bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Disunity and Unity of the Psalter in the Fathers
Authors: Edwards Robert G. T.
Published: May 2022

Origen, Eusebius, Didymus, Diodore, and Gregory of Nyssa—among other Christian interpreters of the psalms—stand in a tradition of envisioning the Psalter as a theological unity. These claims to the unity of the book of Psalms come about through struggling with its disunity, which appears in many cases to be a problem that needs solving. Not all come to similar conclusions as to the mechanism of this unity. Still, its coherence as divine revelation is clearly established at the latest by the time of Gregory of Nyssa's writing of his In inscriptiones Psalmorum. Further, this unity of the Psalter is conceived of as primarily Christian, rather than simply something inherited from Hellenic (mostly Neoplatonic) understandings of literary unity.
Response to Walter Moberly's "Theological Thinking and the Reading of Scripture"
Authors: Ticciati Susannah
Published: May 2022

This article is a response to Walter Moberly's critical appraisal of my interpretation of Rom 9–11.¹ It seeks, on the one hand, to locate more specifically the hermeneutical disagreement between Moberly and me, concluding that Moberly (unlike me) continues to privilege historically "original" meaning. It argues, on the other hand, for a relational hermeneutic that enables creation ex nihilo to function as a valid interpretational frame of reference (for both Rom 9–11 and Deut 32), thus addressing Moberly's charge of "anachronism."
Ancient, Modern, and Future Interpretations of Romans 1:3–4: Reception History and Biblical Interpretation
Authors: Jipp Joshua W.
Published: May 2022

One of the most valuable uses of the reception history of biblical texts is the way it enables interpreters to see how specific exegeses of texts are tied to the hermeneutical framework within which they are read. Romans 1:3–4 presents an interesting and important test case. Modern interpretations tend to construe these verses primarily within a history-of-religions framework, seeking historical clues to support a particular version of an early, and most often adoptionist, Christology. Ancient interpretations, on the other hand, overwhelmingly read these verses as supporting a dogmatic construal of the two natures of Christ, using the text primarily to support the real humanity of Christ. Reception history allows one to see that both ancient and modern readings of Rom 1:3–4 are intimately related to their specific hermeneutical frameworks. This article suggests that the primary matrix of meaning for these verses is, in the first instance, Paul's own letter to the Romans, and it seeks to integrate these verses within Paul's broader argumentation in Romans.
Reformation Responses to Novatianism: 16th-Century Interpretations of Hebrews 6:4–6
Authors: Cooper Derek
Published: May 2022

The text of Heb 6:4–6 has posed an ongoing problem for Christian exegetes throughout the history of the church. Ever since the Novatian heresy in the 3rd century, interpreters have offered a number of responses to this difficult pericope. Although precritical interpreters agreed that Novatian's exegesis was insufficient, they differed noticeably in their actual exposition of the passage. This is especially the case with 16th-century interpreters of this passage. Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, though all trained in humanism, came to remarkably different conclusions based on their hermeneutical approaches. Erasmus, armed with humanism but still a loyal supporter of Rome, could at once reject Pauline authorship while simultaneously relying on the tradition to solve the exegetical dilemma. Luther, who lectured on the epistle early in his career and subsequently relegated it to the four letters of the NT of "a different reputation," used the results of humanist exegesis but coupled them with his single-minded theology of God's mercy to reject Pauline authorship, thereby reading and using Hebrews selectively. Calvin, in a splendid example of what might be termed 16th-century canonical criticism, accepted the premise of authorship that Erasmus and Luther espoused yet assertively claimed the book to be canonical and interpreted the section through the lens of election and reprobation.
"Minimalism" and Old Testament Theological Hermeneutics: The "David Saga" as a Test Case
Authors: Earl Douglas S.
Published: May 2022

In recent OT scholarship, there is a growing tendency to understand the portrayal of Israel in the OT as bearing little relation to the ancient Israel of history—the so-called minimalist stance. In particular, the existence of a united monarchy under David is now questioned and often rejected. Readers of the OT with theological concerns often appear to confront or disengage with these trends and their implications for the study of the OT. But might theological interpreters fruitfully engage with minimalist readings of the OT? Taking John Van Seters's The Biblical Saga of King David as a test case of a radically revisionist reading of the life of David, the implications of a reading of this sort are considered in hermeneutical and theological perspective.
Quran Criticism, the Historical-Critical Method, and the Secularization of Biblical Theology
Authors: Eskola Timo
Published: May 2022

