Listening to the Bible

The Art of Faithful Biblical Interpretation

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Bible & Bible Studies, Criticism & Interpretation, Commentaries
Cover of the book Listening to the Bible by Christopher Bryan, Oxford University Press
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Author: Christopher Bryan ISBN: 9780199336616
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: November 5, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Christopher Bryan
ISBN: 9780199336616
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: November 5, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

The disengagement of recent academic biblical study from church and synagogue has been widely noted, even by those within the discipline. In Listening to the Bible Christopher Bryan addresses scholars and students who would like to pursue biblical studies in relation to the practice and mission of faith, while also confronting the challenges of the Enlightenment. Is such a combination still possible? And if so, how is the task of biblical interpretation to be understood? Bryan traces the history of modern approaches to the Bible, particularly historical criticism, noting its successes and failures. Basing his work on a wide knowledge of literature and literary critical theory, and drawing on the insights of the greatest literary critics of the last hundred years, notably Erich Auerbach and George Steiner, Bryan asks: what should be the task of the biblical scholar in the 21st century? Setting the question within this wider context enables Bryan to indicate a series of criteria with which biblical interpreters may do their work, and in the light of which there is no reason why that work cannot relate faithfully to the Church. This does not mean that sound biblical interpretation can ignore the specificity of scientific or historical questions, or dragoon its results into conformity with a set of ecclesial propositions. Bryan argues, however, that interpreters of biblical text cannot ignore its existence in the community of faith; and that although textual interpretation has scientific elements, it is, ultimately, an exercise in imagination. In the book's final chapter, actor-director David Landon explores some techniques of oral delivery of scripture.

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The disengagement of recent academic biblical study from church and synagogue has been widely noted, even by those within the discipline. In Listening to the Bible Christopher Bryan addresses scholars and students who would like to pursue biblical studies in relation to the practice and mission of faith, while also confronting the challenges of the Enlightenment. Is such a combination still possible? And if so, how is the task of biblical interpretation to be understood? Bryan traces the history of modern approaches to the Bible, particularly historical criticism, noting its successes and failures. Basing his work on a wide knowledge of literature and literary critical theory, and drawing on the insights of the greatest literary critics of the last hundred years, notably Erich Auerbach and George Steiner, Bryan asks: what should be the task of the biblical scholar in the 21st century? Setting the question within this wider context enables Bryan to indicate a series of criteria with which biblical interpreters may do their work, and in the light of which there is no reason why that work cannot relate faithfully to the Church. This does not mean that sound biblical interpretation can ignore the specificity of scientific or historical questions, or dragoon its results into conformity with a set of ecclesial propositions. Bryan argues, however, that interpreters of biblical text cannot ignore its existence in the community of faith; and that although textual interpretation has scientific elements, it is, ultimately, an exercise in imagination. In the book's final chapter, actor-director David Landon explores some techniques of oral delivery of scripture.

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