E-Book, Englisch, Band 32, 367 Seiten
Exegetical Perspectives
E-Book, Englisch, Band 32, 367 Seiten
Reihe: NET – Neutestamentliche Entwürfe zur Theologie
ISBN: 978-3-7720-0196-3
Verlag: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
The occasion for these reflections are not least the present questions that have been posed with the corona pandemic and have received a focus on the "system relevance" of churches, which is openly questioned by the media. The church and theology must face this challenge. Towards that end, it is important to gather impulses and suggestions for the discipline from a variety of contexts in which different dimensions of context-related New Testament research come to the fore.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
Contents
Introduction
Contextualization: Exegetical and biographical readings
Faustin Leonard Mahali
Appraising Exegetical Procedures in Reading the New Testament in African Context
Ernest van Eck
Reading the Text Does Matter. Texts as Symbols of Personal and Social Transformation
Gregory Thomas Basker
Interpreting the Bible in the Tamil Context. Reading Matthew (10:40-42) in light of Tirukkural (Ch.9)
Rospita Siahaan
The Absolute Assurance of Giving. A Socio-Rhetorical Approach to the Parable of the Friend at Midnight in Luke 11:5-8
Yoshimi Azuma
A Japanese Ecofeminist Reading of John 1:14
Kenneth Mtata
Transformative Reading of Women, Childbirth and Death in John's Gospel from an African and Intercultural Perspective
Aliou Cissé Niang
Reading and Teaching the New Testament. A Concise Contextual Diola Interpretation of Gal 3:26-29 under Empires
Lyn M. Kidson
Aussie Men, Roman Men, and Fashioning the Evangelical Man from 1 Timothy 2
Contextualization: Theoretical and biographical perspectives
Armand Puig i Tàrrech
Reading the New Testament in Manifold Contexts of a Globalized World. Exegetical Perspectives
Francisco Lozada, Jr.
New Testament Interpretation in the United States. A Perspective from a Cultural Observer
Kay Higuera Smith
Racism and New Testament Scholarship in Latinx California. U.S. Debates on Racism and Biblical Scholarship
Marcelo da Silva Carneiro
Die Erfahrung, im brasilianischen Kontext zum Neuen Testament zu lehren und zu forschen
Ronald Charles
Researching and Teaching OtherWise
William Loader
Reflections on a Lifetime of New Testament Teaching and Research in Australasia
Paul Trebilco
Reading the New Testament in Aotearoa New Zealand
Alexey B. Somov
Reflections on Reading and Translating the New Testament in Contemporary Russia
Authors and Editors of the Volume
Index
Introduction
1. “Context” as a Key Concept of Hermeneutics
The “New Testament” is a global book. The texts collected in the New Testament canon are read, studied, and interpreted both individually and in groups or larger communities (“Interpretationsgemeinschaften”) across the borders of countries, nations, cultures, languages, traditions, and churches. In different Christian churches and denominations, New Testament texts are the subject of personal scripture reading and meditation as well as preaching and pastoral care. In order to facilitate accurate reading, understanding, preaching, and application of New Testament texts, they are the subject of theological education at universities and colleges all over the world. Applying certain rules to interpretation enables “supra-individual understanding,” which at the same time recognizes the uniqueness of the early Christian texts and their divergence from the expectations of modern readers (“Fremdheit der Texte”). Throughout the history of scholarly analysis of the New Testament texts, philological, historical and hermeneutical methods have been developed and found widespread recognition, from Mediterranean and Near Eastern Christianity in antiquity to the modern European arts of exegesis. The 1960s saw the emergence of contextual hermeneutics (e.g. feminist hermeneutics, liberation theology, postcolonial studies), especially in America, and these approaches link the interpretation of New Testament texts to the task of understanding them as vehicles of cultural, social and political change. This is especially true for the “interpretive communities” (Interpretationsgemeinschaften) that are commonly linked to the “global south.” Meanwhile, it is broadly recognized that the New Testament texts were created in specific historical situations and contexts, and those who interpret these texts do so from their own specific historical situations and contexts. Thus, “context” is a key concept for hermeneutical theorizing. As scholars of Biblical studies, we owe our awareness of the historical contingency of texts to historical-critical exegesis. The awareness of the contextual framework in which text-reception and interpretation take place is the heritage of a centuries-old hermeneutical tradition, and contextual hermeneutics have emphasized the socio-political aspects of that framework. Are—in consequence—interpreters of New Testament texts solely concerned with reconstructing the historical situations in which those texts were written on the one hand and identifying the political or religious conditions in which they are read on the other? Will New Testament exegesis disintegrate into diverse and unconnected interpretive processes? Or is it possible to view the “New Testament” as a global book and establish a constant worldwide dialogue between different approaches to and settings for the interpretive task? 2. The Purpose and Outline of this Volume
