Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C.

Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 I. INTRODUCTION.1 A. The history of the HCM has been a history of the on-going evolution of newer methods of exegesis. 1. Each method has seemed to grow out of previous ones, being perceived as related to them, yet different from them. This process is likely to continue in the future.

2. B.

This evolution of new methods has been perceived in academic circles as an end in itself, which has produced several problems.2 1. The insistence that there is, somewhere, a correct method which, if only we could find it, would unlock the mysteries of the text. The tendency of each newly-discovered method to excommunicate its predecessors. The tendency to denigrate the ordinary reader as non-critical. The on-going pursuit of method tries to process the text, rather than to read it.

2.

3. 4.

C.

Even with these problems, as we have observed, the HCM is here to stayit is not going to go away. The purpose of this lecture is to introduce you to the more prevalent methods extant at this time.

D.

There are many works extant which describe and evaluate the different exegetical methods. These were the primary ones used in the following discussion: Richard N. Soulen, Handbook of Biblical Criticism, 3d ed. (Atlanta: John Knox, 2001), 1ff.; John H. Hayes and Carl R. Holladay Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook, rev. ed. (Atlanta: John Knox, 1987), 1ff; Victor H. Matthews and James C. Moyer, The Old Testament: Text and Context (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997), 28-30. John Barton, Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study, 2d ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1996), 5. 1
2

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 II. TEXTUAL CRITICISM. A. The study of the text to reconstruct the original wording of the Biblical text and to establish the history of the transmission of the text through the centuries. The first of these two goals is in fact hypothetical and unattainable. In every instance the original copy (called the autograph) of the books of the Bible is lost, hence ever reconstruction is a matter of conjecture. TCs task, therefore, is to compare existing MSS, no two of which are alike, in order to develop a critical text . . . which lists variant readings in footnotes, called a critical apparatus. Modern translations of the Bible are, in the main, based on such critical texts (TEV, JB, NEB).3 The BHS and the GNT, or the NA are the most prominent examples of these.4 This fact usually surprises the non-professional and indicates we should not say, the Greek/Hebrew says, but say instead, the Greek/Hebrew, according to X critical text, says

B.

C. D.

III.

GRAMMATICAL CRITICISM. A. Grammatical criticism includes all attempts to answer questions pertaining to the language of the text. This includes both the words themselves, either alone or in phrases, as well as the way in which the words are put together or the syntax of the sentence or paragraph. Rules of grammar in effect at the time the passage was written may also need to be examined if it appears that meaning and understanding depend upon resolving grammatical issues.5 E.g., Acts 2:1 They refers back to apostles, not the 120

B.

Richard N. Soulen, Handbook, 192.

A. Alt, O. Eifeldt, P. Kahle, et al, eds.. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 1967/77), abb. BHS; Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger, eds. The Greek New Testament, 4th ed. rev. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1994) abb. GNT; Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren, Novum Testamentum Graece, 26th ed. (Stuttgart: Gesameherstellung Biblia Druck, 1979), abb. NA.
5

Hayes and Holladay, Biblical Exegesis, 27. 2

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 C. This method encompasses the older philological study employed in word studies.

IV.

HISTORICAL CRITICISM. A. HC deals . . . with the historical setting of a document, the time and place in which it was written, its sources, if any, the events, dates, persons, and places mentioned or implied in the text, etc. Its goal is the writing of a chronological narrative of pertinent events, revealing where possible the nature and interconnection of the events themselves.6 HC . . . is based on assumptions similar to those used in working with other ancient texts. The biblical critic is concerned with both the situation depicted in the text and the situation which gave birth to the text.7

B.

V.

SOURCE (THE OLD LITERARY CRITICISM). A. Literary Criticism has three basic definitions:8 1. a particular approach to the analysis of Scripture which appeared in systematic form in the 19th cent. (often called Source Criticism) and which, considerably refined, is still practiced. that investigation of a text which seeks to explicate the intention and achievements of the author through a detailed analysis of the component elements and structure of the text itself (here the what and how of a writing rather than its whence or why . . . is sought). any undertaking which attempts to understand Biblical literature simply as literature, often in a manner paralleling the interests and methods of contemporary literary critics generally, such as I. A. Richards, T. S. Elliot, Northrop Frye, et al.

2.

3.

