquired by Christianity in the Chaggaland.

African Biblical Hermeneutics Considering Ifá Hermeneutic Principles

African contextual biblical hermeneutics, practiced mainly among those from the southern hemisphere, is framed by conflicting academic approaches, methods, epistemologies, rationalities, etc. The general challenge put before the Bible scholars in this part of the world mostly concerns methodologies. This paper focuses on the link between a biblical text and the context of its interpretation. To avoid any specific context or interpreter gaining hermeneutical hegemony over the text, in contextual biblical hermeneutics, the coherence should be first and foremost between the text and the context of its interpretation. The interpretation method of Ifá, the sacred orature of Yoruba and some non-Yoruba people in West Africa, helps to achieve that coherence. This paper is a theoretical presentation of what a contextual biblical hermeneutic can learn from this African Sacred literature reading in context. The hermeneutical rationale of Ifá stories is one of “speaking in proverbs”, considering both the stories and their interpretations as proverbs. In line with this rationale, the ideal link between a biblical text and its hermeneutical context is like the one between a “proverb story” and the many stories (contexts) of its harmonious utterances. The epistemological and hermeneutical functions of the context of interpretation are not to interpret the biblical text but to verify the validity of proposed interpretations.

The epistemological irony of postcolonialism: A perspective from Paul’s flesh-Spirit dichotomy

Among other things, postcolonialism claims to react against western epistemology. Although postcolonial approaches react to the traditional tendency in colonialism to silence the Other by political, social and economic structures and ideologies, non-western identity is often categorised in a way in which identity formation is argued to be based on a naturalistic process of social construction and myth-making. The way in which identity is perceived in western epistemology, including the in-Christ identity, is largely influenced by a naturalistic stance, which is a prominent tendency in western epistemology. In contrast, non-western epistemologies often perceive spiritual beings and powers to be real, which are considered to intervene in human affairs. The irony within most postcolonial approaches is thus that they critique western power structures but continue to utilise western, naturalistic epistemologies to deconstruct religious experience. In this contribution, this discrepancy is explored and evaluated against the often-misunderstood flesh-Spirit dichotomy in the Pauline corpus.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In respect of epistemology, this research overlaps with the field of philosophy, and in respect of identity theory it overlaps with the field of social sciences. The discussion of postcolonial biblical criticism itself is interdisciplinary in that it involves New Testament exegesis, its underlying epistemology as well as its interpretative methodologies.

The Political Theology and Polemical Tactics of Bruno Bauer

ABSTRACT This article contributes to an ongoing revival of interest in the intellectual history of the German Vormärz, and to an emerging body of scholarship on the influential political philosopher and Bible scholar Bruno Bauer (1809–1882). While, during much of the twentieth century, Bauer was remembered primarily for his relationship with the Young Marx, more recent scholarship has attempted to examine his work on its own terms, and to consider his unique contributions to the history of republicanism and radicalism in particular. But to date, no one has provided a systematic and synoptic account of his theology during the crucial years of 1838 to 1843. This article aims to fill that gap in the literature. It argues that Bauer’s political thought cannot be understood independently of his theology, his church and religious histories, and his Bible criticism. In doing so, it provides new insights into the significance of theology for the polemical debates of the Vormärz more generally.

The Geneva Bible: How Reformed Refugees Shaped Renaissance Reading of Scripture

“Geneva Bible” is an umbrella-term for two New Testaments and two Bibles: an inaugural New Testament (1557), followed by a study Bible (1560), provided vernacular Scripture in English for believers under duress in Britain; then each was later refined, in 1576 and 1599 respectively.1 The first translators and publishers were English-speaking Reformed refugees from persecution under Mary Tudor, who brought their expertise and industry to a flowering of international biblical scholarship in 1550s Geneva, alongside fellow refugees from other repressive European contexts. This article explores how they and their successors progressively resourced readers to engage with Scripture via sophisticated peritextual aids. KEYWORDS: Genesis 1, Geneva, Junius, Matthew 1, peritextual material, readers and reading, refuge(e), Revelation, Tomson, Whittingham

Redefining Apocalypse in Blake Studies

Michael Stone argues that biblical scholars sow confusion by defining the ancient apocalypses in terms of the eschatological content or worldview that many contain (their “apocalypticism”) at the expense of other defining features. This conflation of apocalypse with eschatology emerged with the first comprehensive study of the apocalypses, by the German theologian Friedrich Lücke in 1832. The problem has been exacerbated in our time by the ubiquitous use of the term “apocalypse” in the media, popular culture, the churches, the arts, academe, and environmental studies, which has all but emptied the term of its core meaning as “revelation” or “disclosure.” When “the apocalypse” is invoked, it most often refers to a large-scale catastrophe or cataclysm, usually involving the collapse of civilization or the end of the world. Such references comport better with the concept of eschatology, the study of last things or the “end” of history, than with apocalypse. The terminological confusion appears in the history of Blake criticism as well, from S. Foster Damon, through Northrop Frye, Harold Bloom, and Morton Paley, to more recent work by Steven Goldsmith and Lucy Cogan. It is marked by an uncritical and inconsistent use of “apocalyptic” or “the apocalypse” to refer primarily to an end-time judgment. A scholar who has resisted this critical conflation in both biblical and Blake criticism is Christopher Rowland, who wrote the landmark book The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity (1982), as well as Blake and the Bible (2010). Rowland, along with a burgeoning cadre of biblical scholars who address the issue, can help bring more precision to the way these concepts are used in Blake studies.

Dosa Yang Mendatagkan Maut Dan Tidak Mendatangkan Maut 1 Yohanes 5:16-17 Serta Pengaruhnya Bagi Orang Kristen Masa Kini

The interpretation of 1 John 5:16, 17, which distinguishes between sin leading to death and sin not leading to death, remains a topic of debate among Bible scholars. Diverse viewpoints arise from theological interpretations and biblical studies. Further dialogue is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of this verse. Employing exegetical methods, the author endeavors to elucidate the concept of mortal sin and non-lethal sin. The research centers on scrutinizing sin in 1 John, particularly in verses 2:1 and 3:8, and comparing it with the context of verses 5:16, 17. It considers factors such as faith in Jesus as the Mediator and situations involving conscious sin or continuous transgression against God's law, both of which lead to death. A sin that doesn't lead to death pertains to a believer who, during their life's journey, may sin but subsequently confesses to God. In such cases, God forgives, preventing eternal death. 
 

The Earth Is the Lord’s (Psalm 24:1): A Pentecostal Perspective on the Doctrine of Creation

This inquiry from a Pentecostal hermeneutic literal interpretation advances academic and ecclesial conversations surrounding the creation of the Universe. The article probed the Biblical creationists and the Big Bang Theories which credit the creation of the Universe to God and a blast, respectively. “The Earth is the Lord’s” (Ps. 24:1) means, God created the universe as well as all life that exists. The work appraised the Big Bang, the pulsating universe, and the cosmic inflationary theories and they were found to be lacking premise for validity and veracity based on biblical and practical evidence. The biblical creationist theory believed by the Pentecostal movements was ratified in the study as the model that can best explicate the creation of the universe and the life in it. The work exclusively offers to academia the Ten Commandments of the Core Pentecostal principles on the Doctrine of Divine Creationism. The work contributes to academia by providing an indispensable resource for bible scholars, seminary students, and Christian congregations while reiterating the significance of the doctrine of creation in Pentecostal construal and Biblical theology. Keywords: Theistic Evolution, Pentecostal, Creationism Theory, Big Bang Theory, Inflation Theory and Pulsating Cosmos Theory.