Bible in a Disenchanted Age (Theological Explorations for the Church Catholic)

L. Moberly R. W.

Description

In our increasingly disenchanted age, can we still regard the Bible as God's Word? Why should we consider it trustworthy and dare to believe what it says? Top Old Testament theologian R. W. L. Moberly sets forth his case for regarding the Bible as unlike any other book by exploring the differences between it and other ancient writings. He explains why it makes sense to turn to the Bible with the expectation of finding ultimate truth in it, offering a robust apology for faith in the God of the Bible that's fully engaged with critical scholarship and compatible with modern knowledge.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 02 janvier 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493413041
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2018 by R. W. L. Moberly
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1304-1
Unless indicated otherwise, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Dedication
For John-Paul and Rachel
Contents
Cover i
Series Page ii
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Dedication v
Series Preface ix
Preface xiii
Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
1. Posing the Problem 9
Excursus 1: Why Privilege the Biblical Portrayal of God? 37
2. Approaching the Bible 41
Excursus 2: On Terminology for Calendar Dates 74
3. Towards Privileged Perspectives 79
4. Towards Trust and Truth 129
Excursus 3: The Historical Framework for Richard Dawkins’s Thinking and Its Conceptual Deficiencies 167
Epilogue: Towards Biblical Literacy 171
Bibliography 197
Index of Authors 207
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Sources 209
Index of Subjects 213
Back Cover 219
Series Preface
Long before Brian McLaren began speaking about a “generous orthodoxy,” John Wesley attempted to carry out his ministry and engage in theological conversations with what he called a “catholic spirit.” Although he tried to remain “united by the tenderest and closest ties to one particular congregation” 1 (i.e., Anglicanism) all his life, he also made it clear that he was committed to the orthodox Christianity of the ancient creeds, and his library included books from a variety of theological traditions within the church catholic. We at Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) remain committed to the theological tradition associated with Wesley but, like Wesley himself, are very conscious of the generous gifts we have received from a variety of theological traditions. One specific place this happens in the ongoing life of our community is in the public lectures funded by the generosity of various donors. It is from those lectures that the contributions to this series arise.
The books in this series are expanded forms of public lectures presented at NTS as installments in two ongoing, endowed lectureships: the Earle Lectures on Biblical Literature and the Grider-Winget Lectures in Theology. The Earle Lecture series is named in honor of the first professor of New Testament at NTS, Ralph Earle. Initiated in 1949 with W. F. Albright for the purpose of “stimulating further research in biblical literature,” this series has brought outstanding biblical scholars to NTS, including F. F. Bruce, I. Howard Marshall, Walter Brueggemann, and Richard Hays. The Grider-Winget Lecture series is named in honor of J. Kenneth Grider, longtime professor of theology at NTS, and in memory of Dr. Wilfred L. Winget, a student of Dr. Grider and the son of Mabel Fransen Winget, who founded the series. The lectureship was initiated in 1991 with Thomas Langford for the purpose of “bringing outstanding guest theologians to NTS.” Presenters for this lectureship have included Theodore Runyon, Donald Bloesch, and Jürgen Moltmann.
The title of this monograph series indicates how we understand its character and purpose. First, even though the lectureships are geared toward biblical literature and systematic theology, we believe that the language of “theological explorations” is as appropriate to an engagement with Scripture as it is to an engagement with contemporary systematic theology. Though it is legitimate to approach at least some biblical texts with nontheological questions, we do not believe that doing so is to approach them as Scripture . Old and New Testament texts are not inert containers from which to draw theological insights; they are already witnesses to a serious theological engagement with particular historical, social, and political situations. Hence, biblical texts should be approached on their own terms through asking theological questions. Our intent, then, is that this series will be characterized by theological explorations from the fields of biblical studies and systematic theology.
Second, the word “explorations” is appropriate since we ask the lecturers to explore the cutting edge of their current interests and thinking. With the obvious time limitations of three public lectures, even their expanded versions will generally result not in long, detailed monographs but rather in shorter, suggestive treatments of a given topic—that is, explorations.
Finally, with the language of “the church catholic,” we intend to convey our hope that these volumes should be pro ecclesia in the broadest sense—given by lecturers representing a variety of theological traditions for the benefit of the whole church of Jesus Christ. We at NTS have been generously gifted by those who fund these two lectureships. Our hope and prayer is that this series will become a generous gift to the church catholic, one means of equipping the people of God for participation in the missio Dei .
Andy Johnson Lectures Coordinator Nazarene Theological Seminary Kansas City, Missouri



1 . John Wesley, Sermon 39 , “Catholic Spirit,” §III.4, in Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon, 1985), 2:79–95. We know, however, that his public ties with Anglicanism were at some points in his life anything but tender and close.
Preface
This book began life as the Earle Lectures at the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, on November 16–17, 2015. I had a great few days there, enjoying the company and conversation of faculty, staff, and students and being generously wined and dined. I would like to record my particular thanks to President Carla Sunberg for the hospitality of the institution, and to Andy Johnson for making the arrangements, chauffeuring me around town, and generally looking after me.
The expansion of the three shortish lectures into a book took place during the summer of 2016 in Durham, where I continue to savor having an office in Abbey House, which is one of the best offices one could ever hope for, with just about enough space for my books (though piles on the floor are slowly appearing) and with evergreen views of Palace Green and Durham Cathedral.
I received some valuable bibliographic help from my teaching assistant, Vasile Condrea. Douglas Earl has kindly done the indexing for me in a way that we hope is reader-friendly. I am grateful also to my patient and long-suffering friends who have again read something I have written in draft form and enabled me to make it better. Richard Briggs’s questions about the structure and direction of the argument helped me see that I needed to be much clearer and more disciplined. Anthony Bash weeded out some irritating and/or infelicitous idioms. Chris Hays helped with bibliography. David Day gave an assist with the title (though the Baker Academic team also contributed). Both Patrick Morrow and my wife, Jenny, pointed out numerous small problems of wording and thought, enabling me to avoid factual errors and also to improve what I say. Tim West has been the copyeditor that every writer hopes for. Last but by no means least, Jim Kinney made wise editorial suggestions. I had been a little uncertain about structure and rhetoric in one or two places, especially in chapter 4, but it was only when Jim stated the obvious that I too saw that it was indeed the obvious, and was able to rewrite accordingly. As ever, such infelicities and errors as remain are all my own work.
Abbreviations Aen. Virgil, Aeneid BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia . Edited by K. Elliger and W. Rudolph. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1983. BJS Brown Judaic Studies ca. circa , about CBSC Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges CCSL Corpus Christianorum: Series Latina ch(s). chapter(s) CSCD Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine esp. especially FC Fathers of the Church ITC International Theological Commentary JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series NETS A New English Translation of the Septuagint . Edited by Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. NRSV New Revised Standard Version OCT Oxford Classical Texts OSHT Oxford Studies in Historical Theology OTL Old Testament Library OTT Old Testament Theology WBC Word Biblical Commentary
Introduction
In this book I offer a fresh (I hope) account of the nature of the Bible and of appropriate attitudes towards it and ways of reading it. I consider something of what is involved in regarding the Bible as a vehicle for faith in God today in a disenchanted world—that is, a world in which faith and God seem ever less comprehensible or meaningful to an increasing proportion of the population, whose deepest intuitions and hopes (at least insofar as they are consciously articulated) are oriented elsewhere. I also consider some aspects of what kind of scholarly study is best suited to do justice to the Bible, should one’s interest in it be primarily that of regarding it as a vehicle for faith in God today.
On most reckonings, there is a close link between the content of the Bible and the content of Christian faith, at least in general terms—hence the importance of discussing approaches to the Bible in relation to questions about faith. Consider a summary account of biblical content such as: “God has made and sustains this world, and in it H