The emergence of historical criticism of the Bible was partly influenced by medieval Quran criticism. This background was still well known in the 19th century but was later forgotten when emphasis was laid on Greek literature. Scholars such as Riccoldo da Monte di Croce had written critical works against the Quran. This tradition reemerged 200 years later in Germany when Martin Luther translated Riccoldo's Confutatio Alcorani. The special features in Riccoldo's work are the criteria he used hoping to prove that the Quran was not divine revelation. The famous Deist Hermann Reimarus later demanded that the Bible be read in the same way as other literature. His examples in Wolfenbüttel Fragments are mostly taken from the Quran. Reimarus adopted Riccoldo's criteria when interpreting the Bible. The purpose of his rationalistic criticism was to show that contradictions, inconsistencies, and lies prove that, as with the Quran, neither can the Bible be held as divine revelation. Reimarus, in his apology "for the Rational Reverers of God," stated that Christian doctrines are based on a fraud because the apostles created the whole Systema only after Jesus' death. Jesus' original proclamation was political. This dichotomy, confirmed later in David Strauss's biography on Reimarus, became the basis for the criterion of dissimilarity in NT interpretation. Rudolf Bultmann then gave this criterion its present formulation, and it is still used, for instance, by the Jesus Seminar.
Scripture, Christian Canon, and Community: Rethinking Theological Interpretation Canonically
Authors: Thompson Richard P.
Published: May 2022

Traditional approaches that have dominated the landscape of biblical studies in recent centuries have directed the interpretive task to historical understandings of textual meaning. These approaches have informed interests regarding theology and a given biblical passage or book, so that scholarly treatments in recent decades have focused mostly on theology as something to be found behind or in that text. Although the biblical canon provides general boundaries and categories within which biblical scholarship has done its work, a theological understanding of Christian canon has had a limited role within the arena of biblical interpretation and, in particular, the theological interpretation of these biblical texts. This essay asserts that the notion of Christian canon has a substantive role in the theological interpretation of the Bible. The first part considers issues in what may be called the "hermeneutics" of Christian canon. The second part considers three ways that this theological notion of Christian canon defines the task of theological interpretation. First, the Christian canon creates a different literary and interpretive context for the interpretation of these individual biblical books—a context that provokes potential intertextual and intracanonical connections in addition to intertextual connections available within the original reception context(s). Second, Christian canon assumes the Christian faith community as the place where theological interpretation occurs. Third, the notion of Christian canon assumes that the objectives behind reading and interpreting the Bible in its ecclesial context includes how the faith community lives out her interpretations of biblical texts in faith and practice.
Apocalypticizing Dogmatics: Karl Barth's Reading of the Book of Revelation
Authors: Mangina Joseph L.
Published: May 2022

Although Karl Barth has rightly been called an apocalyptic theologian, his relation to the book known as the Apocalypse has not often been noted. This article seeks to clarify Barth's relationship to Revelation in three areas: (1) the characteristic themes that emerge in the citations appearing in Church Dogmatics; (2) a long exegetical excursus on Revelation in Church Dogmatics 3/3 on the question of angelology; and (3) theological interpreters whose approach to Revelation has been influenced by Barth. Although Barth's appeals to the Apocalypse tend to be ad hoc and confirmatory, it is possible that the book would have played a more prominent role in the unwritten volume 5 of Church Dogmatics.
Introducing Premodern Scriptural Exegesis
Authors: Greene-McCreight Kathryn
Published: May 2022

This article introduces the following three essays in this volume of the Journal of Theological Interpretation, which seek to point out the elements that make patristic exegesis different from our own. The articles illustrate how, in contrast to our own biblical studies, patristic exegesis can seem foreign and off-putting but at the same time stimulating, adventurous, and useful to the life of the church. Patristic exegetes assume (without making a case for it) that Holy Scripture is the voice of the Triune Living God. Reading Scripture is therefore an act of faith and obedience, almost even a sacramental act. Patristic exegesis of Scripture holds as its goal the formation of its reader in the love of God and the love of neighbor. Reading Scripture is therefore a school from which we never graduate, because in this world love of God and love of neighbor are always imperfectly practiced. The authoritative context for the exegesis of the Fathers is ecclesial; it is neither academic (as is modern exegesis) nor individualistic (as is much of popular American Christianity's biblical interpretation).
Interpreting the Bible as Bible
Authors: Wilken Robert Louis
Published: May 2022

Modern historical criticism has disengaged understanding of the Bible from the long Christian tradition of interpretation, severing the bond between text and reader, between Scripture and the living church tradition. As a consequence, patristic and medieval interpreters are dismissed as serious commentators on the Holy Scriptures. This essay offers examples from classical Christian exegetes that illustrate how reading the Scriptures from within rather than against tradition deepens our understanding of the Bible.
Edwards's Ezekiel: The Interpretation of Ezekiel in the "Blank Bible" and "Notes on Scripture"
Authors: Tooman William A.
Published: May 2022

