Currents in Biblical Research 18, 2 (February 2020)

The latest Currents in Biblical Research recently arrived, with titles and abstracts of the main articles as below.

Joshua T. James

Research Trends in the Study of the Ethics of the Psalms

The study of the ethics of the Psalms is a relative newcomer in the field of Old Testament ethics, having garnered most of its interest following Wenham’s initial essay on the subject in 2005. In hindsight, the neglect of the Psalms is surprising given its overt ethical concerns, but throughout the early phase of the re-emergence of Old Testament ethics (from 1983 to the end of the twentieth century), it was indeed woefully overlooked. The goal of this article is to provide a survey of work on the subject. Because the content and themes of these studies are still somewhat limited, the article is arranged according to the interpretive methodology or hermeneutical framework guiding the various authors’ contributions. In addition to surveying the field, this approach allows for the dominant trends to be observed and set within their proper context.

Tammi J. Schneider

In the Beginning and Still Today: Recent Publications on Genesis

This article reviews the monographs and edited volumes on the book of Genesis published since 2015. As a means of organizing the material, the books reviewed are categorized into groupings that reflect different aspects of the study of Genesis as a book, as well as the field of biblical studies and its placement within the humanities writ large. The organizational process leads to examining who writes about Genesis, the perceived audience, and how publishers consider their task and role in the process of disseminating scholarship on the book. An apparent shift in biblical studies, or at least in research on the book of Genesis, is identified towards situating the material more into world history and contemporary issues than into the historical-critical method.

T.M. Lemos

Order from Chaos: Comparing Approaches to Violence in Anthropology, Assyriology, and the Study of the Hebrew Bible

This article compares the history of scholarship on violence in anthropology in the past one hundred years to major approaches to studying violence in the ancient Near East and ancient Near Eastern sources, including ancient Israel and Israelite literature. The article demonstrates that anthropology and ancient Near Eastern studies have diverged widely in their approaches to violence. In the past two to three decades, the concept of structural violence and new materialist approaches have dominated the study of violence in anthropology, while in Assyriology and the study of ancient Israel/Israelite literature, studies of violence have repeatedly turned to an order and chaos framework. The article ends by suggesting that scholars of ancient West Asia incorporate new materialist approaches more concertedly in studies of violence and either rethink or jettison the simplistic order/chaos dyad.

Matthew W. Bates

The External-Relational Shift in Faith (Pistis) in New Testament Research: Romans 1 as Gospel-Allegiance Test Case

Evidence is marshalled for a recent ‘external-relational shift’ in scholarly understandings of pistis (traditionally translated ‘faith’) among New Testament scholars and historians of early Christianity and its social world. There is a movement away from predominantly personal existential accounts of pistis toward those that are relational and outwardly manifest. ‘Faith’ (pistis) is predominantly a way of life characterized by fidelity or loyalty which is outwardly expressed in relationships. Beyond the New Perspective on Paul, which is an obvious factor, four streams are feeding this shift: (1) the pistis Christou debate, (2) increased appreciation of ancient social and cultural norms, (3) advances in linguistics, and (4) an emphasis on the gospel as a royal proclamation. To show why the external-relational shift matters theologically, Paul’s use of pistis in Romans 1 is explored along external-relational lines.

Theos Report on Religion and Violence

The latest report from Theos has recently been published:

Robin Gill, Killing in the Name of God: Addressing Religiously Inspired Violence (London: Theos, 2018).

Here are some paragraphs from the Theos website:

‘Religion and violence seem inextricably linked in the public’s mind. But what does linked actually mean?

‘The public certainly isn’t clear. While 61% of people think that the teachings of religions are essentially peaceful, 70% think that most of the wars in world history have been caused by religions. Only 8% think religions are inherently violent, but 47% think that the world would be a more peaceful place if no one was religious.

‘If there is confusion, it’s probably because the relationship between religion and violence is confusing. In this essay, ethicist Robin Gill brings some balance to a debate that, particularly of late, has been marked more by caricature than clarity.

