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One of the most consistent features of Christian life has been the
extensive use of the biblical texts in sermons; to evangelise, to
educate, to edify, to exhort, and even to terrify those who heard
them. Yet, surprisingly little scholarly attention has focused on
the dynamics at work as these texts were taken by preachers and
transformed into the largely aural experience encountered by their
audience. Pre-formed and performed thus, scripture was communicated
and made relevant through the use of the sermonic form to audiences
inhabiting a broad range of socio-historical settings, including
those whose social status or illiteracy might otherwise have
completely precluded any access to biblical texts. In this volume,
case-studies of biblical reception within and through preaching
have been taken from two millennia of homilies, with each being
examined to see how the text-preacher-audience dynamic has
influenced the interpretation, understanding and impact of the
Bible. Examples include Paul, Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine,
Hildegard of Bingen, Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
Aimee Semple McPherson and Chris Brain.
Joseph of Arimathea: A Study in Reception History examines the
extensive and convoluted afterlives of a minor biblical character
who nevertheless plays a major role in three pivotal scenes in the
passion of Jesus Christ as presented by the four canonical Gospels:
the request to Pilate for the body, the descent from the cross, and
the burial of Jesus' corpse. Characterised in subtly different ways
by each Evangelist, these sparse biblical Josephs were expanded,
expounded, translated, harmonised, and extended by early literary
sources and developed thematically by the artistic traditions of
the Renaissance. In the Medieval Period, Joseph arrived, by
'fortuitous' accident, in the British Isles, becoming an iconic
figure for English nationalists (through the Glastonbury tradition)
and for British Imperialists (through Parry's musical setting of
Blake's Jerusalem). Twentieth-century developments in church life,
film, literature, spiritualism, and studies of the historical
Joseph round out what such a minor character can accomplish, given
a sufficient richness in original texts and the right opportunities
afforded by later cultural developments. In Joseph of Arimathea's
case, certain aspects proved highly adaptable, especially the sharp
contrast provided by his portrayal as a bold active figure in the
Gospel of Mark and as a fearful passive character in the Gospel of
John, the attractiveness of his wealth and nobility to those who
considered themselves of similar (or much higher) status, and the
opportunities provided by his swift appearance and departure from
the most important event in Christianity's foundational documents.
The richly varied collection of 15 essays in this volume showcase
the afterlife of the Book of Revelation. It is a biblical book that
has left its mark in many fields of intellectual endeavour:
literature, film, music, philosophy, political theology, and
religious ideology. It is perhaps paradoxical that this book, which
promises God's punishment upon anyone expanding on its contents,
has nevertheless accumulated to itself over two millennia vast
amounts of commentary, exposition, and appropriation. Offered at
the close of the 'Blair/Bush years', this volume also exposes and
highlights the often deeply ironic resonances generated while
studying the reception history of Revelation during a period when
the book has both significant public currency and a potentially
terrifying global impact. Contents. Decoding, Reception History,
Poetry: Three Hermeneutical Approaches to the Apocalypse (Jonathan
Roberts); Self-Authorization in Christina Rossetti's The Face of
the Deep (Jo Carruthers); Revelation, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Alison
Jack); Revelation and Film (Melanie J. Wright); The Apocalypse
according to Johnny Cash (William John Lyons); The Johannine
Apocalypse and the Risk of Knowledge (James E. Harding);
Revelation, Violence, and War (Heikki Raisanen); The Reception of
Revelation, c. 1250-1700 (Anke Holdenried); A Seventeenth-Century
Particular Baptist on Revelation 20.1-7 (Simon Woodman); The Book
of Revelation, the Branch Davidians and Apocalyptic
(Self-)destruction? (Kenneth Newport); Ecological Readings of the
Apocalypse of John in Contemporary America (Michael S. Northcott);
Feminist Reception of the Book of Revelation (Hanna Stenstrom);
Revelation as Form and Content in the Works of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels (Jorunn Okland)
Fifty years after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls there have
been many advances in the field of Qumran Studies. Yet much work
remains undone. In particular the study of the scrolls has
continued to follow long established historical critical methods
while largely falling to incorporate recent advances in literary,
ideological and sociological approaches. The essays collected here
are the result of the Bristol Colloquium on the Dead Sea Scrolls
held in September 2003. Here, ten scholars working in a diversity
of areas demonstrate how these recent advances in scholarship
increase our knowledge of the scrolls, their historical context,
and their impact on modern critical scholarship. The contributors
consider a wide range of approaches, ranging across discussions in
sociology, anthropology, literary studies, post-colonialism and
ideological criticism. These essays will help to take Qumran
Studies forward in new and creative ways. This is volume 52 in the
Library of Second Temple Studies series (formerly the Journal for
the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement series).
Previous attempts to critique the canonical approach of Brevard
Childs have remained largely theoretical in nature. One of the
weakness of canonical criticism, then, is its failure to have
generated new readings of extended biblical passages. Reviewing the
hermeneutics and the praxis of Childs's approach, Lyons then turns
to the Sodom narrative (Gen 18-19) as a test of a practical
exegesis according to Childs' principles, and then to reflect
critically upon the reading experience generated. Surprisingly, the
canonical reading produced is a wholly new one, centred around the
complex, irreducible - even contradictory - request of Abraham for
Yahweh to do justice (18:23-25).
How do we begin to carry out such a vast task-the examination of
three millennia of diverse uses and influences of the biblical
texts? Where can the interested scholar find information on methods
and techniques applicable to the many and varied ways in which
these have happened? Through a series of examples of reception
history practitioners at work and of their reflections this volume
sets the agenda for biblical reception, as it begins to chart the
near-infinite series of complex interpretive 'events' that have
been generated by the journey of the biblical texts down through
the centuries. The chapters consider aspects as diverse as
political and economic factors, cultural location, the discipline
of biblical studies, and the impact of scholarly preconceptions,
upon reception history. Topics covered include biblical figures and
concepts, contemporary music, paintings, children's Bibles, and
interpreters as diverse as Calvin, Lenin, and Nick Cave.
How do we begin to carry out such a vast task-the examination of
three millennia of diverse uses and influences of the biblical
texts? Where can the interested scholar find information on methods
and techniques applicable to the many and varied ways in which
these have happened? Through a series of examples of reception
history practitioners at work and of their reflections this volume
sets the agenda for biblical reception, as it begins to chart the
near-infinite series of complex interpretive 'events' that have
been generated by the journey of the biblical texts down through
the centuries. The chapters consider aspects as diverse as
political and economic factors, cultural location, the discipline
of Biblical Studies, and the impact of scholarly preconceptions,
upon reception history. Topics covered include biblical figures and
concepts, contemporary music, paintings, children's Bibles, and
interpreters as diverse as Calvin, Lenin, and Nick Cave.
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