The recent publication of Jonathan Edwards's Blank Bible together with his previously published Notes on Scripture has provided historians of biblical interpretation for the first time with an unrestricted view of Edwards's interpretation of individual biblical books. Utilizing these resources, this paper inductively examines Edwards's dramatic and imaginative reading of the book of Ezekiel to uncover the exegetical techniques and hermeneutical principles Edwards applied to it. As his interpretation of Ezek 1, 4–5, and 38–39 reveals, Edwards departed from traditional Puritan exegesis. He highlighted layers of meaning lying beyond the literal sense, layers that bridge the divide between the textual world and the ostensive world. Beneath Edwards's complex exegesis, we can observe a guiding principle at work, namely, the providential harmony of all things. For Edwards, similarities between things—whether biblical texts, natural phenomena, historical events, institutions, doctrines, or human experiences—revealed the unity that undergirds the created order. Scriptural interpretation, in Edwards's view, was much more than an exposition of words on a page. To him, it was a vast enterprise that set the interpreter to the extraordinary task of mapping the mind of God.
Charles Hodge, Hermeneutics, and the Struggle with Scripture
Authors: White Michael D.
Published: May 2022

Charles Hodge continues to garner interest in contemporary theology, though sometimes for unlikely ends. This article assesses one example of this interest. William Placher finds in Hodge a distinction between what a biblical writer teaches under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and what the writer assumes as a fallible human. In Placher's judgment, this distinction provides warrant to set aside certain ethical injunctions when they demonstrably originate in fallible human assumptions and not inspired teaching. A priori, Hodge appears to make such a distinction. In order to assess this reading, I develop case studies of Hodge's biblical interpretation with respect to two pressing issues in his day—slavery and the challenge of science to the Bible—and then consider Hodge's explicit teaching on the doctrines of inspiration and Scripture. I argue that while Placher's interpretation does not sustain the weight of scrutiny, Hodge's hermeneutic evidences surprising sophistication. Based on the case studies, I note that a form of the trajectory hermeneutic may be detected in Hodge, and additionally I find points at which Hodge views the biblical text as scientifically undetermined. I conclude by offering an evaluation of Hodge's hermeneutic, which commends his approach to the challenges of science for biblical interpretation but raises questions about his method for resolving ethical challenges. Scriptural openness to homosexuality is chosen as a contemporary crucible for Hodge's hermeneutic.
Reformation "Redivivus": Synergism and the New Perspective
Authors: Yinger Kent L.
Published: May 2022

Debates over the New Perspective on Paul show a great deal of similarity to Reformation-era debates over synergism. In fact, synergism has become one of the more common charges made against the New Perspective by its critics. After documenting the charge in these modern debates, this article explores the details of synergistic controversy surrounding the Reformation. Among other things, various wings of the Reformation appear to have understood, and reacted to, synergism in quite-different ways. The article then highlights some aspects of New Perspective debates that are reminiscent of earlier theological debates over synergism and suggests ways in which greater attention to some aspects of theological interpretation might help move this part of the New Perspective debate forward.
The Inscripturated Word: The Fourth Gospel as the Continuing Speech of the Incarnate Word
Authors: Quan Keith A.
Published: May 2022

This essay attempts to sketch the contours of the multileveled understanding of the Word of God in the Fourth Gospel. On one level, Jesus Christ is the eternal, incarnate Word sent from the Father, who accomplishes the work given to him, laying down his life so that his own, those who receive him by receiving his words, might have life. Yet, on another level, the Fourth Gospel is both (1) distinct from the incarnate Word, a witness to the Word, and (2) the continuing speech of the glorified Word through which, by the Spirit, he continues to dwell with his own, who receive his words even though they are unable to "see" him, so that the Beloved Disciple and his written testimony, the Fourth Gospel, are analogous with, even while servant to, the incarnate Word. Although this sketch resembles traditional dogmatic formulations, it is fleshed out in Johannine idiom, paying attention to the themes and literary dimensions of the Fourth Gospel.
God, Greek Philosophy, and the Bible: A Response to Matthew Levering
Authors: Rowe C. Kavin
Published: May 2022

This article examines the way we think about the meaning of scriptural words and their connection to larger questions about theological knowledge. In order to do this, the article focuses not only on the way words mean but also on the lived character of ancient philosophy, the "pressure" the scriptural texts exert on our accounts of theological knowledge, and the importance of ordering modes of thought for knowledge about the world.
Jonathan Edwards, Paul, and the Priority of Holiness: A Variant Reading
Authors: Hamilton Catherine Sider
Published: May 2022

Against the background of Reformation-inspired readings of Paul as the great prophet of justification by faith and "New Perspective" challenges to this reading, Jonathan Edwards proves an interesting interpreter of Paul. He stresses neither justification–though he is a staunch Calvinist–nor the Gentiles. Rather, he finds in Paul a spokesman for the priority and beauty of holiness and for a grace that is in conception more organic, more mystical, than juridical. This paper follows Edwards, in several of his key sermons, through the letters of Paul to discover in the Puritan preacher a rich variant reading of Paul's theology. It is a reading, this paper proposes, that opens Paul for the contemporary eye in unexpected and illuminating ways, drawing attention to the often lyric character of the letters and allowing otherwise neglected themes–of light and holiness, Spirit and communion, the nature of love, and the possibility of transformation—to emerge. Jonathan Edwards, that is, proves a valuable interlocutor in the quest for a full and nuanced understanding of Paul.
Theological Interpretation and the Spiritual Sense of Scripture: Henri de Lubac's Retrieval of a Christological Hermeneutic of Presence
Authors: Storer Kevin
Published: May 2022

