Sunday, March 05, 2006
Old Testament
Walter Brueggemann and Hans Walter Wolff, The Vitality of Old Testament Traditions
Intro.: The Word in its Particularity and Power, Brueggemann
—The OT is the ongoing effort of bringing Israel’s precious memory to play on the historical pressure shaping her life; the clash of faith tradition and historical fact.
Questions Addressed in Study of the Pentateuch, Brueggemann
18th & 19th centuries—historical critical method. Treat the Bible as any other book to be studied.
—Scripture first studied by secularists, unconcerned with Biblical authority. Gradually, people of faith started doing historical critical method too.
4 Sources discovered for Pentateuch (Torah): Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918)
J (Jahwist)—8th century BC, from “Jahweh”
E (Elohist)—7th century BC, from “Elohim”
D (Deuteronomic)—7th century BC, from “Deuteronomy”
P (Priestly)—5th century BC, from “Priests”
—This hypothesis put forth to explain literary problems such as duplication, repetition, and contradiction.
Hermann Gunkel (1862-1932)—“Exegesis is more an art than a science.” Interpretation requires a subjective as well as objective side.
—for Wellhausen, the text is an “it.” For Gunkel, the text is a “Thou.”
—Gunkel wanted to try and date the oral tradition as well as the text.
—While accepting Wellhausen’s later dates for the text itself, he dates the oral traditions back to the times that the stories take place.
Form Criticism—determine the settings (Sitze im Leben) in which the literary forms are employed.
—Gunkel wanted to understand the OT texts in light of cultural remains from other Near Eastern peoples.
—Story types of myth, saga, legend, and fable are bearers of particular meaning.
William Foxwell Albright (b. 1891; still alive when this book was written in 1975)—did not believe in a Hegelian progressive development of the Bible.
—understands history as organic.
—Israelite religion was not “developing” over time. It is fully actualized from the time of Moses, and experienced from then on out in different ways.
—used Archeology in his Bible study. Uses other Near Eastern cultures to help understand the Bible.
—upheld in every way possible the historical claims of the Bible.
Gerhard von Rad (1901-1971)—sagas in the OT that are essentially pre-Israelite and pre-faith in origin have been “refashioned” under influence of the credo. What were simple tribal stories have been turned into affirmations of faith.
Example: When Abraham lied to Pharaoh and said Sarah was his sister, take her as whore, so he could save himself, this story was probably only preserved to show the beauty of Sarah, and celebrate the community’s memory. When inserted into Scripture, the story “shows” how things go bad when Abe trusts himself over God.
Wolff’s Kerygmatic Methodology, by Brueggemann
The JEDP—the 4 basic documents of the Pentateuch, are 4 major efforts to make a confession of faith in a crisis.
J (the Yahwist)—1000-922 BC. An effort to express faith during the united monarch under David and Solomon.
—Israel’s “Enlightenment”. A time of economic upheaval and secularization. Strivings for power and prosperity teetered Israel’s self-concept as a people of faith.
—J tradition is both critique and apologia for the monarchy.
—excoriates hubris, exposes self-seeking, denounces ultimate concern for the monarchy. Monarch exists not for own purposes, but to bear God’s blessing.
—also an apologia for monarchy. Links David to Abraham. Says the Davidic dynasty is the chosen bearer of blessing to a world victimized by curse.
—yes, J is political propaganda for the King. But, J was probably under careful watch by the throne when he wrote. He also points out the important fact that Israel does not exist for herself, but for a blessing.
E (The Elohist)—9th century BC. A northern tradition. In the shadow of J. The crisis of the time for E syncretism, the unexamined blending together of faiths.
—calls for Israel to “fear God” and not give loyalty to other gods.
—call for radical loyalty to Yahweh. Not an eternal call to faith, but a message of localized urging to the people of Israel who were easily attracted other religions.
D (Deuteronomic text)—dated somewhere from 609-561 BC. Corpus of material combining large sections of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, and Deuteronomy 1-4 and 31-34. Deut 5-28 is much older; found on scroll in Temple in 621 BC.
P (Priestly)—dated to the Babylonian Exile.
—“I swill be your God—you shall be my people.”
Basic overview: J—to chasten the pride and prosperity of united monarchy, recalls to the notice that “by you the families of the earth will be blessed.”
E—loosens Israel from the quicksand of Canaanite syncretism by extolling her to “fear God.”
D—calls Israel, in Exile, to “return” to God.
P—encourages Israel, in Exile, to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the land, subdue it, and have dominion.”