This volume brings together sixteen contributions from five continents (Africa, Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe). The essays present the importance of the individual researcher’s perspective in New Testament teaching and research. All of the contributors have engaged in research in the field of New Testament studies, and many of them continue to be active (in their home countries) in research and teaching within this discipline. The essays explore the global impact of New Testament scholarship and its meaning for current theological and socio-political debates. As a collection of essays, the volume aims to raise scholarly consciousness regarding the global dimensions of New Testament research. The contributors have organized their contributions around the following guiding questions: How does “context” matter in our readings of the New Testament and its theologies? What are the assumptions that govern our exegesis? How do different contexts and social backgrounds as well as individual needs and socio-political debates help to sharpen New Testament studies in the manifold contexts of today’s globalized world? More concretely, the essays were inspired by the following questions: Please describe your academic career up to your current position, your research focus and interests and your long-term research goals. How does the cultural, political, social, religious environment affect your research as a New Testament scholar? What other ancient (or modern) texts, sources and material matter in and for your New Testament research? Is your choice related to the specific context you work in? Is your exegetical work most influenced by your teacher and his/her scholarly tradition or the universities from which you earned your degrees, your denominational affiliations, philosophical or political theories, other influences? What factors, ideas or people directed your ways in New Testament research and what has sharpened your specific academic profile? Do you think of New Testament studies more in terms of “theology” or more in terms of “religious studies” or “antiquity studies”? Or shortly: to what extent do you consider New Testament research in the context of the theological disciplines to be “systemically relevant”? What other current challenges do you see as the most pressing ones in the long term for New Testament scholarship (medicine/health: see Corona crisis; questions of structural discrimination/racism/global justice, climate change or others…)? Thus, the contributions in this volume ultimately address three kinds of questions: First, in what contexts do the exegesis and the interpretation of the New Testament texts operate on different continents and in different regions? Second, to what extent does the study of the New Testament texts help us to understand contemporary contexts, to live in them, and to be able to influence them constructively? To what extent are the geographically determined contextuality and the global dimension of New Testament scholarship in tension with each other? Third, what common problems and tasks of textual interpretation become apparent in the diversity of contextual readings—in other words, how much common ground and connection does the study of the New Testament provide and allow in a global community of scholarly based textual interpretation? 3. “Contexts” in the Light of Current Global Crises
In preparing for the publication of this volume, the term “context” has taken on a new meaning. Since February 2020, the Corona pandemic has been a global phenomenon that has required regional containment measures. Russia’s war against Ukraine is—in geopolitical terms—a regional conflict that has incalculable global consequences and already affects the well-being of humans all over the world. Both events describe crises that will not only influence the “contexts” in which New Testament texts are read and studied in the short term, but will affect them in the longer term. The Corona pandemic exposed the physical and social vulnerability of people living together. Russia’s war against Ukraine demonstrates once again that freedom and peace are under constant threat all over the world, including in Europe. What do the current crises mean for New Testament studies and New Testament scholars? In the context of the current Corona pandemic many governments and countries have asked what subjects are most relevant for societies and what subjects have to step down in the time of this life-threatening disease. In many cases, the public has perceived religion, and even more theology, to play a minor or even ambivalent or negative role. Yet, this loss of influence and authority is not a new phenomenon, at least not in the so-called Western World. In times of crisis we have had to cope with embarrassing speechlessness. This volume intends to take up this challenge for New Testament studies, the church and theology. In reflecting on our own academic profession in a global perspective, we would like to invite readers to reflect about the current state of New Testament scholarship from their own personal and scholarly standpoint. This volume intends to provide impulse and gather suggestions for our academic field from the manifold contexts in which New Testament texts are read and interpreted in a globalized world. Can we as exegetes learn from each other’s experiences of crisis? Can we generate new questions and insights on how the interpretation of New Testament texts can succeed under the conditions of crises and create socio-political potential for freedom and liberty? 4. Brief Summary of the Essays
The contributions to this volume are designed as (auto-)biographical statements and/or surveys of the current tasks and challenges of the discipline of New Testament studies. The authors reflect on the task and purpose of New Testament exegesis and theology in their particular social, cultural, and ecclesial contexts. Some authors focus on specific texts or pericopes to develop and discuss their view of the New Testament texts and the significance of these texts for academia, society, and the church. The contributions as a whole far exceeded our expectations. Beyond providing valuable reflections on the questions they had been asked to address, the authors shed light on a wide variety...
