Biblical Interpretations and/as Queer Temporalities: A Response

The relation between creation and redemption has been problematical for some time in theology and biblical interpretation. The mediatorship of Christ in redemption has claimed the center of attention with the result that no corresponding amount of labor has been expended on the problem of the relation between Christ and creation. A fundamental question, accordingly, for both systematics and biblical study is: what is the relation between the two mediatorial works of creation and redemption? Otherwise put, what at its inception was, and what possibly could now be, the meaning of cosmic Christology? This chapter discusses the investigation of modest contribution to understanding of cosmic Christology by studying the relation, according to Pauline thought, between creation and redemption. The object of investigation is not two separate doctrines of Pauline thought, namely the doctrines of creation and redemption, but rather the single doctrine of the relation between creation and redemption.Keywords: biblical interpretation; cosmic Christology; creation; Pauline; redemption

This essay attempts to explore Prof. Suh, Joong-Suk’s sermons and examine the meaning and significance of the biblical interpretation, embedded therein. During his tenure as a New Testament professor, pastor, and vice president of Yonsei University, Prof. Suh delivered the sermons, profoundly based on the text of the Bible. For those Christian believers who seek the truth and liberation, his messages relate to the teaching of “self-emptiness” and “moderation”, beyond the desire to have and have more. His messages have emerged from the midst of problems involving ‘greed’ and ’pride’ in an era of modernization, industrialization, and globalization. Hence, the engagement in, and reflection of, the Bible in his sermons becomes a prophetic event for the world today. Prof. Suh pointedly declares the vision of the beyond and encourages the believers to react to the present disarray. By critical transcendence, such as “looking into the sky,” the People of God may find a new pathway to the future, ensuring the sacred vision for themselves. Biblical interpretation has powerful effects on people and their lives in diverse ways, since it affects them in their life contexts as a ‘Word of God’ to live by. In this regard, Prof. Suh’s sermons become an invaluable source for the life of Christians and a site of emergent possibilities for the future of biblical interpretation. This essay employs the insights from the biblical studies as well as homiletics in order to analyze Prof. Suh’s 71 sermons, published in three different volumes.

Daniel 11 Decoded: An Exegetical, Historical, and Theological Study

Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters, edited by Donald K. McKim. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998. Pp. xxiii + 643. $29.99. Seemingly similar editions and works of reference occasionally appear simultaneously, suggesting a perceived need or, at least, shrewd awareness in distinct editorial offices of Francis Cornford's famous academic principle of ripe versus unripe time. To complement, therefore, Abingdon Press's Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, edited by John H. Hayes (1999), we have the present Handbook. I stress complementarity: the Abingdon dictionary is avowedly ecumenical in selection of topics and contributors, proudly eclectic in coverage of methods and personalities. This InterVarsity compendium focuses on a relatively brief list of great names, with their lives and works assessed (as expected from this publisher) from a conservative point of theological vision. The Handbook appears in a single volume of clear, double-column type, enhanced with genuinely useful indices to persons, subjects, and contents. More than a hundred biographical entries are organized into temporal blocks (periods of church history): Early Church, Middle 16th & 17th Centuries, 18th & 19th Centuries, 20th Century Europe, 20th Century North America. The biographical entries are arranged within these sections alphabetically. This editorial arrangement encourages selective consultation rather than studious reading: to follow (for example) Jonathan Edwards with J. G. Eichhorn, or Kierkegaard with Bishop Lightfoot, sheds little comparative light. Scholarly practitioners of different linguistic, religious, and methodological traditions cannot convincingly be compressed into vaguely similar chronological categories. This peculiar arrangement is somewhat ameliorated by summary (but extremely competent) bibliographic and methodological survey essays prefacing each chronological section. Readers (or those simply consulting) this encyclopedia might have better been served if these essays had been redacted into a comprehensive introduction keyed and cross-referenced to the biographical entries arranged in traditional alphabetical order. That comprehensive essay could be separately issued as a valuable alternative to handbooks such as Brevard S. Childs's Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979). A singular strength of these biographical entries and the several introductory essays resides in the relatively full coverage of relevant traditional Anglophone and German scholarship. A notable weakness is the failure to incorporate more recent French (and, in general, Roman Catholic) scholarship. Many a biographical and exegetical article pertinent to this Handbook, for example, can be found in the Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographie ecclesiastiques (Paris: Letouzey & Ane, 1912-). Readers will also have a different understanding of biblical hermeneutic traditions from per-using the eight volumes of the series La Bible de tour les temps (Paris: Beauchesne, 1984-89), edited by C. Mondeseret, A.-M. La Bonnardiere et al., or the English version, with notable substitutions and additions, in publication by Notre Dame Press (1977-; ed. C. Kannengeiser, P. Bright, P. Blowers, et al.). Readers may also wish to consult another recent encyclopedic volume: Augustine through the Ages, ed. A. D. Fitzgerald et al. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), especially for additional information on biblical studies in late antiquity, the medieval era, and the Reformation and its Catholic response. Each of the several introductory essays will inform student and scholar. The criteria of selection for the biographical entries, however, are neither clear nor justified. In the first two sections (comprising the early church through the late medieval period), the biographical entries suggest inclusion because of recognizable names rather than profound importance for biblical study: Origen, of course, is there, but what of the Cappadocians-Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus (cf. …

