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Exegesis and Spirituality 179 and we render results that in various direct and indirect ways interact with our contexts. 24 Studying the Word of God is a godly act—not in the sense of personal and communal Bible study for devotional purposes only, but in the hard academic sense as well. 25 Naturally, the means of interpretation, that is, the backdrop against which the text is placed in order to elucidate its meaning(s), has changed throughout the centuries—a dynamic which should not be unexpected. The point is, however, that for the most part, the interpreters throughout Christian history were faithfully trying to read the biblical texts for their time, and can therefore to a significant extent be regarded as apologists for the Bible within their contexts. 26 The fact that much of the earlier intentions and methods are at times poorly reviewed nowadays has much to do with changes in, precisely, context; certainly, it has less to do with their neglect of intellectual rigour and faith commitment than it has with ours (a point in some ways parallel to that made by Barton 27 ). 3. No Easy Answers The above paragraph begs the question, though, whether a “simple life” as it is understood here, referring to an unproblematic 24 Cf. C. J. S. Lombaard, “The Relevance of Old Testament Science in/for Africa: Two False Pieties and Focussed Scholarship,” Old Testament Essays 19, no. 1 (2006): 151–52. 25 Osborne, for instance, mentions that biblical hermeneutics has three essential aspects: scientific, artistic and spiritual, which may be translated into “What it meant?” (exegesis), “What it means for me?” (devotional), and “How to share with you what it means for me?” (sermonic); see G. R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1991), 5. 26 Cf. Barton, “Biblical Studies,” 23–25; R. Gill, “The Practice of Faith,” in The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology (ed. G. Jones; Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), 4–5; Balla, Challenges to New Testament Theology, 215–50. 27 See J. Barton, “Reading Texts Holistically: The Foundation of Biblical Criticism,” in Congress Volume Ljubljana 2007 (ed. A. Lemaire; Vetus Testamentum Supplement 133; Leiden: Brill, 2010), 367–80.
180 The Old Testament and Christian Spirituality relationship between Bible and believer, is really to be desired. Is it realistic to long for an easy relationship between Bible and faith, or exegesis and spirituality? Or would such an easy relationship amount to oversimplification? I suggest the latter, for two reasons: • On the one hand, the fact is that reading the Bible is no mean feat. There are good sociological reasons for Christianity bringing forth in Western(ised) cultures the institution of the university: the intellectual demands of theology were such that it required an institution of relative autonomy within which the truth of the church could be subjected to intellectual scrutiny, to the benefit of humanity. 28 In addition, the concentrated tradition of hermeneutical reflection within modern Christianity (over Schleiermacher, 29 Heidegger, 30 Gadamer, 31 and others) gives evidence of great effort being made to do justice to the intense, and existential, difficulties of biblical interpretation. 32 • On the other hand, spirituality itself is not a simple matter: although homo sapiens certainly has had a spiritual dimension, since at least its earliest cultural deposits, 28 Cf. C. J. S. Lombaard, “There is Rebellion Afoot, and Revelry—The Nascent Reformation of Intellectual Integrity within South African Universities,” Education as Change 10, no. 1 (July 2006): 81; Zimmerling, Evangelische Spiritualität, 18. 29 F. Schleiermacher, Hermeneutics and Criticism and Other Writings (trans. and ed. Andrew Bowie; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). 30 M. Heidegger, Sein und Zeit (10. unveränderte Auflage; Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1963). 31 H.-G. Gadamer, Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzuge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik (Tübingen: Mohr, 1975). 32 Cf. also A. C. Thiselton, Thiselton on Hermeneutics: Collected Works with New Essays (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006); idem, New Horizons in Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992).
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Copyright © 2012 by the Society of
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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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