Soulen, Handbook, 79. Hayes and Holladay, Biblical Exegesis, 46. Soulen, Handbook, 105. 3

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 4. Older scholars used the first definition for the term Literary Criticism, but with the rise of New Literary Critical School the method is better designated Source Criticism, leaving the other two definitions for the new literary critical school's use.

B.

Source Criticism, as the first definition asserts, is the task of analyzing the literary features of a given document to determine its literary character, origins, and states of written composition in order to determine what particular sources make up the complete unit. Five pillars of Source Criticism: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The use of divine names (Pentateuchal Studies) Language and style. Contradictions and divergences within the text. Duplications and repetition of material. The evidence that different accounts have been combined.

C.

D.

Techniques: 1. Compare // accounts, 2 Sam. 7:11-16 vs. 1 Chr. 17:10-14, (Gods promise to David). a. b. 2. Cf. especially 2 Sam 7:14-16 with 1 Chron 13-14 In one Yhwh promises to punish for disobedience, but not the other

Distinguishing combined accounts, 1 Sam. 16:14ff. And 17:55ff. (David and GoliathWho is this man?). a. b. Chapter 16 Saul is introduced to David. Yet he asks, Who is this man? in chapter 17

3.

Recognize literary style and terminology; a. b. Cf. Judges 3:7-11, 12ff; 4:1ff; 6:1ff.; 10:6ff; 13:1ff. Cf. 2 Kgs 14:1-3; 15:1-3; 16:1-3; 18:1-3, etc.

4.

Establish divergent viewpoints and ways of thought, Jer. vs. Jer. 33:14-26, (Hope for a better dayRedactor?).

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 5. Trace normative motifs, Eccles. 1:2-3 (Vanity of Life in the context of seeking what is good.)

E.

Categories for discovering literary sources: 1. 2. 3. Stylewriting technique, structural arrangement, use of language. Terminologyrecurring terms, names, expressions, clusters of words. Perspectivecentral thrust, outlook, vantage point.

F.

Examples of supposed sources and their interpretation: 1. Finding sources: a. b. c. 2. Gen 1:1-2:4a & 5=P Gen 2:4b-4:26=J Gen. 6-9= two versions of flood story.

Interpreting sources: a. b. Yahwistpromise, grace, etc. Priestly writer and covenantstructureexile or later.

VI.

FORM CRITICISM. A. (Ger.: Formgeschichte, Gattungsgeschichte) may be loosely defined as the analysis of the typical forms by which human existence is expressed linguistically; traditionally this referred particularly to their oral pre-literary state. . . .9 General characteristics: 1. Attempts to ascertain what kind of speech is used when a particular event was recorded. Was God speaking? If so, was he warning of Judgment? Is the speech an argument (disputation) between a prophet and his audience? (Some of this we have been doing for years, we have just never called it form criticism.)

B.

2.

3.

Soulen, Handbook, 61. 5

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 4. Even so, the method is based on the theory of a long period of oral tradition before events were committed to writing. a. We must admit that there was probably an oral period before the events in books were recorded, but nothing nearly as long as scholars theorize. (1) Jeremiah and his book indicate that the preaching (oral) and the written (both editions) existed side-by-side. The prophetic books, for example, are probably intended as prophetic summaries of their ministries. Surely, there was more to the prophet Jonah's ministry than what he records in his book (cf. 2 Kgs 14:25)! Examples of this in more modern times are your sermons, and Campbells Sermon on the Law.

(2)

(3)

(4)

b.

Rendtorff explains: On the one hand we must certainly reckon with the fact that for a long period in ancient Israel a variety of texts were preserved and handed down by word of mouth and only set down in writing at a relatively late stage. On the other, we often hear in the Old Testament that particular things were written down: laws and commandments (Ex. 24.4; 32.25; Josh. 24.26), legal documents (Deut. 24.1; Jer. 32.10), cultic texts (Ex. 17.14; Num. 5.23); letters (II Sam. 11.14; 1 Kings 21.8; II Kings 10.1) etc. There were also books like the Book of the Wars of YHWH (Num. 21.14); the Book of the Just (Josh. 10:13; II Sam. 1.18), the Chronicles of Solomon (I Kings 11.41) and the Chronicles of the kings of Israel (I Kings 14.19, etc.) and Judah (I Kings 1.29, etc.).10

C.