African biblical scholars have recognized the importance of culture plays in biblical interpretation for Christianity and sacred texts to be authentically African. Cultural resources can liberate biblical interpretation from expert ideological dominance by creating critical reading masses in order to empower the community for transformation from the reality of multifaceted injustices such as poverty. Also the approach creates room for an equal fair dialogue with mainstream interpretive methods in biblical studies. This paper elaborates a model to the preceding aspects through transformative interpretation of Proverbs 31:1-9 using the holistic cultural context, of the Bena of Tanzania. The said holistic cultural setup akin to the ancient Israelite one is inherently life-giving and sustaining to potentially transform the well-being of humanity for sustainable development. The reading goes beyond a stance of pure self-interest by challenging the victims to be involved in the eradication of poverty in African communities.

This chapter addresses the question: do African and European biblical studies have a potential of transcending traditional paternalism and negligence, or, for that matter, impotent theological and political correctness, so that the two are able to contribute to each other's fundamental biblical interpretation? In addressing the question from an overall chronological perspective, the chapter starts with the past, and explores some examples of biblical interpretation related to the interaction between Africa and Europe in the colonial period. The chapter then proceeds to the present, and explores some examples of biblical interpretation related to the interaction between Africa and Europe in post-colonial times. Finally, the chapter says some words about the future, acknowledging both the point and the potential of a real dialogue between African and European biblical studies.Keywords: African biblical studies; colonial period; European biblical studies; post-colonial times