Despite their many similarities, a division exists between proponents of the theological interpretation of Scripture and proponents of the recovery of a spiritual sense of Scripture. This article suggests that one key difference lies in the way each group articulates the relationship of the present, risen Christ to the texts of Scripture. Those who advocate a recovery of the spiritual sense typically place more emphasis on Christ's present encounter of readers, while proponents of theological interpretation of Scripture are often quite reticent to describe such an encounter. This article will contrast the proposals for a theological interpretation of Scripture by revisionist David Tracy, postliberal Hans Frei, and evangelical Kevin Vanhoozer with the proposal to recover Scripture's spiritual sense by ressourcement theologian Henri de Lubac in order to suggest that de Lubac's recovery of the spiritual sense provides the necessary Christological framework to speak of Christ's present encounter of readers. It is suggested that de Lubac's recovery of the spiritual sense could advance the theological interpretation of Scripture to a more distinctly Christological hermeneutic.
The "Johannine Thunderbolt" in Luke 10:22: Toward an Appreciation of Luke's Narrative Sequence
Authors: Sousa Mathew E.
Published: May 2022

In contrast to a number of studies that examine Luke 10:22 from a source-critical or redactional approach, this essay strives to hear the communicative intent of Luke-Acts. Accordingly, it interprets v. 22 within its cotext and reads 10:17–24 in light of the presupposition pool assumed by the narrative and its model reader. My contention is that, when vv. 17–20 are read in light of the apocalyptic literature of Second Temple Judaism, the result is a new figuration of meaning that suggests an intimate relation between Jesus and God. This figuration of meaning then finds its confirmation and explication in the ensuing revelatory discourse of vv. 21–24. It is not only Jesus' dramatic speech in vv. 21–22, then, that contributes to the development of Jesus' identity. The cohesive sequence of 10:17–24 itself, in concert with Jesus' speech, plays a crucial role. It is only when both facets of Luke's narrative are appreciated that Luke's portrait of Jesus and, thereby, his presentation of God, fully emerge.
"Present and Accommodated For": Calvin's God on Mount Sinai
Authors: Kibbe Michael H.
Published: May 2022

This essay attempts to bring together John Calvin's doctrine of accomodation (i.e., that God accommodates, or adjusts, himself to human capacity in order to reveal himself to us) and the theophany narratives of Exod 19-34. First, it argues that the doctrine of accommodation may shed light on some of the perennial difficulties of the theophany texts, specifically the general ambiguity of Exod 19-20 and the mysterious claim that the elders "saw the God of Israel" in Exod 24:10. Second, it argues that those texts may nuance the doctrine of accommodation so as to enable a response to some of its critics, particularly regarding the question of differentiating between God in se and God quoad nos. The doctrine of accommodation is not derived from Exod 19–34 in the way that some envision the movement from exegesis to theology. It is rather a tool brought to the text, albeit one whose appropriateness is demonstrated by its exegetical results. This essay contends that a dialogue between Calvin's doctrine of accommodation and the Sinai narratives will be profitable for our understanding of both, and that Calvin's doctrine is a valuable, though not infallible, tool for those wishing to speak well of God on the basis of Scripture.
Mission, Hermeneutics, and the Local Church
Authors: Rynkiewich Michael A.
Published: May 2022

An earlier generation of missionaries set as their goal the development of independent churches: self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing. Now it is becoming clear that, to be independent, a church should also be self-theologizing. I argue here that, because a church is established in a particular location, the people must look to their own hermeneutical principles in order to interpret Scripture in that context. As their own theological project develops, although they may be in conversation with the universal church, they will establish their own distinctives. Then they will be in a position to continue the theological discourse of the age as well as engage the long tradition of the church. How might their hermeneutical practices differ from the practices that Europe and America have developed? As a beginning, I suggest that we consider the impact of orality, colonization, cultural diversity, and social organization on hermeneutics.
Christ in All the Scriptures? The Challenge of Reading the Old Testament as Christian Scripture
Authors: Moberly R. W. L.
Published: May 2022

The issue of responsible Christian reading of Israel's Scriptures as the OT is posed in relation to the characteristic modern historical-critical erosion of traditional Christian approaches informed by Luke 24:25–27. It is argued that many of the insights of modern historical criticism are sound and should be retained, despite widespread resistance or ignorance. Two case studies in support of this are (1) an examination of renewed attempts to understand Gen 3:15 as a protevangelium and (2) Michael Drosnin's Bible Code. However, an appreciation of the possibilities afforded by our contemporary "postmodern" situation enables us to see that historical criticism may sometimes need to take a more modest role in biblical interpretation; recognition of the many recontextualizations of the biblical text and the varying contexts, purposes, and perspectives of interpreters should change the shape of the interpretive debate. In this light, it is suggested that classic premodern Christian interpretation of the OT, as expounded by Henri de Lubac, can again become a real resource for understanding. Finally, a brief study of Isa 2 illustrates how a renewed approach to the OT in the light of Christ might look in practice.
Can Narrative Criticism Recover the Theological Unity of Scripture?
Authors: Hays Richard B.
Published: May 2022

