Anyone interested in reading Julius Wellhausen's groundbreaking historical critical introduction to the Bible can download the book for free here. Gutenberg have also now digitalized the entire International Critical Commentary, which is an awesome service.
I'll be giving a paper tomorrow on the canonical approach in front of a faculty that, on the surface at least (and part of my thesis is in fact that the differences are not so big after all), reads the Bible in a manner that would seem diametrically opposed to anything resembling synchronic exegesis. I'm giving my paper as descriptive analysis of Childs' approach, but I think it's pretty clear that I'm also out to defend him. If any of my readers are into praying, then pray for clarity, wisdom, and generosity on the part of all (oh, and pray for my German, too).
4 comments:
Excellent, brother; good luck.
Thanks Chris, it went like a dream. I only presented what I call the "building blocks" of Childs' canonical approach, which, in my interpretation, don't require the concept of "textuality" at all, let alone a "final form of Scripture." The criticisms that were raised were ones that they themselves struggle to answer and which are precisely the questions answered by Childs' canonical thesis proper, the bit I left out. One prof. was fascinated by the idea that the traditions are "witnesses" at every level of their existence, such that the historical critic can't avoid the question of "revelation." Another prof then invited to me to give the second part of my paper in another session! It is awesome to see what kind of response this evokes in a German setting, which is so different to an Anglo-Saxon one. Ironically, Childs' nearness to von Rad and Barth makes my task easier here.
Oh, and my constant use of the word "ontology" did not meet with any resistance!
Phil, that sounds like a fascinating paper! I've been a long-time (albeit silent) follower of your blog, which has played no small part in initiating me into the "Childs trajectory" of biblical theology. Thanks for posting.
Hi Collin, glad to be of service. Feel free to interact when you feel like it, though my blog is pretty much hibernating for now.
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