Bruno J Clifton | University of Oxford (original) (raw)
Books by Bruno J Clifton
Peer-reviewed articles by Bruno J Clifton
The Biblical Annals
Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a “dependent worker” or “client” ba... more Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a “dependent worker” or “client” based on the thought that household membership can be gained through work provided to the household. Mention of household membership tests the identity of the sojourner in the ancient world as stranger or foreigner; a social category listed with widows and orphans—whose status is also defined by the household— as deserving of protection. Given its centrality as a basic social unit in the ancient Near East, we might expect that purchase in a household would grant a status that dissolves the social distance and attendant consequences (fragility of income, lack of patrimony, object of suspicion) thought to be borne by גרים. In what sense, then, is a “dependent worker” who secures membership in the household a גר ? This article reconsiders how distant a person must be from the society within which he resides to make him a ,גר shifting the semantic emphasis of this term away from origin and tow...
Discerning the Literal Sense: Bringing together Biblical Scholarship and Dogmatic Theology
Nova et Vetera, 2021
The so-called “law of the rebellious son” in Deut 21:18–21 has drawn many different interpretatio... more The so-called “law of the rebellious son” in Deut 21:18–21 has drawn many different interpretations. The excessive nature of the punishment (stoning to death) for a son not listening to his parents is, at the very least, striking. Moreover, it is an affair in which the community gets involved, learning the story from the parents (v20) and performing the penalty in public (v21): at the gate of ‘his city’ (v19–20). The law’s rationale indicates how much
of a threat the son’s behaviour is to society: to the land’s purity and the people’s own conscience. This challenging dynamic begs the question, what constitutes filial disobedience such that it deserves a public capital penalty? Why does everyone get involved? The legal process shows that the son’s behaviour is more than his or his family’s business: it concerns
the nation. But if this law is read as also applying to the nation, such communal interest in the extreme punishment takes on a further significance. If the whole of Israel is seen as the stubborn and rebellious son, then it is the nation that faces the threat of destruction for its
disobedience. Indeed, allusions to the law in two later biblical texts have been made to strengthen references to the fall of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms (Jer 5; Ps 78). A collective reading, suggested by the Deuteronomic context, accommodates the severity of the punishment as a warning of the nation’s destiny.
Other articles by Bruno J Clifton
Recent archaeological and anthropological research into the Ancient Near East has seemingly put t... more Recent archaeological and anthropological research into the Ancient Near East has seemingly put the history of the land at odds with the history according to the bible. For some, this has led to a scepticism about the place of bible as a historical source, draining the text of its inspirational or divine quality. For others, such a situation has provoked suspicion about the value of archaeology and related sciences for understanding the bible and their relevance for questions of biblical theology. The Bible as a guarantor of 'truth' in respect of a 'transcendental reality' confronts a 'terrestrial reality' discoverable through human reason that seems to be incompatible with the Bible's claims. In order to ask theological questions, are we pressed to state a preference for the authority of the text over the evidence out of the ground? In this context, how are we to understand biblical inspiration? It seems to me that the science of theology (Aquinas Summa Th. 1a, 1, 2) has not adequately addressed this crux and instead has preferred to gloss over data from these other sciences when thinking about themes such as biblical authority and divine authorship.
Reviews by Bruno J Clifton
THE GALILEAN WONDERWORKER: REASSESSING JESUS’ REPUTATION FOR HEALING AND EXORCISM by Ian G.Wallis, Cascade Books, Eugene, OR, 2020, pp. xxi + 248, £23.00, pbk
New Blackfriars, Jun 21, 2021
SAUL, BENJAMIN, AND THE EMERGENCE OF MONARCHY IN ISRAEL: BIBLICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES edited by Joachim J.Krause, OmerSergi, and KristinWeingart, [Ancient Israel and Its Literature], SBL Press, Atlanta, 2020, pp. xii + 233, £28.00, pbk
New Blackfriars, Aug 26, 2022
Is Joshua about Covenant?
Expository times/The expository times, 2024
The Bible and the Priesthood: Priestly Participation in the One Sacrifice for Sins by Anthony Giambrone OP, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022, pp. xxi + 297, $22.99, pbk
New Blackfriars, Apr 24, 2024
THE BIBLE AND BAPTISM: THE FOUNTAIN OF SALVATION by IsaacAugustine Morales, OP, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022, pp. xxv + 230, $22.99, pbk
New Blackfriars, 2023
Joshua: An Introduction and Study Guide: Crossing Divides. By J. Gordon McConville
Journal of Theological Studies, 2018
New Blackfriars, 2009
... Institute in Washington, DC, and editor of the North American edition of Communio: Internatio... more ... Institute in Washington, DC, and editor of the North American edition of Communio: International Catholic Review, a federation of journals in thir-teen countries founded in Europe in 1972 by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, Joseph Ratzinger, and others ...
Book Chapters by Bruno J Clifton
Sisera and Jael
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Landscapes and Memories
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Postscript
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Identity
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Abimelech and Jephthah
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Gibeah and The Levite
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Samson and the Timnites
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Papers by Bruno J Clifton
The Biblical Annals, May 12, 2023
Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a "dependent worker" or "client" ... more Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a "dependent worker" or "client" based on the thought that household membership can be gained through work provided to the household. Mention of household membership tests the identity of the sojourner in the ancient world as stranger or foreigner; a social category listed with widows and orphans-whose status is also defined by the household-as deserving of protection. Given its centrality as a basic social unit in the ancient Near East, we might expect that purchase in a household would grant a status that dissolves the social distance and attendant consequences (fragility of income, lack of patrimony, object of suspicion) thought to be borne by .גרים In what sense, then, is a "dependent worker" who secures membership in the household a ?גר This article reconsiders how distant a person must be from the society within which he resides to make him a ,גר shifting the semantic emphasis of this term away from origin and towards social integration.