It has become increasingly difficult to talk about the unity of Scripture. Under the impact of modernist historical criticism, the Bible has seemed to fall apart into a cacophony of disparate voices. More recently, however, it has sometimes been suggested that narrative criticism might help us recover the unity of Scripture. But narrative criticism, taken by itself, cannot solve the problem of canonical unity. Instead, following the lead of the "Nine Theses" of the Scripture Project, this essay explores the claim that Scripture can be understood in light of the church's rule of faith as a complex but coherent dramatic narrative. If so, the practice of narrative criticism is necessary, though not in itself sufficient, to articulate the elusive unity of the biblical witness. This proposal is exemplified through a reading of the story of Jesus as sketched in Hebrews, Paul, Matthew, and John. Attention to the narrative pattern found in these four authors demonstrates a surprising coherence in their understanding of the purpose and effect of Jesus' death. Specifically, all four authors narrate Jesus' death on the cross as an act of radical faithfulness to God's redemptive purpose; further, in each of the four authors, this act of faithfulness provides a normative paradigm for the ongoing narratively shaped identity of all who trust in Jesus and find themselves reconciled to God through him.
The Trinitarian Shape of πίστις: A Theological Exegesis of Galatians
Authors: Congdon David W.
Published: May 2022

This article is a theological contribution to the debate over the contested Pauline expression πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. I begin by assessing Karl Barth's christological conception of faith in his Church Dogmatics, focusing on the themes of history, obedience, and imitation. Except for a significant passage in CD 2/2, Barth consistently employs the objective genitive, but his christocentric pisteology enables it to do the same work accomplished by the subjective genitive argued for by Richard Hays. Barth, however, does not connect his trinitarian theology to the text of Galatians, and Hays does not give sufficient attention to the life of Christ or to the agency of the Spirit. In the bulk of the paper, therefore, I explore the missional-trinitarian shape of faith through a theological exegesis of Galatians in order to supplement the insights of Barth and Hays. I argue that Paul presents a missional narrative in which Father, Son, and Spirit are each involved in actualizing the faith of the community. We can thus speak of the faithfulness of the Father, the faith of the Son, and the faith-producing Holy Spirit. A trinitarian interpretation of Galatians is able to ground the distinction between the objective and subjective dimensions of faith in the mission of the triune God.
The Nondivisive Difference of Election: A Reading of Romans 9–11
Authors: Ticciati Susannah
Published: May 2022

This article reads Rom 9–11 as an articulation of the "divine difference" (or the difference between God and creation). It argues that the distinction between Israel and the nations made by God's election of Israel is precisely a manifestation of the divine difference within creation. It shows, further, that this sort of reading is able to counter anti-Jewish appropriation of Paul, arguing that the binary logic of anti-Judaism is fundamentally at odds with the logic of Paul's nondivisive difference between Israel and the nations.
Prosopological Exegesis in Cyprian's "De opere et eleemosynis"
Authors: Downs David J.
Published: May 2022

Cyprian of Carthage's treatise De opere et eleemosynis represents an important contribution to the emerging early Christian discourse about the redemptive value of almsgiving. Throughout the treatise, Cyprian draws on the language of Scripture in order to develop his claim that almsgiving purges the postbaptismal sins of the donor. This article demonstrates Cyprian's use of the hermeneutical strategy known as "prosopological exegesis" in De opere et eleemosynis. Prosopological exegesis is a literary and grammatical method of interpretation that discerns the identity of speakers, or πρóσωπα, in inspired texts. This interpretive practice allows Cyprian to name the Holy Spirit as the "speaker" of certain biblical texts (e.g., Prov 16:6 and Sir 3:30 in Eleem. 2), thus grounding Cyprian's ethical exhortation in divine speech. Moreover, Cyprian frames the Holy Spirit as delivering, through Scripture, a declarative speech act that supports both Cyprian's theological assertion that almsgiving and acts of mercy alleviate postbaptismal sin and Cyprian's paraenetic activity of encouraging eleemosyna. Therefore, the speech of the Holy Spirit in De opere et eleemosynis authorizes both the message and the messenger.
Rethinking "History" for Theological Interpretation
Authors: Green Joel B.
Published: May 2022

In recent years, theological interpretation of Christian Scripture has often been distinguished by its wholesale antipathy toward history and/or to historical criticism. Working with a typology of different forms of "historical criticism," this essay urges (1) that historical criticism understood as reconstruction of "what really happened" and/or historical criticism that assumes the necessary segregation of "facts" from "faith" is inimical to theological interpretation; (2) that this form of historical criticism is increasingly difficult to support in light of contemporary work in the philosophy of history; and (3) that contemporary theological interpretation is dependent on expressions of historical criticism concerned with the historical situation within which the biblical materials were generated, including the sociocultural conventions they take for granted.
The Interpretation of John 10:30 in the Third Century: Antimonarchian Polemics and the Rise of Grammatical Reading Techniques
Authors: DelCogliano Mark
Published: May 2022