‘Recognising that there is a problem to be addressed (if not necessarily the pathological one alleged by New Atheists) Gill goes to the heart of the issue – the specific religious texts that are hijacked to legitimise violence – and argues that read rightly they can be “defused”.

‘Killing in the Name of God will not only deepen our understanding of religion and violence but, in doing so, will enable a richer and more measured debate about these major issues of our time.’

A pdf of the full report is available here.

Word and World 5 (2018)

‘Violence Against Women in the University’ is the theme of the latest issue of Word and World, published by IFES. The issue contains the below pieces, and is available as a pdf here. Summaries are taken from the editorial by Elisabet le Roux, who also contributes the first article.

Elisabet le Roux

What is Campus Rape Culture?

My piece discusses the phenomenon of campus rape culture within the setting of South African universities. Explaining the background to the controversial term “campus rape culture,” the article explores why sexual violence is so rife on university campuses. The article examines the role that religion plays in its continued perpetration, but also – hopefully – in its eradication.

Deborah Vieira

Girls beyond Ipanema

Deborah Vieira takes us to Brazil to show us how universities ignore the violence being perpetrated against women on campus. She shows Christian complicity in this, identifying various harmful beliefs and attitudes that are justified religiously. Then she turns to the Bible to explain why this should not be the case, and she uses the example of ABUB, the IFES movement in Brazil, to illustrate how Christian students can positively and constructively address the phenomenon.

Kendall Cox

Everybody’s Business

Kendall Cox draws on her experience of studying and now lecturing at the University of Virginia in the United States to explore how rampant sexual violence is on university campuses. Reflecting on bystander interventions, she highlights how many typical Christian responses to the issue actually makes it worse, especially for survivors. She calls on Christians to “mourn with those who mourn” and to be angry about the injustice and violence that women face.

Jamila Koshy

Male Violence against Women on Campus

Jamila Koshy turns to the biblical story of Tamar to guide a discussion of male violence against women on campus. She shows us how this little-read “text of terror” has much to teach us about how badly patriarchal power structures abuse women, and then she proceeds to show how Christians should be responding to such violence and to survivors of such violence.

Tyndale Bulletin 68, 2 (2017)

The latest issue of Tyndale Bulletin has arrived, containing the following collection of articles.

William Ford

The Challenge of the Canaanites

The negative biblical portrayal of the Canaanites appears to contrast sharply with the wider portrayal of YHWH’s relationship with humanity and with Israel in particular, raising a challenge for reading these parts of the Bible as Scripture. This article considers this portrayal by drawing together key biblical references to the Canaanites into two sections: Canaanites as a whole, and as individuals. Four potential images are evaluated as possible summaries of the biblical portrayal of the Canaanites: sinners, danger, warning, and challenge, with the last being the most appropriate. The Canaanites’ proximity to Israel, both geographic and moral, raises both a negative and positive challenge. Israelites can become Canaanites and vice versa, depending on their response to YHWH.

Wen-Pin Leow

Form and Experience Dwelling in Unity: A Cognitive Reading of the Metaphors of Psalm 133

This article uses the cognitive approach to analyse the metaphors of Psalm 133 while concurrently using a study of the remaining Psalms of Ascents to understand the underlying world-view that Psalm 133’s metaphors are based on. Such an approach reveals that the subjects of the metaphors of Psalm 133 are connected at a deeper conceptual level. This conceptual relationship allows the psalmist to both describe the blessings of brotherly unity and to provide a literary parallel of the experience of those blessings through the psalm’s form.

Mark Wreford

Diagnosing Religious Experience in Romans 8

In this article, I consider Paul’s use of adoption language in Romans 8 and argue that religious experience played an important role in its development. By looking closely at what Paul says about adoption and life in the Spirit, I try to identify what kind of experience this language might be articulating. Further, I suggest that it is necessary to consider how biblical scholars can best ensure they take account of religious experience when performing exegesis, offering a heuristic definition of religious experience which moves beyond the language of the NT itself, but is not conceptually anachronistic, to address a lack in the literature.

