Category: Biblical Criticism
Shaily Patel: Queer Criticism
Shaily Patel, “Excursus: Methods of Ideological Criticism,” in Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction To the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 193. Like feminist criticism, queer criticism is a way of reading the New Testament that contests certain norms depicted… Continue Reading “Shaily Patel: Queer Criticism”
Shaily Patel: Postcolonial Criticism
Shaily Patel, “Excursus: Methods of Ideological Criticism,” in Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 192. Postcolonial criticism emphasizes the influence that empires and imperial policies, both ancient and modern, have on the texts,… Continue Reading “Shaily Patel: Postcolonial Criticism”
The Weekly Roundup – 12.7.18
“The death of the messiah [in Mark’s Gospel], at the hour of the cross, is the advent of the υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, who has come with great power and glory (13:26).” – Danny Yencich On 11.25.18 Twitter users @Shann_Q0 and @paulogia0 had a discussion with… Continue Reading “The Weekly Roundup – 12.7.18”
Musings on Mark: Minor Markan Characters – The Centurion at the Cross
In her excellent book In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel,1 New Testament scholar Elizabeth Struthers Malbon uses the tools of narrative criticism2 to analyze the story we find in the Gospel of Mark. As the title of her work suggests, Malbon focuses on characters… Continue Reading “Musings on Mark: Minor Markan Characters – The Centurion at the Cross”
Bart D. Ehrman: Redaction Criticism
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 120-121. A “redactor” is someone who edits a text; “redaction criticism” is the study of how authors have created a literary work by modifying or editing their sources… Continue Reading “Bart D. Ehrman: Redaction Criticism”
Michael D. Coogan: The Quest for Historicity of the Patriarchs
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 89. The further removed biblical writers are from the events they describe, the less secure are modern scholars’ attempts to determine whether these events actually happened.… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Quest for Historicity of the Patriarchs”
Michael D. Coogan: Some Books Went Through Multiple Editions
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (Oxford University Press, 2014), 10-11. Although some ancient and most modern authors have produced single works that remain essentially unchanged, that was not the case with many books… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: Some Books Went Through Multiple Editions”
Steven DiMattei: Studying the Bible Objectively
Dr. Steven DiMattei is one of my favorite biblical scholars and not simply because he isn’t a theist. Rather, DiMattei takes the Bible seriously and seeks to understand how it came to be using source criticism. He understands that the Bible is a collection of texts… Continue Reading “Steven DiMattei: Studying the Bible Objectively”
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: The Key to the Markan Plot
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 17. Conflict is the key to the Markan plot. As Markan characterization does not depend on psychological development within the characters, so the plot does not… Continue Reading “Elizabeth Struthers Malbon: The Key to the Markan Plot”
The Amateur Exegete 