This study provides an exhaustive survey of the exegesis of John 10:30 in the third century, a verse whose meaning was contested between monarchians (such as Noetus of Smyrna and Callistus of Rome) and antimonarchians (such as Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Novatian). It argues that in the course of this debate Greco-Roman grammatical reading techniques came to function as the criteria for superior exegesis. Although monarchians were not ignorant of grammatical reading techniques, anti-monarchians employed a particular selection of these techniques with such skill that their exegesis of John 10:30 became standard by the middle of the third century, rendering the monarchian interpretation of the same verse obsolete. Mid-third-century authors such as Cyprian, Origen, and Dionysius of Rome adopted the antimonarchian interpretation without question, showing the success of the grammatical exegetical methods of their predecessors.
The Church as Israel and Israel as the Church: An Examination of Karl Barth's Exegesis of Romans 9:1–5 in "The Epistle to the Romans" and "Church Dogmatics" 2/2
Authors: Hill Wesley A.
Published: May 2022

The prefaces to Karl Barth's Epistle to the Romans highlight Barth's desire for his commentary to be judged as a genuine piece of biblical interpretation. Likewise, in the preface to Church Dogmatics 2/2, Barth suggests that the viability of his reworking of the Reformed doctrine of election stands or falls on its strength as a reading of Scripture. Recent interpreters of Barth have rightly attempted to take seriously Barth's desire to be assessed as a biblical interpreter and have begun to engage his theological exegesis accordingly. Building on that work and pressing beyond it to look at a specific textual test case, this article (1) sketches Barth's reading of Rom 9:1–5 in The Epistle to the Romans, (2) compares the reading there to the later treatment of this text in the Church Dogmatics 2/2, and (3) suggests a model for understanding Barth's exegetical efforts that avoids both dismissing him as an "eisegete" as well as unqualifiedly praising his interpretive efforts. The concept of the "double agency" of biblical text and theological interpreter offers a heuristic model for plotting Barth's widely differing readings of Rom 9:1–5 on a spectrum of divergent realizations of the semantic potential of the biblical text. In the Romans commentary, the agency of the interpreter threatens to overwhelm that pf the text, while in the Church Dogmatics the agency of the biblical text exerts more obvious influence as Barth attempts to wrestle seriously with Paul's references to Israel in their historical particularity.
Biblical Criticism and Religious Belief
Authors: Moberly R. W. L.
Published: May 2022

Moberly discusses John Barton's Nature of Biblical Criticism and takes issue with Barton's portrayal of theological interpretation as hostile to the values of biblical criticism. After showing how Barton misrepresents theological interpretation, not least because of a failure to do justice to the changing frames of reference of critical scholarship, Moberly extends the discussion to include the preunderstandings that interpreters inevitably bring to the Bible in ways analogous to how one reads a classic; the way in which appreciation of deep literature relates to personal maturity; and the way in which theological dogma, rightly understood, can make truer one's perception of reality.
A Looser "Canon"? Relating William Abraham's "Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology" to Biblical Interpretation
Authors: Treier Daniel J.
Published: May 2022

In his important book, William Abraham criticizes "a long-standing misinterpretation of ecclesial canons as epistemic criteria." He also defines "canon" in such a way that Scripture is not the canon but rather one entity in a network of "materials, persons, and practices officially or semi-officially identified and set apart as a means of grace and salvation by the Christian community." This paper discerns and evaluates the entailments of Abraham's viewpoint for biblical interpretation. Although Abraham's approach offers the opportunity to explore a more classic and even Eastern Orthodox perspective, biblical and historical considerations should moderate his critique of the Western heritage. His theological emphasis on means of grace is a helpful corrective. Yet we must avoid false dichotomies between soteriology and epistemology: Regulating the church's dogmatic and ethical teaching is a crucial way in which biblical texts mediate grace. A brief example from Eccl 12:9–14 enables us to see more clearly what it means to read Scripture "canonically": one of Scripture's gracious functions is goading us to read soteriologically, yet we do so in light of the pressure exerted by the received wisdom teaching that is passed on to us through biblical texts.
2 Corinthians 3:18 and Its Implications for "Theosis"
Authors: Litwa M. David
Published: May 2022

This article argues that Paul's teaching in 2 Cor 3:18 presents a Christian version of theosis. After a discussion of the interpretive issues relevant to 2 Cor 3:18 and a brief presentation of Paul's soteriology of the "image," the article proceeds to argue that the "image" in 3:18 is both "anthropological" and "theological." The article then distinguishes Paul's vision of Christian theosis from the understanding of deification as "fusion." Finally, it describes Paul's view of the divine life for believers.
In the Glory of His Father: Intertextuality and the Apocalyptic Son of Man in the Gospel of Mark
Authors: Leim Joshua E.
Published: May 2022

