Synopses & Reviews
Many Christians would describe themselves as serious and regular readers of the Bible. Yet, if we are honest, most of us have a tendency to stick with the parts of the Bible that we understand or are comforted by, leaving vast tracts of Scripture unexplored. Even when following a guide, we may never reach into the Bible's less-traveled regions ? passages marked by violence, tragedy, offense, or obscurity. What our modern minds shy away from, however, ancient, medieval, and Reformation commentators dove into. In fact, their writings often display strikingly contemporary interests and sensitivities to the meaning and moral implications of the Bible's difficult narratives. John Thompson here presents nine case studies in the history of exegesis ? including the stories of Hagar and Jephthah's daughter, the imprecatory psalms, and texts that address domestic relations, particularly divorce ? in order to demonstrate the valuable insights into Scripture that we can gain not only from what individual commentators say but from fifteen centuries' cumulative witness to the meaning of Scripture in the life of the church.
Synopsis
Many Christians would describe themselves as serious and regular readers of the Bible. Yet, if we are honest, we have a tendency to stick with the parts of the Bible that we understand, leaving vast tracts of Scripture unexplored. Even when following a guide, we may never reach into the Bible's less-traveled regions -- passages marked by violence, tragedy, offense, or obscurity.
Where our modern minds shy away from, however, ancient, medieval, and Reformation commentators dove into. In fact, they often displayed strikingly contemporary interests and sensitivities to the difficulties, meaning, and moral implications of the Bible's most difficult narratives.
"Reading the Bible with the Dead" presents a remarkably engrossing exploration of these passages through the eyes of those who came before. In doing so, readers will be left with a conviction that the legacy of the faithful interpreters of the past can guide and challenge readers and hearers today.
Table of Contents
Introduction: on reading with the dead -- Why anyone who cares about the Bible should also care about the history of its interpretation -- Hagar in salvation-history -- Victim or villain? : symbol or saint? -- Sacrificing Jephthah's daughter -- The life and death of a father's only-begotten -- Psalms and curses -- Anger management, on earth as it is in heaven -- Patriarchs behaving badly -- Lying, pandering, polygamy and insurrection -- Gomer and Hosea -- Does God approve of wife abuse? -- Silent prophetesses? -- Unraveling theory & practice in 1 Corinthians 11 -- Divorce -- Moses, Jesus, & Paul on the proper end of marriage -- Wasn't Adam deceived? -- Paul's arguments about women in creation, fall & redemption -- Reading sex and violence -- Dinah, Tamar, and too many others -- Conclusion: on cultivating the habit of history -- Reading the Bible in the presence of the past -- Abbreviations -- Commentaries in English prior to 1600 : a finding-guide.