Principles (assumptions, presuppositions):

10

Rolf Rendtorff, The Old Testament: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Fortress, 1986), 79-80. 6

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 1. Inherent in the long oral prehistory of the text, there is a certain tenacity in the genres, but also flexibility and change as they develop. Each genre originates in a particular Sitz im Leben and this setting can be recovered through a study of the genre itself. In earliest usage genres were short, oral, and originated in and were employed in general, communal life. Collections of popular and classical literature came into being as Israel moved into a more literary phase. a. Collectors gave structure and unity to literature derived from its oral stage. In the final stages, different genres were combined and mixed.

2.

3.

4.

b. D. Goals: 1.

To recover the full living history of the OT literature, especially for insight into oral stages and to place all stages into their settings in the life of Israel. To operate as a tool of exegesis to help grasp the meaning of texts.

2. E.

Methods: 1. Structureanalyze, outline, pattern, schema (original unit) for analysis, formulae, patterns. Genredescribe type, example, elements constant or variable, conventional structure of genre and how different. Settingsituation which maintained the various genres - speaker, audience, etc. Intentionstate purpose, etc.

2.

3.

4. F.

Relation to other criticisms:

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 1. Literary criticism: a. Form Criticismnot authors but collectors, editors, redactors of traditions. Form Criticismnew way of analysis through structure, genre, intent. Evidence of multiple authorship = evidence of multiple traditions.

b.

c. 2.

Gave rise to: a. Tradition criticismcomplete history of OT literature through preliterary stages. Redaction criticismtheological motivation as for the revision of the material gave it emphasis and themes.

b.

G.

Form Criticism and the HistorianForm criticism uncovers older traditions closer to events, separates these out from the newer interpretations, and helps reconstruct institutions. Form Criticism and Theologyhow people created and passed on and used traditions. There are many different genres which are reflected in this transmission. Rentorff categorizes them according to the following groupings:11 1. Genres of the Family, Clan, Tribe, and Local Community: love songs, lamentation, communal songs, proverbs, riddles, wisdom, prohibitions, tribal sayings, narratives, folk tales, sagas, novellas, aetiologies, legends, sacred narrative. Genres of the Legal Sphere: clan law, family law, legal procedures, accusations, defenses, confessions, verdicts, consequences, casuistic laws, apodictic laws, prohibitions, law of death, and curses. The Cult: nomadic worship, communion and sacrifice, passover, pilgrimage, cultic legends, festal calendars, sacrificial rituals, atonement, purity, psalms, hymns, songs of Zion, participial hymns, imperative

H.

2.

3.

11

Rendtorff, Old Testament, 80-128. 8

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 hymns, hymns to Yhwh, individual hymns, lamentations, and songs of thanksgiving. 4. Political Institutions--Monarchy: lists, historical narratives (rise of David; succession to the throne), royal psalms, wisdom traditions, wisdom sayings, admonitions, proverbs, didactic discourses, didactic narrative, and personification of wisdom Prophecy: terms descriptive of prophets (seers, men of God, sons of prophets, prophetic groups, prophetic office, relationship to king, various metaphors), narratives about prophets, sign actions, visions, message formulas, words of disaster, announcements of judgment, two-part saying, admonitions, disputation sayings, words of salvation, sayings against foreign nations, and apocalyptic.

5.

VII.

TRADITION CRITICISM A. Derives from form criticism and is the study of the history of oral traditions during the period of their transmission.12 This method attempts to reconstruct the entire history of a particular literary unit from it hypothetical origin and development in its oral stage to its composition and final redaction in literary form. For example, the revised edition of Jeremiah was also an expanded version (cf. 36:1-4, 23, 27-31). So can we trace the earliest to the latest components of the book until its Hebrew text of Jeremiah extant today is adequately explained?

B.

C.

VIII. REDACTION CRITICISM. A. This method seeks to lay bare the theological perspectives of a Biblical writer by analyzing the editorial (redactional) and compositional techniques and interpretations employed by him in shaping and framing the written and/or oral traditions at hand. . . .13

12

Soulen, Handbook, 200. Soulen, Handbook, 158. 9

13

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 B. Often the things identified as theological (or special) interests are what we evangelicals call the divine interests. E.g., some scholars see several things as the special interests of the so-called Dtr: 1. There was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes. The reasons given for the fall of the nations of Israel and Judah. Reasons given for the particular punishment of an individual. Explanations of historical events and circumstances.