In this article, I explore the Gospel of Mark's intricate interweaving of various OT texts into the three apocalyptic Son of Man passages (8:38; 13:24–32; 14:62) with a view toward how those passages contribute to the narrative's overall depiction of Jesus as the Son of God. I argue that through its complex appropriation of Israel's Scriptures, one of the narrative's most integral claims is that Jesus is the filial embodiment of Yhwh, and that scholarly accounts of the Son of Man as Yhwh's eschatological "agent" inappropriately flatten Mark's scripturally shaped narrative of Jesus. In the conclusion, I attempt to navigate the unity and distinction of the Father and the Son as set forth in Mark's narrative.
The Rule of Faith: Tracing Its Origins
Authors: Bokedal Tomas
Published: May 2022

The expression Rule of Faith was used from early on to designate the basic theology of the church—the sum content of "apostolic" teaching—as set down in Scripture, (pre)baptismal confession, and apostolic teaching patterns. Based on early Christological formularies and two- or three-limbed Christian confessions to the One God (cf. 1 Cor 8:6; Matt 28:19; 1 Clem. 46:6; Irenaeus, Epid. 6), this language emerged as a first- and second-century response to questions raised both within and outside of the Christian communities. With particular focus on Irenaeus (especially Haer. I, 10.1), but also on Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, this article seeks to reflect on the origins of the Rule of Faith (regula fidei). The existence of the Rule is traced back to the apostolic period through close association with baptism and prebaptismal teaching patterns (use of traditional Christ-creed material, the Pauline Heis-Theos profession, and dyadic or triadic structuring of the faith). Particular attention is given to pre-Irenaean use of the term canon, Irenaeus's combination of onemembered, two-membered, and three-membered confessions, and to the close relationship between the Rule of Faith and Scripture in Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement. Together, these features of the regula fidei constitute a textual matrix within which proto-orthodox Christian hermeneutics by and large operated. Some structural similarities between the scribal nomina sacra practice and the Rule-of-Faith-pattern are noticed.
"Redemption-Acquisition": The Marriage of Ruth as a Theological Commentary on Yahweh and Yahweh's People
Authors: Embry Brad
Published: May 2022

The deliberations between Boaz and the unnamed redeemer in Ruth 4 have long been interpreted almost exclusively through the lens of social customs from Lev 25 (kinsman redeemer) and Deut 25 (levirate marriage). This article suggests that scholarship has missed an important theological layer to these deliberations. This theological element is expressed through the coordination of two terms, redeem and acquire, in Ruth 4:4–5. This article suggests that precedent for the combination of these two terms is not established by the social custom of the kinsman redeemer in Lev 25 but rather by the adoption of a theological reflection on the exodus account from Exod 15, and should be set alongside other theological reflections of the exodus account found in Ps 74, Deut 32, and Isa 11. This theological element explains the curious combination of redeem and acquire in Ruth 4 and provides a new way of reading the role that the story of Ruth might play in its compositional setting and in the broader biblical canon, including the NT.
Salvation History in Galatians? A Response to Bruce W. Longenecker and Jason Maston
Authors: DE BOER MARTINUS C.
Published: May 2022

Bruce W. Longenecker and Jaston Maston both propose that Paul's letter to the Galatians contains salvation history but they disagree markedly about its nature. Given the ambiguity of Paul's language, particularly in his use of the first-person plural (whether as pronoun or as verbal suffix), Longenecker's proposal represents a possible reading of Paul's letter. Questions may, however, be raised about Longenecker's exegesis of passages used to support the proposal. Maston's proposal that the period of the law was a period of Unheil makes his use of the term salvation history to describe this period highly problematic. Questions may also be raised with respect to the exegesis of specific texts. Given his rhetorical agenda, the Paul of Galatians has no interest or stake whatsoever in explicitly (or even implicitly) attributing the origin of the law to God. For the same reason, he is also not interested in articulating a notion or theory of salvation history with respect to the people of the law, Israel. That issue falls beyond the purview of Paul's argument in Galatians.
“It Has Been Brought to Completion”: Leviticus 19:18 as Christological Witness in Galatians 5:14
Authors: SUH MICHAEL K. W.
Published: May 2022

Paul's quotation of Lev 19:18 in Gal 5:14 is a curious appeal to the law at this point in the letter. Furthermore, his curious use of the perfect-passive verb πεπλήρωται to signal his citation of the Jewish Scriptures must be fully accounted for in order to understand Paul's view of the Torah in this section of Galatians. I will show that an intertextual reading of Gal 5:14 and Lev 19:18 can settle some of the interpretive issues in a coherent and satisfactory way. The hypothesis I propose is that Paul's quotation of Lev 19:18 resonates with the larger context of Lev 19, a text that asserts that the commandments of God are vitally connected with Yhwh himself. This resonance, in dialogue with the context of Gal 5:14, creates an intertextual space, whereby the identity of Jesus described by Paul in Galatians is parallel to the identity of Yhwh described in Leviticus. Therefore, Paul's use of πληρόω in Gal 5:14, followed by his citation of Lev 19:18, is his method of using Scripture as a dramatic witness to the person of Jesus Christ.
Adult Second Language Learners' Acquisition of Word Order and Case Markers in Korean
Authors: Ha Kyoungmi , Choi Soonja
Published: May 2022