Kyu Seop Kim

The Meaning of Cheirographon in Colossians 2:14 Revisited

In this article we explore the uses of cheirographon in ancient papyri and ostraca and conclude that cheirographon does not refer to a debt certificate, contrary to scholars’ consensus (except for Peter Arzt-Grabner). Instead, cheirographon was used to express various handwritten declarations including receipts, loans, contracts, and records of oath in ancient Greek papyri. In particular, cheirographon and its cognate words are used in the formula of declaration and with the expression of oath in Colossians 2:14 can be interpreted in this context. Declaration or oath on the observance of religious regulations was significant in ancient paganism and Judaism. Thus, cheirographon tois dogmasin in Colossians 2:14 can be read as the handwritten document which contains the declaration or oath with regard to the observance of religious regulation.

Martin Feltham

1 Timothy 2:5-6 as a Christological Reworking of the Shema

 This article draws upon Richard B. Hays’s observations regarding the way in which an ‘allusive echo’ can signal a broad intertextual interplay with a precursor text. I argue that the affirmation in 1 Timothy 2:5 that ‘there is one God’ is an ‘allusive echo’ of the Shema which points the attentive reader to an extended and carefully crafted intertextual interplay with the Shema and its Deuteronomic setting. I trace the way that 1 Timothy 2:5-6 reworks the Shema in the light of the story of Jesus Christ to affect the christologically driven opening up of God’s people to all nation.

Peter J. Gentry and Andrew M. Fountains

Reassessing Jude’s Use of Enochic Traditions (with Notes on their Later Reception History)

A particular reference in the book of Jude to Enoch is commonly claimed to indicate canonical status for 1 Enoch. The origins and textual transmission of the Enochic traditions are described and reassessed for non-specialists and correlated with claims for inspiration made before, during, and after the period of Second Temple Judaism. The function of Jude's use of Enoch is interpreted within the literary structure of his work and the context of the NT, with implications for the later history of Christianity and Islam.

Eckhard J. Schnabel

Knowing the Divine and Divine Knowledge in Greco-Roman Religion

In his 2007 Tyndale Biblical Theology lecture, Brian Rosner has shown that the notion of being known by God is an important, albeit neglected, theme in the Old and New Testament. He explored the three relation notions of belonging to God, being loved or chosen by God, and being a child or son of God. After a concise survey of relevant biblical data in the Old and New Testament, he described the value of ‘being known by God’ in terms of warning, humility, comfort, and security. The following paper explores Greek and Roman religious texts with a view to establishing whether the notion of ‘being known by God’ surfaces in the context in which the early Christian movement engaged in missionary work, seeking to win polytheists for faith in the one true God and in Jesus Messiah. New Testament scholars do not seem to have explored the subject of the Greek and Roman gods ‘knowing’ human beings. Similar to Rosner’s biblical theological essay, which surveyed texts without in-depth discussion of exegetical details and historical context, the following essay is wide-ranging, considering primary texts written over a large span of time, from Homer’s epics (which continued to be read in the first century), the Homeric Hymns, Xenophanes’ fragments, Callimachus’ Hymn to Demeter, Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus, Hesiod’s Theogony, Cicero’s De natura deorum, and Plutarch’s religious texts to the Greek Hymns in the Furley/Bremer collection and the Lydian confession inscriptions.

Dissertation Summaries

Christopher James Fresch

Discourse Markers in the Septuagint and Early Koine Greek with Special Reference to the Twelve

Discourse markers (e.g. de, alla) comprise a functional category. They narrow or explicate discourse relations, instructing the reader on how to process the discourse and build a mental representation of it. In so doing, they aid the reader in the comprehension task, reducing cognitive effort and facilitating successful communication. Unfortunately, these considerations rarely feature in discussions on Greek discourse markers. Instead, their functions are often conflated with the semantics of their surrounding contexts of use and with the functions of their translational glosses. This often results in less precision in one's comprehension of the flow and structure of the discourse.

