Tyler Traylor | London School of Theology (original) (raw)
Tyler Traylor is a Pastoral Resident at The Bridge Church in Lakewood, CO. He has an MA from the London School of Theology in the Aspects and Implications of Biblical Interpretation. He is interested in studying the intersection between Biblical Hermeneutics, Popular Culture, and Mass Media.
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Papers by Tyler Traylor
The recent popularity of Natural Language Processing tools, such as Open AI's Chat GPT, has raise... more The recent popularity of Natural Language Processing tools, such as Open AI's Chat GPT, has raised popular awareness of the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on digital theology. That said, NLP tools are already ubiquitous among industries which meaningfully engage with digital text, including religious communities. As these tools continue to advance in
Attempts to utilize limited historical data in order to reconstruct a detailed Sitz im Leben of t... more Attempts to utilize limited historical data in order to reconstruct a detailed Sitz im Leben of the post-secession Johannine Community have failed to produce conclusive results. Anderson and Culpepper, in their work Communities in Dispute, compiled and evaluated top critical opinion regarding the historical setting of the Johannine texts and concluded that an accurately detailed reconstruction remains a distant goal. In response to this, critics such as Neufeld, in his work Reconceiving Texts as Speech Acts: An Analysis of 1 John, has proposed that alternative methodologies must be considered in an attempt to effectively interact with the texts as products of historical context. Following Philip Esler’s work Galatians, Social Identity Theory has proved itself as a viable framework for engaging biblical texts. This paper considers the intergroup dynamic of the Johannine and Antichrist communities through the framework of Social Identity Theory in order to propose that the Johannine community’s methodology for maintaining positive distinctiveness is a prioritization of ingroup positive categories above outgroup
Conference Presentations by Tyler Traylor
Living as a good steward of the created order seems to be an obvious imperative throughout the Ch... more Living as a good steward of the created order seems to be an obvious imperative throughout the Christian Scriptures and Church tradition. As western culture continues to hitch its horse to new strands of ecologically-oriented thought, the tendency for Christian scholarship (especially in our polarized landscape) is to either buy in wholesale to the trends or to out right reject them. Of course, Christian scholarship must continue to critically engage with the claims of ecophilosophy and the material practices which they encourage in order to helpfully educate in our own context. Although this essay could take many different angles as points of engagement, it will take a decidedly hermeneutic perspective. This essay argues that ecophilosophy’s shift away from the culture/nature dualism and critical stance towards anthropocentrism has obfuscated the hierarchy of human voices over the ‘voices’ of the created order and that a subsequent reframing of Ecological Hermeneutics as an object-oriented, rather than reader-oriented, method of interpretation is necessary.
Johannine dualism has been written into the ethical framework of 1 John and, as a result, has pro... more Johannine dualism has been written into the ethical framework of 1 John and, as a result, has produced daunting exhortations which appear to demand sinlessness from the Christian. Many have put forth helpful responses to this issue, but these responses tend to either cheapen the message or jump through too many theological hoops to be considered an honest handling of the text. That said, alternative interpretive methodologies must be considered in an attempt to engage this ethical dilemma. Following Philip Esler’s work Galatians, Social Identity Theory has proven itself as a viable heuristic tool for engaging biblical texts. This essay begins by exploring key elements of Social Identity Theory as an interpretive framework. Social Identity Theory is then verified as a useful tool in the study of 1 John. Finally and most pertinently, this essay utilizes Social Identity Theory to propose that the author of 1 John is operating under a framework of prototypicality when discussing the sinlessness of the ingroup. In doing so, the author is ultimately presenting the doctrine of sinlessness as a prototypical ideal rather than being grounded in the real.
The recent popularity of Natural Language Processing tools, such as Open AI's Chat GPT, has raise... more The recent popularity of Natural Language Processing tools, such as Open AI's Chat GPT, has raised popular awareness of the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on digital theology. That said, NLP tools are already ubiquitous among industries which meaningfully engage with digital text, including religious communities. As these tools continue to advance in
Attempts to utilize limited historical data in order to reconstruct a detailed Sitz im Leben of t... more Attempts to utilize limited historical data in order to reconstruct a detailed Sitz im Leben of the post-secession Johannine Community have failed to produce conclusive results. Anderson and Culpepper, in their work Communities in Dispute, compiled and evaluated top critical opinion regarding the historical setting of the Johannine texts and concluded that an accurately detailed reconstruction remains a distant goal. In response to this, critics such as Neufeld, in his work Reconceiving Texts as Speech Acts: An Analysis of 1 John, has proposed that alternative methodologies must be considered in an attempt to effectively interact with the texts as products of historical context. Following Philip Esler’s work Galatians, Social Identity Theory has proved itself as a viable framework for engaging biblical texts. This paper considers the intergroup dynamic of the Johannine and Antichrist communities through the framework of Social Identity Theory in order to propose that the Johannine community’s methodology for maintaining positive distinctiveness is a prioritization of ingroup positive categories above outgroup
Living as a good steward of the created order seems to be an obvious imperative throughout the Ch... more Living as a good steward of the created order seems to be an obvious imperative throughout the Christian Scriptures and Church tradition. As western culture continues to hitch its horse to new strands of ecologically-oriented thought, the tendency for Christian scholarship (especially in our polarized landscape) is to either buy in wholesale to the trends or to out right reject them. Of course, Christian scholarship must continue to critically engage with the claims of ecophilosophy and the material practices which they encourage in order to helpfully educate in our own context. Although this essay could take many different angles as points of engagement, it will take a decidedly hermeneutic perspective. This essay argues that ecophilosophy’s shift away from the culture/nature dualism and critical stance towards anthropocentrism has obfuscated the hierarchy of human voices over the ‘voices’ of the created order and that a subsequent reframing of Ecological Hermeneutics as an object-oriented, rather than reader-oriented, method of interpretation is necessary.
Johannine dualism has been written into the ethical framework of 1 John and, as a result, has pro... more Johannine dualism has been written into the ethical framework of 1 John and, as a result, has produced daunting exhortations which appear to demand sinlessness from the Christian. Many have put forth helpful responses to this issue, but these responses tend to either cheapen the message or jump through too many theological hoops to be considered an honest handling of the text. That said, alternative interpretive methodologies must be considered in an attempt to engage this ethical dilemma. Following Philip Esler’s work Galatians, Social Identity Theory has proven itself as a viable heuristic tool for engaging biblical texts. This essay begins by exploring key elements of Social Identity Theory as an interpretive framework. Social Identity Theory is then verified as a useful tool in the study of 1 John. Finally and most pertinently, this essay utilizes Social Identity Theory to propose that the author of 1 John is operating under a framework of prototypicality when discussing the sinlessness of the ingroup. In doing so, the author is ultimately presenting the doctrine of sinlessness as a prototypical ideal rather than being grounded in the real.