C.

2. 3. 4. IX.

STRUCTURALIST CRITICISM. A. This is an ahistorical approach which focuses on the structure of the language to determine the relationship of the whole text. Structuralists are as interested in how texts communicate and have meaning as in what they communicate and mean. They emphasize such questions as the following: How does a particular text produced under particular cultural constraints embody and give expression to universal concerns? How does a reader decode the text or how does the text communicate its deep structure to resonate with the deep structures of the reader? For structural literary critics, emphasis falls on the text and the reader and the process of reading and understanding rather than on such matters a writing and the author's intention.14

B.

X.

CANONICAL CRITICISM. A. Is less interested in textual development and more interested in the final form of the text. Primary here is the perspective of the text as sacred or canonical and the process of asking questions about the ways in which the text is used to address the faith concerns of the communities that use it.15

B.

14

Hayes and Holladay, Biblical Exegesis, 112. Matthews and Moyer, Old Testament, 29. 10

15

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008

XI.

SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM. A. B. Attempts to understand the text in terms of the social world. Utilizes psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc. "to recreate the biblical world and to gain insights into the reasoning behind such things as ritual, shame as a social control device, and legal procedure."16

XII.

NEW LITERARY CRITICAL SCHOOL. A. Once the sources were found, the explanation of how they were combined to form the complete text became of primary importance. Such emphasis on the nature of the completed text evolved this new literary approach. Simply put, any time a text is discussed in terms of its completed state this is part of what is known as literary criticism. Major characteristics include: 1. 2. View all received texts as wholes. Acceptance of the work as intentional production of single author (some ignore thisnot concerned). Bible as literature on synchronic levelfor its own sake. Key to meaning is logic and intrinsic rather than historical situation. As a result the method is more interested in readers than authors.

B.

C.

D.

3. 4. 5.

XIII. NARRATIVE CRITICISM. A. Narrative Criticism is a spin-off of the New Literary Criticism.

16

Matthews and Moyer, Old Testament, 29. 11

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 B. Through a close reading, this method identifies formal and conventional structures of the narrative, determines plot, develops characterization, distinguishes point of view, exposes language play, and relates it all to some overarching theme.17 This method is much more palatable to conservative scholars.

C.

XIV. READER RESPONSE CRITICISM. A. B. A spin-off of both the New Literary Criticism as well as Narrative Criticism. Assumes that the communication process involves understanding the relationship between sender, message, and receiver. Every text presupposes a reader, whether a real person or a hypothetical reader, who influences the way the text is structured and framed. The author assumes the reader has the ability to decode and understand what is written (similar to the symbols in Revelation)

C.

D.

XV.

POSTCRITICAL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION A. B. Cannot use postcritical criticism, as this would be an oxymoron. The very name indicates a denial of critical methods 1. Postcritical biblical interpretation is not post critical because it rejects outright critical methodologies and their guiding philosophical assumptions. Rather, the postcritical exegete argues the above critical methodologies fully bracket out questions of ultimate meaning and too often devolve into interminable scholastic debates about the methodological legitimacy or adequacy of this or that approach.

2.

C.

Unlike methodologies such as source and form criticism, which disintegrate the text into its antecedent kernels, postcritical biblical interpretation assumes that the canonical form of the text was designed to convey a message, and that finally the

17

Matthews and Moyer, Old Testament, 28. 12

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 Bible itself is a text in its own right in which all discernible units large and small take on new hues and connotations. D. This message is determined by the community, the end result of which means the meaning of the text is fluid.18

XVI. POSTMODERN BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION A. Once again, we cannot use the term criticism, because the postmodern critic is suspicious of modern rationalist accounts of truth, reason, and objectivity. 1. The postmodern exegete sees the world and personal identities as diverse, dispersed, indeterminate, and ungrounded. He celebrates (or is resigned to) an approach to life and thought that is playful, eclectic, pluralistic, and subversive of traditional boundaries.

2.

B.