The Biblical Annals
Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a “dependent worker” or “client” ba... more Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a “dependent worker” or “client” based on the thought that household membership can be gained through work provided to the household. Mention of household membership tests the identity of the sojourner in the ancient world as stranger or foreigner; a social category listed with widows and orphans—whose status is also defined by the household— as deserving of protection. Given its centrality as a basic social unit in the ancient Near East, we might expect that purchase in a household would grant a status that dissolves the social distance and attendant consequences (fragility of income, lack of patrimony, object of suspicion) thought to be borne by גרים. In what sense, then, is a “dependent worker” who secures membership in the household a גר ? This article reconsiders how distant a person must be from the society within which he resides to make him a ,גר shifting the semantic emphasis of this term away from origin and tow...
Discerning the Literal Sense: Bringing together Biblical Scholarship and Dogmatic Theology
Nova et Vetera, 2021
The so-called “law of the rebellious son” in Deut 21:18–21 has drawn many different interpretatio... more The so-called “law of the rebellious son” in Deut 21:18–21 has drawn many different interpretations. The excessive nature of the punishment (stoning to death) for a son not listening to his parents is, at the very least, striking. Moreover, it is an affair in which the community gets involved, learning the story from the parents (v20) and performing the penalty in public (v21): at the gate of ‘his city’ (v19–20). The law’s rationale indicates how much
of a threat the son’s behaviour is to society: to the land’s purity and the people’s own conscience. This challenging dynamic begs the question, what constitutes filial disobedience such that it deserves a public capital penalty? Why does everyone get involved? The legal process shows that the son’s behaviour is more than his or his family’s business: it concerns
the nation. But if this law is read as also applying to the nation, such communal interest in the extreme punishment takes on a further significance. If the whole of Israel is seen as the stubborn and rebellious son, then it is the nation that faces the threat of destruction for its
disobedience. Indeed, allusions to the law in two later biblical texts have been made to strengthen references to the fall of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms (Jer 5; Ps 78). A collective reading, suggested by the Deuteronomic context, accommodates the severity of the punishment as a warning of the nation’s destiny.
Recent archaeological and anthropological research into the Ancient Near East has seemingly put t... more Recent archaeological and anthropological research into the Ancient Near East has seemingly put the history of the land at odds with the history according to the bible. For some, this has led to a scepticism about the place of bible as a historical source, draining the text of its inspirational or divine quality. For others, such a situation has provoked suspicion about the value of archaeology and related sciences for understanding the bible and their relevance for questions of biblical theology. The Bible as a guarantor of 'truth' in respect of a 'transcendental reality' confronts a 'terrestrial reality' discoverable through human reason that seems to be incompatible with the Bible's claims. In order to ask theological questions, are we pressed to state a preference for the authority of the text over the evidence out of the ground? In this context, how are we to understand biblical inspiration? It seems to me that the science of theology (Aquinas Summa Th. 1a, 1, 2) has not adequately addressed this crux and instead has preferred to gloss over data from these other sciences when thinking about themes such as biblical authority and divine authorship.
THE GALILEAN WONDERWORKER: REASSESSING JESUS’ REPUTATION FOR HEALING AND EXORCISM by Ian G.Wallis, Cascade Books, Eugene, OR, 2020, pp. xxi + 248, £23.00, pbk
New Blackfriars, Jun 21, 2021
SAUL, BENJAMIN, AND THE EMERGENCE OF MONARCHY IN ISRAEL: BIBLICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES edited by Joachim J.Krause, OmerSergi, and KristinWeingart, [Ancient Israel and Its Literature], SBL Press, Atlanta, 2020, pp. xii + 233, £28.00, pbk
New Blackfriars, Aug 26, 2022
Is Joshua about Covenant?
Expository times/The expository times, 2024
The Bible and the Priesthood: Priestly Participation in the One Sacrifice for Sins by Anthony Giambrone OP, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022, pp. xxi + 297, $22.99, pbk
New Blackfriars, Apr 24, 2024
THE BIBLE AND BAPTISM: THE FOUNTAIN OF SALVATION by IsaacAugustine Morales, OP, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022, pp. xxv + 230, $22.99, pbk
New Blackfriars, 2023
Joshua: An Introduction and Study Guide: Crossing Divides. By J. Gordon McConville
Journal of Theological Studies, 2018
New Blackfriars, 2009
... Institute in Washington, DC, and editor of the North American edition of Communio: Internatio... more ... Institute in Washington, DC, and editor of the North American edition of Communio: International Catholic Review, a federation of journals in thir-teen countries founded in Europe in 1972 by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, Joseph Ratzinger, and others ...
Sisera and Jael
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Landscapes and Memories
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Postscript
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Identity
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Abimelech and Jephthah
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Gibeah and The Levite
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
Samson and the Timnites
Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, 2021
The Biblical Annals, May 12, 2023
Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a "dependent worker" or "client" ... more Occasionally, the biblical term גר has been taken to refer to a "dependent worker" or "client" based on the thought that household membership can be gained through work provided to the household. Mention of household membership tests the identity of the sojourner in the ancient world as stranger or foreigner; a social category listed with widows and orphans-whose status is also defined by the household-as deserving of protection. Given its centrality as a basic social unit in the ancient Near East, we might expect that purchase in a household would grant a status that dissolves the social distance and attendant consequences (fragility of income, lack of patrimony, object of suspicion) thought to be borne by .גרים In what sense, then, is a "dependent worker" who secures membership in the household a ?גר This article reconsiders how distant a person must be from the society within which he resides to make him a ,גר shifting the semantic emphasis of this term away from origin and towards social integration.