Virtuous Reader (Studies in Theological Interpretation) , livre ebook

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171 pages

English

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Biblical interpretation expert Richard S. Briggs presents a rich and thought-provoking portrait, or series of portraits, of the kind of character most needed to be a good reader of the Old Testament. He highlights the moral character or virtues most appropriate to the varied tasks of reading the Old Testament, provides insight on theological interpretation, and examines five ways the Old Testament improves our ability to read Scripture well. Briggs also offers a defense of "interpretive virtue" and includes case studies of the Old Testament's shaping of the virtues of humility, wisdom, trust, love, and receptivity.

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Old Testament

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 janvier 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441212498
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0778€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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STUDIES in THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
Series Editors
Craig G. Bartholomew
Redeemer University College
Joel B. Green
Fuller Theological Seminary
Christopher R. Seitz
Wycliffe College, University of Toronto
Editorial Advisory Board
Gary Anderson
University of Notre Dame
Markus Bockmuehl
University of Oxford
Richard Hays
Duke University Divinity School
Christine Pohl
Asbury Theological Seminary
Eleonore Stump
Saint Louis University
Anthony Thiselton
University of Nottingham
University of Chester
Marianne Meye Thompson
Fuller Theological Seminary
Kevin Vanhoozer
Wheaton College Graduate School
John Webster
University of Aberdeen
Jim Kinney
Baker Academic

© 2010 by Richard S. Briggs
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1249-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Except as otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are adapted by using “Yhwh” instead of “the L ORD ” and are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America; used by permission; all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
To Robert Briggs and Maureen Briggs with love
C ONTENTS
Cover
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Series Preface
Author Preface
Abbreviations

1. In Pursuit of the Virtues of the Implied Reader of the Old Testament
2. Neither Meek nor Modest: The Puzzling Hermeneutics of Humility
Numbers 12 (Moses)
3. Wisdom to Discern the Living Interpretation from the Dead
1 Kings 3 (Solomon)
4. Like a Hermeneutic in a Cage: The Eclipse of Biblical Trust
2 Kings 18 (Hezekiah)
5. Love in the Time of Monotheism: The Blessing of Interpretive Charity
Ruth 1 (Ruth) and 2 Kings 5 (Elisha)
6. Summoned: The Virtue of Receptivity
Isaiah 6 (Isaiah)
7. The Virtuous Reader of Old Testament Narrative: From the Implied Reader to the Real Reader

