tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547653347296107692.post4140924989080322533..comments2024-01-09T12:59:32.666+01:00Comments on Narrative and Ontology: A dialogue on ChildsPhil Sumpterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16491514886782881340noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547653347296107692.post-44310060809868903642009-01-02T16:43:00.000+01:002009-01-02T16:43:00.000+01:00Hi Brad, i may need to come back to this after giv...Hi Brad,<BR/><BR/><EM> i may need to come back to this after giving it some more thought.</EM><BR/><BR/>Please do! I think you have a great grasp of Childs and appreciate your input. Hope you had a blessed Christmas. <BR/><BR/>Hi John,<BR/><BR/>thanks for getting back to me. I don't think we disagree on anything ... though that may change in the unpacking of the details :). I agree that he wanted to redescribe the nature of the Bible, though I also find highlighting his continuity with those he continued to admire (von Rad, Noth etc.) very helpful. I'm not sure how this means he was not advocating an approach and not a method (something he explicitly said), though I still need to clarify the difference myself. Hope you had a blessed Christmas.Phil Sumpterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16491514886782881340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547653347296107692.post-70289677038144137482008-12-23T17:28:00.000+01:002008-12-23T17:28:00.000+01:00Sorry Phil,I just can't get to a full response to ...Sorry Phil,<BR/><BR/>I just can't get to a full response to you both. But here is a snippet so far.<BR/><BR/>Interesting to see you and Brad discussing the differences between approach and method. For myself, I think Childs did not intend to found either. Instead he seems to have wanted to change the “description” of the object being studied. He was unhappy with the type of exegesis that he trained on and with many of its assumptions, but the primary problem that he saw with them was that they reflected a situation in which the scriptures had been turned into a certain kind of object of study, a historical object with a too historical referent. That object, to his mind, could never have the proper impact that Scripture was supposed to have on the Church. Nevertheless he did think aspects of that proper impact got through – hence his liking for exegetes that were very little like him. Since the object of study was being so misunderstood, then obviously the tools being used to read it were either unsuitable or being misapplied. So Childs work is not a method – as in one more tool to read that text – or a different approach – to that text. It is an approach to his new text, which could also have been – and perhaps should be - conceived of as a methodological approach to that ‘text’, one capable of being outlined for others. <BR/><BR/>I'll try to say more in the New Year.<BR/><BR/>Best wishes for Christmas,<BR/><BR/>JohnJohn Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07299727033033232363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547653347296107692.post-50013452452520514422008-12-22T13:01:00.000+01:002008-12-22T13:01:00.000+01:00Phil - Thanks for this. i appreciate you taking ti...Phil - <BR/><BR/>Thanks for this. i appreciate you taking time to answer my comments so thoughtfully. <BR/><BR/>i especially appreciate someone like yourself being able to bring out the nuance in childs's own work, e.g. his realisation of the limitations of his own exegesis. it's a good reminder for all of us trying to do something of substance that humility can go a long way. <BR/><BR/>i think you're also on to something by noting that childs' exegesis isn't necessarily misread, but unread! a reminder that i need to dig into more of his actual readings of the text.<BR/><BR/>one issue i need to give some more thought to is that of method vs. approach. maybe i just don't fully understand these concepts, and so am having a hard time articulating my unease. i may need to come back to this after giving it some more thought.<BR/><BR/>anyway, thanks for the stimulating conversation, and look forward to more of the same. <BR/><BR/>Happy Christmas...bradandgeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08634488959991846132noreply@blogger.com