The postmodern exegete attempts to point out what he/she considers to be three fallacies of biblical criticism: 1. the view that biblical texts are artifacts that have a single, stable, meaning a texts meaning, though initially hidden from the modern interpreter by temporal and cultural distances, can be recovered by historical reconstruction the benefits of critical methods accrue over time as methods become more sophisticated and as data increase.

2.

3.

C.

The postmodern exegete asserts instead . . . the meaning of a text is not in the text waiting to be recovered through the use of neutral, generally applicable criteria. Rather, textual meaning is constructed through the interplay of a texts semantic and rhetorical aspects and the readers own life-world. In effect, the reader constructs the meaning of a text by creative use of the language, nuances, and conventions in which the reader is immersed. Thus postmodern biblical interpretation shifts the focus of attention from the historical origins of a text (the world behind the text) and even from the text itself (the world of the text) to the

18

Soulen, Handbook, 139-40. 13

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 readers use of a text within a given community of interpretation (the world in front of the text). D. Doing this means the postmodern exegete emphasizes two things: 1. The distinctiveness of different interpretative communities and the insistence that no community can claim to particular knowledge of a text. The interpretative process requires the reader to lay bare his or her interests in the act of reading the text (race, gender, class, sexuality, institutional location, etc.) as part of the interpretive process.19

2.

E.

The form of interpretation makes truth relative (fluid), involves the exegete in eisegesis rather than exegesis, and is very common in our pluralistic society.

XVII. POSTCOLONIAL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION A. This approach is the umbrella term covering a multitude of practices, such as the last two discussed. It emphasizes that all interpretation of the past three to four hundred must be viewed through the lens of the imperial and colonial ideas of dominance and resistance. It focuses on the Bible in the context of Western colonialism 1. It demonstrates how Christian missionaries, official representatives of the colonizing powers, and colonized peoples themselves used the Bible in ways that legitimated colonialism. The focus is on how these interpreted the Bible rather than any inherent meaning of the holy word a. Cf. Roy Moores lawyers argument in his Ten Commandments lawsuit as argued before the Supreme Court These laws are part of our culture and should be allowed to be displayed.

B.

C.

2.

b.

19

Soulen, Handbook, 140-42. 14

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 3. So The Bible figures not as an ancient document to be investigated, or as a source of faith to be interpreted, but as an instrument of colonial power to be unmasked and deflected.

D.

Postcolonial interpretation uses diverse methods, including, but not limited to: 1. 2. 3. 4. Comparative religion Feminist interpretation Afrocentric interpretation Folklore

E.

Such an approach means the postcolonial exegete determines to accept the ideological distortion of Gods word as Gods word 20 POSTCRITICAL, POSTMODERN, AND POSTCOLONIAL INTERPRETATION HAVE OPENED THE DOOR FOR A NUMBER OF NEW CRITICISMS.21

XVIII.

A.

Feminist Criticism. 1. 2. The rise of feminism has developed this approach in biblical studies. Feminist critics attempt to show the intrinsic importance of women in the ancient world and the influence they had in shaping its culture as well as the biblical narrative.22 Consists of a wide range of feminists. a. Some, such as Mary Daly and Andrea Dworkin, have been identified as radical and inappropriate for doing biblical studies, while others, such as Alice Bach, Mieke Bal, Athalya

3.

20

Soulen, Handbook, 138-39.

R. P. Carroll, The Reader and the Text, in Text in Context, A. D. H. Mayes, ed. (Oxford: Oxford University, 2000), 14-23.
22

21

Matthews and Moyer, Old Testament, 29. 15

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 Brenner, and Cheryl Exum have worked the Bible brilliantly for and on behalf of women readers.23 b. Such exegetes have highlighted what they see as The hostility towards women which may be apparent in the texts, which, they argue, raises questions about metaphor, metonym, trope, and representation are used in the biblical text and then appropriated by reading communities.24 Such interpretation means, according to them that The prophetic penchant for denouncing Israel as a whore, a faithless wife or a promiscuous bawd (e.g. Ezekiel 16,23; cf. Hosea 1,3) can no longer be tolerated in silence or internalized as a biblical value, but must be challenged, deconstructed, and opposed by modern readers and readings.25 Such is easily seen in more subtle waysJobs wife echoes Satans statements (Curse God and die.)

c.

d.

B.