This study examined the comprehension of English-speaking learners' word order with case markers in Korean using a "matching sentences to movies" method. Specifically, we tested how learners with different proficiencies identify agent/patient roles in various types of Korean sentences: 1) SOV word order with subject and object markers, 2) SOV word order with subject markers, 3) OSV word order with subject and object markers, and 4) OSV word order with subject markers. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that intermediate-level learners (but not beginning-level learners) would use case markers as cues to identify grammatical relations in sentence comprehension regardless of L1 similarity (i.e., word order and presence/absence of case markers). Ten beginning-level learners, and ten intermediate-level learners as well as ten native speakers of Korean participated in the study. The results indicate that native-like comprehension of OSV with case markers is attainable with intermediate proficiency regardless of L1 similarity.
Developing Content Based Curriculum: Aimed Toward Superior Level of Proficiency
Authors: Noji Francis , Yuen Soo-ah Kim
Published: May 2022

A great number of students in advanced-level college second-language classrooms are heritage language speakers who learned their heritage language through interaction with their families and heritage communities. Although these heritage language speakers have a good functional ability in their heritage language, they have little confidence in their overall heritage language ability, especially in writing and reading. This lack of confidence stems from not having had many opportunities to expand the range of topics they can discuss which then limits their range of vocabulary as well as range of interaction with different levels of language use. This lack of opportunities makes it difficult to develop these ACTFL advancedlevel heritage language speakers into superior-level speakers. This paper proposes that a content-based language development framework which was developed for a community college study abroad program can provide the necessary language opportunities that might effectively facilitate the development of the range of language necessary to move the heritage language speaker to the ACFL superior level.
Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Advanced KFL Learners: Using Vocabulary Journal Assignment
Authors: Byon Andrew Sangpil
Published: May 2022

This study is an exploratory attempt to investigate what kinds of vocabulary learning strategies Advanced KFL students employ while engaged in a semester-long journal writing assignment. The assignment refers to a semester-long independent activity where each student is asked to prepare and maintain an individual vocabulary journal. In the journal, students are asked to record new words and to keep track of any strategy they employ to study target vocabulary. The study reports that a vocabulary journal writing assignment can be an effective tool to (i) assess and monitor students' L2 vocabulary learning processes, (ii) help them to be more autonomous in their vocabulary learning, and (iii) be aware of their learning process. However, the data illustrate that while some KFL students took active roles by employing diverse vocabulary learning strategies, most students still continued to rely heavily on a limited number of rote strategies.
When Keeping Up Means Falling Behind: The Dear Price of Stressing “Correct” Orthography in Teaching Korean as a Heritage Language
Authors: Kim Soohee
Published: May 2022

Spelling and spacing in Korean pose great difficulty to learners, those who are acquiring Korean as a foreign or heritage language and native speakers alike. Fanned by its morphophonemic foundation turning increasingly phonetic in common practice and by exceptions to the rules, the wildfire of orthography has swiftly fallen into an uncontainable convention whereby mastery is practically unattainable. The highly technical nature of the guidelines, constant minor adjustments, and conflicting principles are all culpable. In this paper, I identify and detail major problematic factors (e.g., inconsistencies in rules, nominal and verbal compounds, dependent nouns and verbal endings) to demonstrate how unrealistic a goal it is to become “proficient” under the current orthographic system. Noting the many grammar professionals dispatched to train weekend school teachers in the U.S. mainly on spelling conventions, I suggest that the current system be tidied up and made accessible and that more resources be available for and attention paid to content in the teaching of heritage learners.
The Emergent Construction of Interpersonal Closeness and Distance in Problem-Solution Television Programs
Authors: Strauss Susan , Youn Jhu Hyoung
Published: May 2022

In this paper, we analyze the subtle and seemingly imperceptible shifts in interactional stance in two episodes of the Korean television program wuli aika tallaceysseyo² 'Our Child Has Changed.' Specifically, we focus on three sentence-ending suffixes: the polite suffix –yo, the deferential suffix –(su) pnita, and the declarative suffix –ta. We appeal to Goffman's (1981) model of participation framework as a guide for the analysis of the discourse in this pecific genre of media. Our discussion centers dually on the discourse of the expert psychologists called into the show to provide their opinions and recommendations for the family, and on the discourse of the unseen narrators. Throughout the paper, we elucidate the emergent construction of interpersonal closeness and distance, indexed variably by –yo, –(su) pnita, and –ta. This study is a portion of a larger, on-going study on stance and interaction in Korean media discourse.