Book Review: II. Biblical Studies: Essays on Biblical Interpretation

This essay introduces a series of four Bible studies on the first eleven chapters of Acts; they were developed for and undertaken at the CWM Theological Education in Mission consultation. After noting the key opportunities that the Bible studies provided, the essay shares the material offered under four themes: and Mission (Acts 1 and 2); and Mission (Acts 3, 4 and 5); and Mission (Acts 6, 7 and 8); and Mission (Acts 9, 10 and 11). The essay closes with reflections on the Bible study process. ********** The planning group for the Council for Mission (CWM) consultation, Transforming Theological Education in Mission, decided that it would be appropriate to have Bible studies rather than sermons in the morning devotions. The evaluation of the consultation suggested that this was a positive experience for delegates. In this article, I have been asked to share the process and content of these studies. The vision of the Bible studies As we began to plan these studies, we saw that they would provide us with three important opportunities. In the first instance, they would provide time at the start of the day for biblical reflection and for grounding our wider discussions in the word of God. It is sometimes easy for such conferences to move quite quickly into abstract theoretical discussions, and to lose an immediate connection with the Bible. For many delegates from the South, where the immediacy of the biblical text is vital for shaping the work of the church, this is a crucial consideration. Rooted in the Bible, then, the studies would provide an opportunity to introduce the four themes at the heart of the conference, namely, Gospel and Mission, World and Mission, Church and Mission, and Formation and Mission. Second, it was decided that the Bible studies would make use of the inductive method. This method does not assume that there is only one way of interpreting the text but that we hear God speaking to us through the range of cultural, political and contextual experiences and commitments that we bring to the Bible. Inductive Bible study introduces us to the text, identifies some key themes, and then opens up space for participants themselves to contribute to what is learnt. It recognizes that there is no teacher-opposed-to-learners but that we are all teachers and all learners. This kind of Bible study seeks to undercut the language-power-knowledge dynamics that often characterize biblical interpretation, and does so by explicitly valuing all insights and inviting all to share their perspectives. It is an approach that provided an opportunity for each person at the conference to share and to listen, and thus freed up a range of different voices that could then be drawn into the wider consultation. The third opportunity that we sought to seize was the chance to engage in small group reflection with a diverse range of participants gathered for the consultation. CWM represents a collective of churches from a wide range of contexts. The Congregational and Presbyterian ecclesiologies of these churches mean that they are diverse according to the cultures and circumstances in which they have found themselves. Gathered at this consultation were people responsible for the organization of the theological education that their churches provide, as well as theological educators from the training institutions themselves. So often people are invited to such gatherings but then are forced to sit as isolated individuals and hear experts give papers to which the listeners respond as individuals. Yet, it is our experience at such consultations that in one way or another every delegate is an expert. So, we need to balance the offering of papers with the opportunity to be enriched by intentional engagement with others in a small group format. The Bible studies provided a chance for this. Bearing all of this in mind, the first eleven chapters of The Acts of the Apostles were chosen for the focus of the Bible studies. …

The following article offers an analysis of the relation of reception history to the established academic approaches to biblical interpretation. Tracking the main turning points in the development of the Forschungsgeschichte of biblical studies over the past two hundred years-from source criticism to history of religions approaches to tradition history to redaction criticism-shows how reception history emerges naturally out of the interests and concerns of academic biblical interpretation. Biblical criticism should not only be concerned with the emergence and development of the biblical text up to the point of canonization but also with tracking its post-canonical interpretation. In this way reception criticism takes up the uncompleted task of biblical interpretation.

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.

