Bible Literature

7/31/2019 Bible Literature

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IB CLESchool Year 2012-2013

24 August 2012


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ABSOLUTIST

RELATIVIST

RATIONALIST

OPINION AUTHORITY

OPINIONvs. AUTHORITY EVIDENCE &

AUTHORITY

OPINION EVIDENCE &

AUTHORITY

Another way

of putting it...Authority, Opinion, & Evidence/Argument

\


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* What is Religious/Moral TRUTH?* How do we justify or evaluate it?- What is Religious/Moral

AUTHORITY?- What constitutes Religious/Moral EVIDENCE/ARGUMENT?* How can we be RESPECTFUL &

RATIONAL BELIEVERS?

A RATIONALISTapproachin CLE


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religious & moral

authority & evidence


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readingthe

bible

as

literature

readingthe

bible

as

scripture

What kind ofAUTHORITY?

What kind of

EVIDENCE/

ARGUMENT?

Which

AREA OFKNOWLEDGE?


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AUTHORITY

Literary critics

Bible scholarsAny book club

Others?

readingthe

bible

as

literature


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EVIDENCE

What

constitutesliterary

evidence?

readingthe

bible

as

literature


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readingthe

bible

as

literature

ARGUMENT

SENSE PERCEPTION

REASON

EMOTION

LANGUAGE

Which

WAYS OFKNOWING?


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LITERARY INTERPRETATION

of the BibleThree Principles

1 -GENRES

2 -MEANINGS3 -CONTEXTS


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Interpret a text according to the rules

& conventions of its GENRE--

or you will misunderstand it!

LITERARY INTERPRETATION1st Principle - GENRES


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N

ewsArticle

LITERARY INTERPRETATION1st Principle - GENRES


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News

Article

Documentary


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Ne

wsArticle

Documentary

Feature Film

How differently would you read each text?


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Texts

Genres

Readings

We expect a news article to

contain accurate facts.We are expected to read it

as an account of real events.

We also expect a factual depiction of events in a documentary.We ask: Is this for real? Is this precisely how it happened?

We know immediately its fiction/fictionalized when watching afeaturefilm. We dont ask: Is this how ithappened? We dont expectfacts, butwe do expect truth--a message or

lesson about life.

3Feature Film

News

Article

Documentary


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Facts

andTruth?


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With comics / cartoons / animation, our expectations

are completely different! Dont expect facts.Suspend your disbelief--or misunderstand the text.Even the most outrageous is acceptable.Dont ask: Is this for real? or Did this actually happen?

But in lieu offacts, we can still expect truth.

Comics / Cartoons / Animation


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Fiction Truth more than

facts.


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R

eligiousArt

Factual/historical accuracy ,aesthetics,or prayer?


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Interpret a text according to the rules

& conventions of its GENRE--

or you will misunderstand it!

LITERARY INTERPRETATION1st Principle - GENRE

Dont read the Biblelike a newspaperor a history book.

Interpret its textaccording to theconventions of itsgenre--but the Bible hasmany genres!


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Reading the Bible as LiteratureThe problem with the Bible:

* VARIETY: Different books &different literary genres

* DISTANCE: Genres too ancient

& conventions too strange* UNKNOWN/DEAD AUTHORS:

No access to their intentions


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The Book of JOB


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The Book of JOB There was a man in theland of Uz, whose name

was Job; and that manwas blameless andupright, one who fearedGod, and turned away

from evil. There wereborn to him seven sonsand three daughters.

He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand

camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and fivehundred she-asses, and very many servants; sothat this man was the greatest of all the people ofthe east.

Job 1:1-3


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The Book of JOB

Genre is NOT History, but ALLEGORY.It should be read as an allegory.

The genre is

evident in theexaggerated

depiction of Job

as a totally holyman, the highly

symbolic

numbers, etc.


