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Exegesis and Spirituality 173 the theological encyclopaedia employ the Bible. Not infrequently, Bible scholars find themselves aghast at what for instance Practical Theologians, Missiologists or Systematic Theologians do with, or perhaps, to the Bible. On their part, scholars of these disciplines may well express their bewilderment at the extent of exegetical controversy related to almost every verse of the Bible, not to mention the technical expertise required to make an informed judgement call on, for example, the composition of the “Big Five” of the Old Testament, namely the Moses-books, 7 or on the authenticity of the Jesus-words within the “Big Five” of the New Testament, namely the four Gospels and the Pauline corpus. Within the biblical sciences themselves, the diversity of deliberate reading strategies—what Barton terms “‘advocacy’ readings” 8 —in order to interpret the Bible for or with the politically suppressed and the marginalised in societies, 9 the underrecognised gender, 10 the abused environment, 11 et cetera, also indicate the plurality of ways in which the Bible speaks, or is brought to speak, to modern socio-ethical concerns. What is more, on many of these approaches so much has already been written, that it requires more than the usual dedication just to become at home within an approach as it relates to one section of Scripture related to a single modern issue. Truly comparative readings in this 7 Cf. C. J. S. Lombaard, “What is Isaac Doing in Amos 7?” Old Testament Essays 17, no. 3 (2004): 435. 8 See J. Barton, “Biblical Studies,” in The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology (ed. G. Jones; Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), 25. 9 Cf. e.g. G. West, Biblical Hermeneutics of Liberation. Modes of Reading the Bible in the South African Context (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications/2d edition: Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications and Maryknoll: Orbis, 1991/1995 2 ). 10 Cf. e.g. K. Vorster, “Christian Attitude and the Human Dignity of Women,” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae XXXII, no. 2 (2006): 229–68. 11 Cf. e.g. S. McFague, Life Abundant: Rethinking Theology and Economy for a Planet in Peril (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001).
174 The Old Testament and Christian Spirituality respect are almost impossible. Gaining a sense of clear orientation through the biblical literature and its applications, the more so. It is not unexpected, therefore, that this diversity of approaches is often experienced as a cacophony of sorts, in which everything but faith finds a place: there is “no room for God” in exegesis. 12 Bible scholars may experience a tension, at least, if not a dichotomy, between exegesis and spirituality; that is, between the scientific approach to the biblical text and the experience of their faith. These are seen as two different, even antagonistic worlds (with perhaps most famously, Linnemann). 13 In many such cases, 12 D. A. Hagner, “The Place of Exegesis in the Postmodern World,” in History and Exegesis. New Testament Essays in Honor of Dr. E. Earle Ellis for His 80th Birthday (ed. S.-W. Son; New York: T&T Clark, 2006), 307. 13 See E. Linnemann, Historical Criticism of the Bible: Methodology or Ideology? (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990); cf. G. D. Fee, “To What End Exegesis? Reflections on Exegesis and Spirituality in Philippians 4:10–20,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 8 (1988): 75–88; cf. also D. Nae, “Presentation,” at the Research Sharing Conference (Adventist Theological Institute, Cernica, Romania, 2007). Protestant and Catholic exegetes tend to differ in this respect. Because of a different theology of church, and more importantly, because of a greater awareness and practice of spirituality, Catholic exegetes show to a greater degree “continuing attempts to relate historical criticism to theological interpretation” (see J. R. Donahue, “Between Jerusalem and Athens: The Changing Shape of Catholic Biblical Scholarship,” in Hermes and Athena: Biblical Exegesis and Philosophical Theology [ed. E. Stump and T. P. Flint; Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993], 294; cf. 293–99). Vaticanum II has aided much in this (cf. e.g. J. A. Fitzmyer, The Biblical Commission’s Document “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church”: Text and Commentary (Subsidia Biblica 18; Roma: Editrice Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 1995). Protestant theologians to a greater degree tend to fail in two respects: they lose their faith in the face of historical exegetical findings, and they seem to have more limited gifts in applying these findings to modern situations, à la e.g., C. Stuhlmueller (The Spirituality of the Psalms [Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2002]) or J. F. Craghan (Love and Thunder. A Spirituality of the Old Testament [Collegeville, Minn.: The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., 1983]). This certainly has to do with more than the legacy of the classical distinction by
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Table of Contents Betwixt Text and
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viii Introduction various coloniali
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The Old Testament in Christian Spir
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Undervaluation of the Old Testament
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Four South African Proposals for a
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A Central Theme to “Scriptural Sp
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11 A Central Theme to “Scriptural
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Four Recent Books on Spirituality a
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Spirituality of the Psalms 55 • F
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Spirituality of the Psalms 57 in th
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Spirituality of the Psalms 59 emplo
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Spirituality of the Psalms 61 This
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Spirituality of the Psalms 63 uncon
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Spirituality of the Psalms 65 a rep
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Spirituality of the Psalms 67 the f
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Spirituality of the Psalms 69 celeb
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Spirituality of the Psalms 71 Psalm
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Spirituality of the Psalms 73 into
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7. Conclusion Spirituality of the P
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Spirituality of the Psalms 77 varie
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Spirituality of the Psalms 79 Cragh
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Spirituality of the Psalms 81 —
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Genealogies and Spiritualities in G
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3.3 Genesis 5:1-32 (P) Genealogies
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What Is Biblical Spirituality? Pers
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