Reviewed by: Feminist Geography Unbound: Discomfort, Bodies, and Prefigured Futures ed. by Banu Gökarıksel, et al. Reagan Yessler Feminist Geography Unbound: Discomfort, Bodies, and Prefigured Futures. Edited by Banu Gökarıksel Michael Hawkins, Christopher Neubert, and Sara Smith. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2021. viii and 324 pp., index. $29.95 paperback (ISBN 978-1-949199-88-8). Editors Banu Gökariskel, Michael Hawkins, Christopher Neubert, and Sarah Smith weave together moving accounts of researchers' encounters with power dynamics to explore the differing strata of repression and empowerment in Feminist Geography Unbound: Discomfort, Bodies, and Prefigured Futures. The edited volume fulfills its selfproclaimed purpose as a call to action for researchers to view feminist geographical practices and traditional topics of study – such as indigenous and de-colonial feminism – as less niche and more necessary in mainstream geographical thought. The volume contains fourteen chapters, divided into three parts along the themes of discomforting encounters, gendered bodies in political struggles, and time in feminist futures. While the book is broken up into these themes based on the goals for each paper by their respective researchers, the greatest value of this volume comes from its ability to demonstrate ethical methodology. Rather than outlining theories and philosophies of how to perform field research in a respectful and ethical manner, Feminist Geography Unbound shows this by example. The volume emphasizes that, rather than aiming for a perfect experience conducting research with no biases or faults, it is better to aim for research that evolves with and includes those interviewed. Perhaps the most illuminating essay, in my opinion, which demonstrates methodology by example is "Brown Scholar, Black Studies." This paper follows the emotional spade work of Pavithra Vasudevan as she studies the effects of the Alcoa aluminum plant on the African American worker population of West Badin, North Carolina. Vasudevan documents her struggles with depression as she interviews this community and uncovers their history of community disruption and illness due to the geographical and economic positioning of the aluminum plant. Further, Vasudevan outlines how her academic rigor was questioned, as White men offered criticism for her emotional reaction to an emotionally volatile subject. Vasudevan shows an ethics in geography that should be practiced across the board: emotion is not weakness in research and empathizing with research subjects offers a more rich academic account when documented, as well as – and more importantly – a level of care and bonding with those researched that minimizes the possibility of viewing research populations as below the researcher. Carrie Chennault's following essay likewise offers lessons in feminist methodology, emphasizing the value of an imperfect interview and interviewer by outlining her own shock and complicity in racism as she documents her silence when a research collaborator used racial pejoratives to describe the local Hispanic population. Chennault's [End Page 82] account of her silence offers a model for researchers: perfection in the moment is an unrealistic expectation. More important is the capacity to recognize one's own faults and to record and learn from them, as well as to reach out to those who participate in research studies in a timely manner so as to accurately record the events in a study. Asking for multiple points of view allows for a multiplicity of voices that not only takes the pressure off of the researcher to be the sole documenter of a study, but allows research participants to have equal footing with the researcher. Both of these essays featuring instances of researcher discomfort were excellent resources on ethical methodology. They release the researcher from the pressure of sterility and perfection in the field, showing the necessity and value of imperfect research practices, which can lead to more in-depth analyses and greater bonding with the research population. The final section "Temporality and Feminist Futures" attacks the issue of how to create a feminist future within an ethics of care. Again, this chapter offers an ethical methodology wherein feminist researchers both care for their mentors and mentees, creating a comprehensive social care network that allows for women to escape the bonds of traditional family as the only network of care. Building on the emancipation of women from traditional nuclear familial bonds...

This article introduces a thematic issue of Biblical Interpretation on the “temporal turn” in queer theory as it relates to biblical studies. Queer theorists of time have variously interrogated inherited concepts of history, historiography, historicity, and/or periodicity; the chrononormativity that regulates contemporary sexual lives; reproductive futurism, which evokes “our children” and their future to shore up heteronormativity and anathematize queerness; or explored the complex relations of queerness to the future and hence to hope. The contributions to this thematic issue, also introduced in the article, creatively harness these temporal theories and analytic strategies for queer biblical criticism and queer biblical hermeneutics.

The paper aims to construct a new framework for biblical studies from the context of postcolonial Hong Kong. While present biblical scholarship has largely depended on historical-critical exegesis, biblical scholars of Asia have begun to conceive a different approach to the Bible, because of not only a new context of reading, but also a radically different cultural-political location of the reader. This location, as it is now being formulated, is a reading between East and West, between the dominant interpretation and scholarship of the formerly colonial and Western cultures and the newly arising consciousness of emerging postcolonial identities in the histories and cultures of Asia. After about some 150 years of British colonial rule, the identity of being a people of Hong Kong is highly hybridised. It is a hybrid identity of being cultural Chinese and yet pragmatically British, both a strong sense of identification with China and an unexplainable fear of being national Chinese. Such location of a reader transforms one's understanding of a biblical text such as Isaiah 56-66 and sheds a new light on the meaning of the return in some of its major passages.

Contends that new literary, canonical and feminist approaches make it possible to rethink the relationship of biblical studies to Christian theology.

Vorstellungen von Evangelium und Legitimität im frühen Christentum.