Soulen - Handbook of Biblical Criticism

Fourth Edition. – Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. – 272 p.

ISBN 0664235344

 

This book is for the beginning and intermediate student in the critical study of the Bible. It is not for advanced students in the field—though perhaps it is for scholars of religion whose specialty lies elsewhere, as well as for pastors and interested laypersons. The volume is designed to aid the student in two ways. First, it can be used as a dictionary, to be called on whenever a name, a term, or an abbreviation is met for the first time unidentified, unexplained, or without a clarifying illustration, or when its meaning is simply forgotten. Second, it can be used as a guide to gain an initial overview and orientation in the field of biblical criticism as a whole. By reading the major entries on Biblical Criticism, Hermeneutics, and Theological Interpretation and by making use of the Diagram of Biblical Interpretation at the back of the book, the reader can gain a sense for the history and development of modern biblical criticism and its relationship to pre- and postcritical forms of interpretation. The simple system of cross references using SMALL CAPITALS alerts the reader to terms that are discussed in greater depth elsewhere so that the reader can seek further information on a given topic according to interest or need.

 

The entries fall into the following general categories:

 

1. Overviews: Major entries on Biblical Criticism, Hermeneutics, and Theological Interpretation, plus the Diagram of Biblical Interpretation, provide overviews that assist the student in gaining a sense of “the forest” of biblical criticism, apart from which they are likely to soon feel hopelessly lost in “the trees.” By moving back and forth between forest and trees, the student can begin to gain familiarity with the history and terrain of contemporary biblical studies.

 

2. Methodologies and Interpretive Approaches: Textual Criticism, Historical Criticism, Literary Criticism, Form Criticism, Tradition Criticism, Redaction Criticism, Rhetorical Criticism, Structuralism, Postcritical Biblical Interpretation, Afrocentric Biblical Interpretation, Ideological Criticism, Reader-Response Criticism, Feminist Biblical Interpretation, Advocacy Criticism, Discourse Analysis, Postmodern and Contextual Biblical Interpretation, et al. Along with the overviews listed previously, these articles on methodologies and approaches provide an organizing framework for the work as a whole and give it the stamp of a handbook.

 

3. Technical Terms and Phrases associated with the above methodologies. The selection of terms is of course incomplete. The Handbook focuses on terms of interest and importance to the beginning student and on terms most likely in need of clarification. Some are no longer current but will inevitably be confronted in ordinary study and research.

 

4. Theological Terms. A few terms not strictly within the terminology of biblical criticism are nevertheless so closely connected with it that their absence would be missed, for example, apocalyptic, eschatology, theophany, Tetragrammaton, Historie/Geschichte, and so on.

 

5. Names. Those listed are limited to select scholars now deceased whose insights and labor are most frequently cited as constituting lasting contributions to the field of biblical criticism. For further information and for names not listed, the reader is directed to John H. Hayes (ed.), Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999) and, for evangelical scholars, to Biblical Interpreters of the 20th Century: A Selection of Evangelical Voices, ed. Walter A. Elwell and J. D. Weaver (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1999). Other major reference works are cited at the end of this volume. Because of these rich resources, biographical entries have been reduced to a minimum.

 

6. Research Tools and Texts. The Handbook provides basic information and bibliographical references for a variety of research tools, primarily for study in English but also for beginning students in Hebrew and Greek. Consult the entries on Bibliography and Exegesis, and also Analytical Lexica, Commentary, Concordance, Synopsis, and so on. Some resources of special merit in German are also provided.

 

7. English Translations of the Bible. A number of English translations and paraphrases of the Bible are discussed in order to aid the student in the selection of an appropriate one (or ones) for study purposes. These include the (New) King James Version, Revised Version, (New) American Standard Version, (New) Revised Standard Version, New English Bible/Revised English Bible, Today’s English Version, New International Version, New American Bible, (New) Jerusalem Bible, Living Bible, The Message, and so on.

 

8. Abbreviations. Two lists are found at the end of this Handbook: (a) Latin abbreviations (and phrases) basic to textual criticism yet rarely translated as they appear in critical texts of the Old and New Testament and in such volumes as the Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum. (b) Abbreviations of periodicals, reference works, Bibles, and biblical books, often unidentified, as for example in periodical literature. Both lists of abbreviations, however, are of necessity limited. An exhaustive listing may be found in the DBI (see 5 above) and in The SBL Handbook of Style: For Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999).

 

Finally, we have chosen to retain a few terms from previous editions of the Handbook that were once current but are now largely out of date (e.g., Radical Criticism), both because the terms still populate the pages of important works of years past, waiting to perplex the beginning student, and because their inclusion helps to document the changing landscape of biblical studies. Today that landscape is characterized less by individual methods and approaches than by their interplay, less by texts than by interpreters of the text. As for the definitions themselves, our intent throughout has been to present complex issues historically and as clearly and succinctly as possible without sacrificing accuracy and to provide suggestions for further study. The Handbook is a first reference not a final one.

 

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Cross-Cultural Biblical Interpretation

 

refers to the conscious use of contemporary, culturally indigenous texts and concepts as hermeneutical keys in the interpretation of the BIBLE, and overlaps substantially with CONTEXTUAL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION.

 

All interpretation of scripture is cross-cultural to the degree that the culture of the Bible is no longer identical with that of its interpreters. Were the cultures identical, cross-cultural biblical interpretation would not be necessary; were they totally different, interpretation would not be possible. Cross-cultural biblical interpretation approaches the resulting hermeneutical challenge by focusing on interpretive resources uniquely afforded by the interpreter’s particular cultural location.This handbook describes, piecemeal and fragmentarily, how Western culture, in the persons of biblical scholars, has used Western thought forms and norms to make sense of the ancient world (or worlds) of the Bible. It has done so until recently (the term “postmodern” attempts to delineate the change) believing that its canons of judgment were neutral and universally valid, while being insufficiently aware of their cultural particularity and provisionality. Now it is more generally recognized that every interpreter is socially located within a culture, and that location shapes the perspective from which scriptures are interpreted and understood.

 

Cross-cultural biblical interpretation acknowledges this reality and intentionally employs culturally indigenous resources to shed light on biblical texts. The process itself is ancient. As the GOSPEL of John indicates, early Christians found Hellenistic thought forms valuable keys for interpreting the person and message of Jesus, just as PHILO, a Jew, was employing these same forms for interpreting the traditions of Judaism.

 

Although the scene is quickly changing, most biblical criticism still takes place in the Western world and employs Western critical perspectives; hence, contemporary C-CBI, as a term, usually designates the work of non-Westerners (Asians, Africans, Indians, etc.) and their use of culturally indigenous texts (oral and written), customs, mores, rites, etc., in the interpretation of scripture. See Yeo Khiok-khng (K.K.), What Has Jerusalem to Do with Beijing? Biblical Interpretation from a Chinese Perspective (Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1998); also Chairman Mao Meets the Apostle Paul: Christianity, Communism, and the Hope of China (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2002). See CONTEXTUAL BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION.