Divine Scripture in Human Understanding

Joseph K. Gordon

Description

In six closely-reasoned chapters, Joseph Gordon presents a detailed account of a Christian doctrine of Scripture in the fullest context of systematic theology.

Divine Scripture in Human Understanding addresses the confusing plurality of contemporary approaches to Christian Scripture—both within and outside the academy—by articulating a traditionally grounded, constructive systematic theology of Christian Scripture. Utilizing primarily the methodological resources of Bernard Lonergan and traditional Christian doctrines of Scripture recovered by Henri de Lubac, it draws upon achievements in historical-critical study of Scripture, studies of the material history of Christian Scripture, reflection on philosophical hermeneutics and philosophical and theological anthropology, and other resources to articulate a unified but open horizon for understanding Christian Scripture today.

Following an overview of the contemporary situation of Christian Scripture, Joseph Gordon identifies intellectual precedents for the work in the writings of Irenaeus, Origen, and Augustine, who all locate Scripture in the economic work of the God to whom it bears witness by interpreting it through the Rule of Faith. Subsequent chapters draw on Scripture itself; classical sources such as Irenaeus, Origen, Augustine, and Aquinas; the fruit of recent studies on the history of Scripture; and the work of recent scholars and theologians to provide a contemporary Christian articulation of the divine and human locations of Christian Scripture and the material history and intelligibility and purpose of Scripture in those locations. The resulting constructive position can serve as a heuristic for affirming the achievements of traditional, historical-critical, and contextual readings of Scripture and provides a basis for addressing issues relatively underemphasized by those respective approaches.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Biblical Studies
• Philosophie et théologie
• Ireneo de Lyon
• Thomas Aquinas
• Rule of Faith
• Bernard Lonergan
• Exegesis
• General officer
• Hermeneutics
• Theology
• Systematics
• Origen
• Irenaeus
• Augustine of Hippo
• General
• Augustine
• History
• Irénée de Lyon
• Henri de Lubac
• Thomas d'Aquin
• Bible

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 mars 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268105204
• Langue: English

Extrait

ADVANCE PRAISE
for
Divine Scripture in Human Understanding
“ Divine Scripture in Human Understanding has the potential to greatly aid the ways in which Scripture is used and understood in theological debate, especially in those communities that are more biblically oriented. Its sophisticated discussion of the actual history of Scripture within an overall context of divine providence undoes any attempt at fundamentalism. The book is accessible to nonspecialists, but will be of greater value to those who are seeking professionally to understand their own performance in relation to questions such as ‘What do we mean by biblical theology?’ and ‘Is biblical theology just exegesis?’”
—Neil Ormerod, Australian Catholic University
“‘Christians need to learn how to read, hear, and meditate on Scripture in a Christian manner.’ This substantial and important book spells this out, in the form of a systematic theology of the Bible, in dialogue with the church fathers and with Bernard Lonergan and Henri de Lubac. It sets Scripture in a trinitarian context and makes a strong case for its inspiration and authority.”
—John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor Emeritus of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford
“Joseph K. Gordon’s approach to the perennial question for Christians of how to read Scripture—how, that is, to understand its contents, its modes of discourse, its spiritual authority, and its historical contingencies in the light of theological tradition and practice—is subtle, deft, and penetrating. The result, moreover, is a volume at once remarkably comprehensive and delightfully concise. Students of theology will profit from it immensely, but so will accomplished masters of the craft.”
—David Bentley Hart, University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study
“This remarkable book offers a thoroughly trinitarian approach to a systematic theology of Holy Scripture, rooting it in the rule of faith, in constructive appropriation of premodern understandings of Scripture to address postmodern paradoxes, and in absolute honesty about modern historical consciousness and awareness of the contingencies of textual transmission, of biblical diversity, and of linguistic indeterminacy. It affirms that, as the useful instrument of divine pedagogy, Scripture proves capable of perennially transforming human lives. Thus what we have here is a wonderful corrective to bibliolatry which substantiates the indispensable and vital connection between the Word of God incarnate and the Word of God inscribed.”
—Frances Young, Edward Cadbury Professor Emerita of Theology, University of Birmingham

“Joseph Gordon offers a sophisticated, creative, and compelling account of the human-divine character of Scripture, and of Scripture’s instrumental role in the divine economy of human transformation for participation in the life of the Triune God. Gordon’s treatments of the rule of faith as hermeneutical necessity, the soul (reinterpreted for our context) as the subject of transformation, and the theological significance of the Bible’s concrete, diverse instantiations inform his overall project in fresh ways. This is an important volume that deserves the careful attention of both biblical scholars and theologians.”
—Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology, St. Mary’s Seminary & University
“God may not have a context, but Scripture—God’s inscripturated word—certainly does, and the major contribution of Gordon’s study lies in its careful unpacking of the role that various historical contexts have on its authors’ and readers’ categories of understanding. As an added bonus, Divine Scripture in Human Understanding contains one of the clearest descriptions of Bernard Lonergan’s unique approach to theology’s task of faith seeking textual and traditioned understanding for today that I have yet come across.”
—Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Divine Scripture in Human Understanding
READING THE SCRIPTURES
Gary A. Anderson, Matthew Levering, and Robert Louis Wilken
series editors
Divine Scripture in Human Understanding
A SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE
JOSEPH K. GORDON
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
NOTRE DAME, INDIANA
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
www.undpress.nd.edu
Published © 2019 by the University of Notre Dame
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gordon, Joseph K., 1985–author.
Title: Divine scripture in human understanding : a systematic theology of the Christian Bible / Joseph K. Gordon.
Description: Notre Dame : University of Notre Dame Press, 2019. | Series: Reading the Scriptures | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2019003978 (print) | LCCN 2019004374 (ebook) | ISBN 9780268105198 (pdf) | ISBN 9780268105204 (epub) | ISBN 9780268105174 (hardback) | ISBN 0268105170 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Classification: LCC BS511.3 (ebook) | LCC BS511.3 .G667 2019 (print) | DDC 230/.041—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019003978
° This book is printed on acid-free paper.
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
CHAPTER ONE . Scripture at the Level of Our Times: Situation, Exigencies, and Thesis
CHAPTER TWO . Historical Precedents: The Rule of Faith in Irenaeus, Origen, and Augustine
CHAPTER THREE . The Location of Scripture I: The Economic Work of the Triune God
CHAPTER FOUR . The Location of Scripture II: Human Persons and Human Meaning in History
CHAPTER FIVE . Scripture in History I: The Realia of Christian Scripture
CHAPTER SIX . Scripture in History II: The Intelligibility of Christian Scripture
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
General Index
Scriptural Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am overwhelmed when I recall all of the help and encouragement I have received while working on this project. I must first acknowledge my gratitude to the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for sustaining me during this work. As I have reflected and written, I have regularly felt the weight of responsibility that comes from writing and teaching about divine things (James 3.1) and have prayed countless times that these words would be relatively adequate to the reality of God’s economic work in and through Christian Scripture. My prayer is that this work will be useful and edifying for those who hope to read and understand the treasures of the written Word of God. Anything valuable in this work I owe ultimately to God. I am eternally grateful to the communities of St. John’s, Abbottsford Hall, Real Life, and St. Luke and St. Peter’s, and for my friends in the Ekklesia Project for prayer and for spiritual and emotional support through the process of writing this work.
“We can become transformed vicariously,” David Burrell writes in Friendship and Ways to Truth , “in the transformation of those whose lives have become entwined with ours” (17). My life has been entwined with—and so transformed by—countless others as I worked on this project, which began its formal life as my doctoral dissertation at Marquette University. I owe many thanks to friends and colleagues in the Department of Theology at Marquette, and to their significant others, for stimulating conversations and for the joy of their company. There are too many to name, but I must single out Stephen and Katie Waers and Ryan and Kate Hemmer for special mention. Thanks are also due to Jeremy Blackwood, Christopher Brenna, Anne Carpenter, Nick Elder, Jen Fenton, Kirsten Guidero, Jon Heaps, Geoff Holsclaw, Karen Keen, Samantha Miller, Jakob Rinderknecht, Gene Schlesinger, Tyler Stewart, Eric Vanden Eykel, and Juli Vasquez for their encouragement and feedback regarding specific aspects of this project. Thanks are also due to numerous members of the theology faculty at Marquette who taught me in seminars or took the time to discuss theology, Scripture, and professional matters with me. I owe thanks to Michel Barnes, Josh Burns, Michael Cover, Ralph Del Colle (†), Deirdre Dempsey, Julian Hills, Mark Johnson, Therese Lysaught, Joseph Mueller, Joseph Ogbonnaya, Andrei Orlov, David Schultenover, Susan Wood, and Wanda Zemler-Cizewski. I owe a great deal to professors and mentors at Johnson University and Lincoln Christian Seminary, especially John Castelein, Steve Cone, Steve Cook, Bob Kurka (†), Bob Rea, and Chris Simpson. Thanks are also due to John Barton, Adam Bean, Cynthia Crysdale, Steve Fowl, Ben Fulford, Michael Gorman, David Bentley Hart, Stephen Lawson, Matthew Levering, Eric Mabry, David Mahfood, Peter Martens, Dan McClain, Neil Ormerod, Randy Rosenberg, Matt Tapie, Roy Terry, and Jeremy Wilkins, who took time to discuss aspects of this work with me or offered encouragement. I owe special thanks to Neil Ormerod and Kevin Vanhoozer for their vital critical and constructive feedback and reassurance during the formal review process. I could not have asked for, or imagined, having better mentors and dissertation codirectors than Bob Doran and Steve Long. Those I have mentioned have undoubtedly contributed to whatever strengths this work has. They cannot, and should not, be blamed for any of its shortcomings, for which I take full responsibility.
I am thankful for and humbled by the financial support I received from the Department of Theology at Marquette during my doctoral studies; I am especially grateful for the dissertation fellowship I received during the 2014–15 school year and for nominations for two university-wide fellowships. I am also thankful to the Lonergan Research Institute for receipt of the Crowe Bursary in 2015, awarded as support