Ethnicity: 1. Assumes because every ethnic group has a different story and brings to the biblical text different ways of reading it (Carroll, 18) The problem with this method is the imprecise meaning of ethnicity. People are multi-cultured: a. What is your background according to genealogy, social status, job, political orientation, religious orientation, etc.? Which ones are to be accepted and which ones are to be rejected?

2. 3.

b. 4.

One perfect example is the Global Bible Commentary

23

Carroll, The Reader and the Text, 17. Carroll, The Reader and the Text, 18. Carroll, The Reader and the Text, 18. 16

24

25

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 a. What I wrote: The socio-political climate of todays globally shrinking world demands that Bible students, whether academician, pastor, evangelist, or the like, maintain a dialogue with those engaged in similar pursuits, but living in other contexts. The GBC facilitates this process because of its methodology. Each commentary opens with an identification of the commentators personal social location, proceeds with an interpretation of the text, and concludes with a discussion of the texts relevance or irrelevance in the commentators larger life setting. The result for readers of the GBC is the entrance into the world of others, who may not see as we see, think as we think, believe as we believe, but nevertheless perceive Gods word as a relevant force in their lives. This dialogue of diversity is a necessary first step to achieve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3). Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Bible Faulkner University b. What they printed: The socio-political climate of todays globally shrinking world demands that Bible students, whether academician, pastor, evangelist, or the like, maintain a dialogue with those engaged in similar pursuits, but living in other contexts. The GBC facilitates this process because of its methodology. Each commentary opens with an identification of the commentators personal social location, proceeds with an interpretation of the text, and concludes with a discussion of the texts relevance or irrelevance in the commentators larger life setting. The result for readers of the GBC is the entrance into the world of others, who may not see as we see, think as we think, believe as we believe, but nevertheless perceive Gods word as a relevant force in their lives.

17

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 c. Not only are they arguing that each culture should read the Bible in its own way, but, Jehoiakim like they edited out what I wrote, interpreting my words as they desired rather than what I said. Revisionist history, etc., is part of this whole movement

d. C.

Fundamentalism: 1. Comprised of such wide-ranging groups, all of which are often inimical to academic and historical readings, and which have tended to be kept isolated from one another.26 Fundamentalists make up the major groups with which you are familiar: a. b. c. A rejection of rationalism A belief in the plenary verbal inspiration of the scriptures Their views of inspiration usually predisposes them to a flat reading of the textGod said it, that settles it. Premillennial in orientation

2.

d. D.

Carrolls evaluation of these yields food for thought: Personally I find all modern approaches to reading the Bible which make no allowance for the historical and antique dimensions of the Bible to be fairly useless because they confuse modernistic readings with wishful thinking and impose their own ideological holdings on the text while fondly imagining that they are doing nothing more than reading the text innocently. I am however aware that religious communities invariably read the Bible as if it were timeless and addressed to themselves and therefore the historical-critical scrutiny is regarded as being not only unnecessary but intrusive and wrongheaded. Between these two poles I imagine most Bible readers may well find themselves.27

XIX. SUMMARY AND LIMITATIONS.

26

Carroll, The Reader and the Text, 21. Carroll, The Reader and the Text, 19. 18

27

Lecture 2: The Historical Critical Method's (HCM) Techniques; BI 5305 Advanced Introduction to the Old Testament; Randall C. Bailey, Ph.D.; Fall 2008 A. The HCM is a conglomeration of approaches which seeks to reconstruct the life and thought of biblical times through an objective, scientific analysis of biblical material.28 As we noted previously, this approach is here to stay, though some have begun in this postmodern world to talk of its demise. Modern readers are . . . faced with a plethora of reading strategies of hermeneutic possibilities and conflicting systems in relation to communities of Bible reading, which embarrass them with the riches of what is on offer. What must also perplex modern readers however is the range of choice and the competing claims for attention and commitment. How is any one group to determine which strategies they should employ and which communities they should join? (Carroll, 23). This is the postmodern world in which we live. In light of Peters admonition to . . . but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you (1 Pet 3:15), how prepared are you? People are around you everyday that have absorbed some of these beliefs.

B.

C.

D. E.

F.

Mark Allen Powell, The Bible and Modern Literary Criticism, Summary of Proceedings of ATLA, 43d meeting (1989), 79. 19

28