Global Hermeneutics? - International Voices in Biblical Studies ...

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BAUMANN 23 concept of imitatio Christi: believers should in their own lives follow the example of Jesus Christ. This concept is sometimes transferred to the first person of the trinity, which creates the above-mentioned problems. In a political or spiritual situation which tries to legitimise moral values with the help of divine morality, violent images of God are perceived as a great challenge. Some exegetes try to explain divine violence in the Old Testament by the thought that God is radically different from humans and human standards do not apply (XI). 25 God is not a person or a being like humans. The biblical image of God appears to be Janus-faced or miraculous and therefore not fully understandable to us as humans. Often we find dogmatic premises behind such theories, which the authors do not always seem to be aware of. In any case, this position takes into account that God has different aspects or sides. Therefore God is not limited to one aspect as in one of the above-mentioned perspectives (II). Last but not least, some authors take into consideration the revising or reworking of violent images of God by biblical authors or redactors. 26 These exegetes sometimes look for counter-texts or counter-voices in the same biblical book or in other biblical books (XII). In a significant number of texts one can find these voices; sometimes the problematic texts are semantically linked to the counter-text. Other scholars mention inner-biblical critique against violence in a more general way. 27 A problematic aspect of this approach lies in attempting to neutralise the texts about divine violence. This would mean avoiding the problematic texts instead of dealing with them. This list of hermeneutic positions shows a significant plurality of approaches towards divine violence in the Old Testament in German-speaking scholarship. This is different from the topic of violence against women, mentioned above as the first example. Most of these scholars, however, do not explain their hermeneutics or position themselves in the field of hermeneutics. My own position tries to form a synthesis of the most productive approaches. 28 A historical hermeneutics, synchronic approaches, and a non-monistic view on the image of God is desirable: historical hermeneutics in general allows us to take into account the differences between the ancient Near Eastern and ancient Israelite world, which are significant in the field of studies of violence. Synchronic or 25 So e.g. Görg, Der un-heile Gott, 175; or Krahe, Ermordete Kinder, 145–151. 26 See Zenger, Ein Gott der Rache?; R. Scoralick, “Hallelujah für einen gewalttätigen Gott? Zur Theologie von Psalm 135 und 136,” BZ 46 (2002), 253–272; idem, “Gottes Güte und Gottes Zorn. Die Gottesprädikationen in Ex 34,6f. und ihre intertextuellen Beziehungen zum Zwölfprophetenbuch” (HBS 33; Freiburg: Herder, 2002); or Baumann, “Liebe und Gewalt” / “Love and Violence”. 27 So, Ebach, Das Erbe der Gewalt, 30–42; or Walter Dietrich and Moisés Mayordomo, Gewalt und Gewaltüberwindung in der Bibel (Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 2005). 28 A more elaborate version in: Baumann, Gottesbilder der Gewalt, 79–83.
24 GLOBAL HERMENEUTICS? canonical approaches make it easier to look for counter-voices or counter-texts. A multifaceted view of the image of God avoids the dangers of the strategies (I), (II) and (IV). CONCLUDING REMARKS Let me finally add some general remarks on the hermeneutics of Germanspeaking Old Testament exegesis. The scholars mentioned in this article represent a minority in German-speaking exegesis. Only a few scholars, especially in Protestant exegesis, work on questions from ordinary life, of which violence is only one, and only a few reflect on hermeneutical questions. Hermeneutics in general is a topic which is not very popular in this sector of scholarship. Many more scholars work on topics derived solely from the academic or scholarly world. Their implicit hermeneutics is one that seeks the historical truth behind the text. This perspective is often combined with a non-contextual perspective that claims neutrality or objectivity. Aside from this Protestant mainstream just described, there are other positions and alternative hermeneutical approaches that are creative and that adapt canonical, contextual and more synchronic perspectives. In this exegetical branch Anglo- American and other positions from abroad are appreciated and applied productively in German exegesis.
Page 1 and 2: International Voices in Biblical St
Page 3 and 4: International Voices in Biblical St
Page 5 and 6: Copyright © 2010 by the Society of
Page 8 and 9: Introduction The XIXth Congress of
Page 10: List of Contributors DR. GERLINDE B
Page 14 and 15: Geographical and Institutional Aspe
Page 16 and 17: HOLTER 5 The first set of tables ou
Page 18 and 19: HOLTER 7 list. Then in 2005 there a
Page 20 and 21: HOLTER 9 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s To
Page 22 and 23: HOLTER 11 collaboration is concerne
Page 24 and 25: HOLTER 13 research in France, or wh
Page 26: Part II CASE STUDIES
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MOJOLA 73 For many years ever since
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MOJOLA 75 of purification is normal
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MOJOLA 77 Jacob Milgrom held in a c
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MOJOLA 79 two systems. These differ
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MOJOLA 81 categories discussed abov
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Part IV AFTERWORD
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