Also, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDP_theory
Intro.: The Word in its Particularity and Power, Brueggemann
—The OT is the ongoing effort of bringing Israel’s precious memory to play on the historical pressure shaping her life; the clash of faith tradition and historical fact.
Questions Addressed in Study of the Pentateuch, Brueggemann
18th & 19th centuries—historical critical method. Treat the Bible as any other book to be studied.
—Scripture first studied by secularists, unconcerned with Biblical authority. Gradually, people of faith started doing historical critical method too.
4 Sources discovered for Pentateuch (Torah): Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918)
J (Jahwist)—8th century BC, from “Jahweh”
E (Elohist)—7th century BC, from “Elohim”
D (Deuteronomic)—7th century BC, from “Deuteronomy”
P (Priestly)—5th century BC, from “Priests”
—This hypothesis put forth to explain literary problems such as duplication, repetition, and contradiction.
Hermann Gunkel (1862-1932)—“Exegesis is more an art than a science.” Interpretation requires a subjective as well as objective side.
—for Wellhausen, the text is an “it.” For Gunkel, the text is a “Thou.”
—Gunkel wanted to try and date the oral tradition as well as the text.
—While accepting Wellhausen’s later dates for the text itself, he dates the oral traditions back to the times that the stories take place.
Form Criticism—determine the settings (Sitze im Leben) in which the literary forms are employed.
—Gunkel wanted to understand the OT texts in light of cultural remains from other Near Eastern peoples.
—Story types of myth, saga, legend, and fable are bearers of particular meaning.
William Foxwell Albright (b. 1891; still alive when this book was written in 1975)—did not believe in a Hegelian progressive development of the Bible.
—understands history as organic.
—Israelite religion was not “developing” over time. It is fully actualized from the time of Moses, and experienced from then on out in different ways.
—used Archeology in his Bible study. Uses other Near Eastern cultures to help understand the Bible.
—upheld in every way possible the historical claims of the Bible.
Gerhard von Rad (1901-1971)—sagas in the OT that are essentially pre-Israelite and pre-faith in origin have been “refashioned” under influence of the credo. What were simple tribal stories have been turned into affirmations of faith.
Example: When Abraham lied to Pharaoh and said Sarah was his sister, take her as whore, so he could save himself, this story was probably only preserved to show the beauty of Sarah, and celebrate the community’s memory. When inserted into Scripture, the story “shows” how things go bad when Abe trusts himself over God.
Wolff’s Kerygmatic Methodology, by Brueggemann
The JEDP—the 4 basic documents of the Pentateuch, are 4 major efforts to make a confession of faith in a crisis.
J (the Yahwist)—1000-922 BC. An effort to express faith during the united monarch under David and Solomon.
—Israel’s “Enlightenment”. A time of economic upheaval and secularization. Strivings for power and prosperity teetered Israel’s self-concept as a people of faith.
—J tradition is both critique and apologia for the monarchy.
—excoriates hubris, exposes self-seeking, denounces ultimate concern for the monarchy. Monarch exists not for own purposes, but to bear God’s blessing.
—also an apologia for monarchy. Links David to Abraham. Says the Davidic dynasty is the chosen bearer of blessing to a world victimized by curse.
—yes, J is political propaganda for the King. But, J was probably under careful watch by the throne when he wrote. He also points out the important fact that Israel does not exist for herself, but for a blessing.
E (The Elohist)—9th century BC. A northern tradition. In the shadow of J. The crisis of the time for E syncretism, the unexamined blending together of faiths.
—calls for Israel to “fear God” and not give loyalty to other gods.
—call for radical loyalty to Yahweh. Not an eternal call to faith, but a message of localized urging to the people of Israel who were easily attracted other religions.
D (Deuteronomic text)—dated somewhere from 609-561 BC. Corpus of material combining large sections of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, and Deuteronomy 1-4 and 31-34. Deut 5-28 is much older; found on scroll in Temple in 621 BC.
P (Priestly)—dated to the Babylonian Exile.
—“I swill be your God—you shall be my people.”
Basic overview: J—to chasten the pride and prosperity of united monarchy, recalls to the notice that “by you the families of the earth will be blessed.”
E—loosens Israel from the quicksand of Canaanite syncretism by extolling her to “fear God.”
D—calls Israel, in Exile, to “return” to God.
P—encourages Israel, in Exile, to “be fruitful, multiply, fill the land, subdue it, and have dominion.”
Also, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDP_theory
# posted by SeanPatrick @ 4:08 PM 