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The Book of JOB

If we misread it as history,

we will misunderstand it.Dont ask: Did all these things happen exactly as

narrated in the book of Job? Did they happen at

all? Whether or not Job existed is almost beside

the point.

Allegory uses symbolicfictional persons &actions to express aprofound truth abouthuman existence.


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The Book of JOB

Hence

* Book of JOB: Job existed & suffered exactly

as depicted.

* Book of GENESIS: The world was created in

the precise manner described and in exactly 6

days.

Fundamentalists tend toviolate this first principleof GENRES because theyinsist that the books of

the Bible ought to beread literally.


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The Book of JOB

Anallegoryabout

humansuffering

anddifferent

views

about it.


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Before you look for

PERSONALMEANING, make

sure you

understand themore basic

layers of meaning.


2nd Principle - LAYERS OF MEANINGS


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LITERAL MEANING

AUTHOR MEANING

TEXT MEANING

PERSONALMEANING

2nd Principle - LAYERS OF MEANINGS

the wordsof the text

authors intentions&/or commentaries

from authority

evidence ofmeaning inthe text asaccepted bycommunity

of readers

readers opinionbased on onespersonal experiences


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1 -

Literal BOOKWorld OF

the TextWORDS

of theText

2 -

Author WINDOWWorld

BEHIND theText

Authors Intentionsor Commentariesfrom AUTHORITY

3 -

Text MIRRORWorld

BEFORE theText

EVIDENCEof Meaning in the

Text as accepted bythe community of

readers

4 -

PersonalROSE

WINDOWWorld OF

the Reader

Readers OPINIONbased on Personal

History & Experience

LAYERS

OFMEANING


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T

heAnn

unciatio

n


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The Annunciation

A justification

for teenage

pregnancy...

And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no

husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come

upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.Luke 1:34-35

A very Relativistinterpretation

(Personal Meaningonly) w/o regard for

Author & Text

Meaning


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The wider the context, the richer

& fuller the reading!


3rd Principle - CONTEXT


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LITERAL MEANING

AUTHOR MEANING

TEXT MEANING

PERSONALMEANING

the wordsof the text

authors intentionsor commentariesfrom authoritY

evidence of

meaning inthe text asaccepted bycommunityof readers

readers opinionbased on onespersonal experiences

The wider the context, the richer & fuller the reading!


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The Book of JOB

The patient Job

in Chapters 1 &2 has turned intoa complainer inChapter 3 and

virtually the restof the 40+chapters of the

book.

Job cursed the day of his birth...

Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the

womb & perish?Job 3:1 & 10


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The Book of JOB

Two readers read thesame passage from the

book of Job. Reader Ahas always led aprotected life, while

Reader B has just

experienced a majorcrisis in his life.

Reading Job, Reader B

cant help but recall hisown suffering.

Who experienced a

richer reading?

Reader BsPERSONALEXPERIENCEShave helped himbetterunderstandthe text.


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When we readthe Bible, it is

helpful to draw

from our personalcontext (but

always only afterunderstanding the

Author & TextMeaning).

OBJECTIVITY(divorcing our

reading from ourpersonal context) is

artificial & mayimpoverish our

reading.


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The Annunciation

Someone reading

the Annunciation toMary drawing from

his context of having

a sister who hasexperienced the

humiliation of being a

single mother willunderstand the text

more deeply.


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Meaning Focus TEXT HISTORY PERSONALWORLD

LITERAL World of

the TEXT

EXCLUSIVE

X XAUTHOR

WorldBEHINDthe Text

SECONDARY PRIMARY X

TEXT WorldBEFOREthe Text

PRIMARY SECONDARY X

PERSONALWorld of

the

READER X XEXCLUSIVE

FULLALL OF

THEABOVE

PRIMARY SECONDARY SECONDARY

relativist

absolutist

relativist

rationalist

rationalist

Absolutist, Relativist, Rationalist Reading?


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reading

the

bible

as

literature

reading

the

bible

as

scripture

Bible Literature

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