Bibliography
Subject Index
Author Index
Scripture Index
Notes
S ERIES P REFACE
A s a discipline, formal biblical studies is in a period of reassessment and upheaval. Concern with historical origins and the development of the biblical materials has in many places been replaced by an emphasis on the reader and the meanings supplied by present contexts and communities. The Studies in Theological Interpretation series seeks to appreciate the constructive theological contribution made by Scripture when it is read in its canonical richness. Of necessity, this includes historical evaluation while remaining open to renewed inquiry into what is meant by history and historical study in relation to Christian Scripture. This also means that the history of the reception of biblical texts a discipline frequently neglected or rejected altogether will receive fresh attention and respect. In sum, the series is dedicated to the pursuit of constructive theological interpretation of the church’s inheritance of prophets and apostles in a manner that is open to reconnection with the long history of theological reading in the church. The primary emphasis is on the constructive theological contribution of the biblical texts themselves.
New commentary series have sprung up to address these and similar concerns. It is important to complement this development with brief, focused, and closely argued studies that evaluate the hermeneutical, historical, and theological dimensions of scriptural reading and interpretation for our times. In the light of shifting and often divergent methodologies, the series encourages studies in theological interpretation that model clear and consistent methods in the pursuit of theologically engaging readings.
An earlier day saw the publication of a series of short monographs and compact treatments in the area of biblical theology that went by the name Studies in Biblical Theology. The length and focus of the contributions were salutary features and worthy of emulation. Today, however, we find no consensus regarding the nature of biblical theology, and this is a good reason to explore anew what competent theological reflection on Christian Scripture might look like in our day. To this end, the present series, Studies in Theological Interpretation, is dedicated.
A UTHOR P REFACE
W hat sort of reader should one be in order to read the Bible? I have come to think that this question is at least as important as the perennial question of how we should read the Bible, but equally I have not wanted to give up on the notion that scriptural texts will have their own particular contribution to make toward one’s reflection on the question of what sort of reader one should be. There has to be some kind of hermeneutical give-and-take between text and reader, allowing the reader to work on the text at the same time as the text works on the reader. In this book, I attempt to explore the feedback loop that this dynamic represents by exploring the virtues implied in certain Old Testament narratives. These virtues, in turn, might be commended to those who wish to read the Old Testament. The opening chapter explains in detail the project of the book and some of its goals, working assumptions, and limitations. The closing chapter also recognizes some of the obvious ways in which the present study will need to be developed and taken further before anything like a full answer can be given to the question of what sort of reader one should be.
My experience of teaching, first the New Testament for four dizzying years, and now, in Durham, the Old Testament, has left its mark on this book. My background lies in philosophy and in hermeneutics, but the weekly labor of leading classes through rich, puzzling, and yet rewarding biblical texts has gradually led me to want to harness whatever hermeneutical theory is in play to the ultimately practical and formational task of actually reading the text in front of us. This is not easy. But then it is a transformative task in part because it is not easy. I rather like the way Hugh Pyper puts it: “Part of the excitement of reading these texts, and the reason why three millennia after their composition they are still provoking the arguments of commentators, is that we can never be assured of having fully appreciated them. . . . Any text that one could fully appreciate would be unlikely to be worth the effort” (Pyper 1993: 30). So in the end, I have endeavored to write a book that is engaged with the actual practice of interpreting Scripture. While I do think that this is a profoundly hermeneutical task, I appeal to hermeneutics only as and when necessary rather than as prolegomena. At just the right moment, I was helped to take this overall direction by chancing upon this pointed reflection on Thomas Aquinas, who himself gets relatively short shrift here (at least compared to the hours spent exploring what was to me the previously undiscovered treasure of the Summa ): “Thomas has little to say of a strictly hermeneutical nature. This may be because Thomas is more interested in actually interpreting Scripture than in thinking about interpreting Scripture” (J. Boyle 1995: 95; cited in Hahn 2003: 62). In writing this book, I have discovered, or perhaps rediscovered, just how much there is to say on almost any verse or passage of Scripture. Aquinas, therefore, must be left to fend for himself; the mass of scholarship on his view of the virtues attests that he can do more than ably. I use the opening chapter to say as much as I think I need to about virtue, about Aquinas, and even a little about Aristotle, but the task is conceived in such a way as presses me on to look at the biblical text.
Likewise, I reluctantly decided not to include a discussion of Aristotle’s own account of the virtues in his Nicomachean Ethics . To summarize what I will not discuss here: I am aware that aretē may best be translated as “goodness” or “excellence” rather than “virtue,” and I searched at length in the various accounts of specific virtues in the Ethics in the vain hope that I would uncover a principle of classification that I could adapt to my own hermeneutical ends. Chapter 1 recounts (in part) why this turned out not to work and why, in the end, it did not matter too much.
One or two brief points of practical explanation are required. Among conventions adopted in this book, I use “interpretive” throughout rather than “interpretative,” simply because most of the authors discussed follow this standard American usage. I have tried to adopt a relatively unobtrusive way of referring to secondary literature and have tried (though not always successfully) to keep lengthy footnotes to a minimum. I have also tried in general to avoid technical discussions of Hebrew or Greek texts and have employed transliterations accordingly in the hope that readers without facility in these languages may not be disadvantaged. This does come at a price, but other ways of handling the matter would simply have paid a different price.
Though none of the material here has been published before as it stands, I have in some places drawn briefly on my previous writings. I am indebted to the editor of Theology for permission to use some aspects of an article on trust and suspicion (2009a) in chapter 4 from a paper originally give