Peter J. Gurry

A Critical Examination of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method in the Catholic Epistles

The present research provides the first sustained study of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM), a computerised tool developed by Gerd Mink which has become an ‘essential tool’ to the editors of the most widely used critical editions of the Greek New Testament (NA28/UBS5). Its main use has been on the Editio Critica Maior (ECM) for the Catholic Epistles, which now forms the basis of the NA and UBS editions. The ECM volume on Acts was published in 2017 and plans are underway to apply the CBGM to the entire New Testament. However, because it was designed to address the problems of textual contamination and coincidental agreement, the CBGM has significance far beyond the confines of biblical studies. The overarching purpose of the method is to improve our understanding of the text’s history and to help reconstruct the text’s starting point, or the ‘initial text’. Both of these goals are subjected to close scrutiny in this thesis.

Mission Catalyst

I don’t think I’ve posted on this before, though I’ve intended to do so...

Mission Catalyst has just arrived through the post. Published by BMS World Mission and available free of charge, it’s an excellent publication which normally contains short articles around a particular theme.

The first issue of 2016 is devoted to War, carrying (among other features) an interview with Chaplain General David Coulter, an article by Michael Jerryson on ‘Does Religion Legitimate War?’, an article by Susan Niditch on ‘War in the Old Testament’, and an article by Steve Hucklesby on ‘Humanitarian Intervention: Justified War?’

Further information, including an online subscription form for hard copies, and access to electronic versions of past issues is available here.

Centre for Public Christianity (April 2015)

Among other items, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio file bringing together interviews with Bible scholars, theologians, and philosophers (including Iain Provan, William Cavanaugh, and Miroslav Volf) on religion and violence – in the Bible, in Christian history, and on the contention that religion causes violence.

More from the Centre for Public Christianity (September 2012)

The latest newsletter from the Centre for Public Christianity contains links to a video interview with Richard Burridge (on his work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and pointing to the power of the Christian story to break down barriers between perpetrators and victims), an article by Brian Rosner (on the difficulties the atheist worldview has in accounting for the longings of the human heart), and an audio interview with Dale Kuehne (on the impacts of the rise of individualism in western culture).

Chris Sinkinson on Is God a Monster?

Chris Sinkinson, ‘Unapologetic Christianity: Is God a Monster?’ (2011).

Chris Sinkinson has a brief but helpful piece here, first published in the June 2011 of Evangelicals Now.

He’s thinking about some of the ‘difficult’ issues raised about polygamy, genocide, slavery, etc., in our reading of some Old Testament texts, and outlines four points to take note of:

1. Creation ideal – that we live in the ‘middle’ of the story, where the disruption of sin has brought evil and suffering.

2. Ancient Near Eastern context – God’s revelation of himself within a specific historical context with all its particular cultural practices.

3. Biblical honesty – with Scripture being honest about human failings, and with narratives being descriptive not necessarily prescriptive.

4. Bible’s sweep – the importance of looking at ‘difficult’ Old Testament passages in the light of Scripture as a whole.

He briefly applies some of these points to holy war in the book of Joshua, but doesn’t pull back from saying that such judgments on nations may offer a glimpse of future judgment by a holy God.

Chris Wright on The God I Don’t Understand

Always a cause for notice, Chris Wright has a new book out…

Christopher J. H. Wright, The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 224pp., ISBN 9780310275466.

The ‘tough questions’ in this case have to do with suffering and evil, with the book exploring four in particular in its four parts:

(1) What about evil and suffering?
(2) What about the Canaanites?
(3) What about the cross?
(4) What about the end of the world?

A short sample is available here.

More significantly, the book has its own page – Tough Questions of Faith (with a video introduction to the book by Chris) – which contains a downloadable study guide for the book as well as short videos of Chris introducing every chapter.

There are already a significant number of reviews available online, including:

• By M. Daniel Carroll R.
• By Tony Cartledge
• By Michele Howe
• By Donald Kim
• By Scot McKnight
• By Maer dos Santos
• By Charles Savelle

There is also an interview with Chris about the book here.

In addition, several people are blogging through the book: here (Phil Monroe), here, here, and here.

Last but not least, Zondervan academic are hosting a blog series, starting today (4 February 2009).