NT 520 New Testament Introduction (original) (raw)

Introduction to the Special Issue “Current Trends in New Testament Study”

Religions, 2019

This special issue of Religions focuses on seven of the most important formal methods used to interpret the New Testament today. Several of the articles also touch on Old Testament/Hebrew Bible interpretation. In line with the multiplicity of methods for interpretation of texts in the humanities in general, biblical study has never before seen so many different methods. This situation poses both opportunities and challenges for scholars and students alike. This issue contains contributions by a mix of established scholars and younger scholars who have recently demonstrated their expertise in a certain method. Some articles will be easily accessible only to biblical scholars, but most will be accessible and instructive for beginning-and intermediate-level students of the Bible. I hope that the free-access essays offered here will become required reading in many universities and seminaries. The readership statistics displayed with each article, with information about how they have been read since their online publication here, show that they already have a wide appeal. I want to thank these authors for their contribution to this issue and for working so well with me and indirectly with the anonymous peer reviewers. Here, adapted from their abstracts, are brief introductions to their articles. Michele A. Connolly's article, "Antipodean and Biblical Encounter: Postcolonial Vernacular Hermeneutics in Novel Form," gives a post-secular exploration of what the Bible offers to modern-day Australia. She maintains that Australian culture, despite its secularity, has a capacity for spiritual awareness in ways that resonate with the Bible. Connolly employs R. S. Sugirtharajah's concept of "vernacular hermeneutics" to show that a contemporary Australian novel, The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton, expresses an Australian spirituality saturated with the images and values of the New Testament, but in a non-religious literary form that needs interpretation for a secular audience. Connolly's creative and fascinating article speaks not only to the Australian context but can serve as a model for the intersection of postcolonial biblical criticism and contemporary literature from many parts of the post-Christian world. "A Deep-Language Mathematical Analysis of Gospels, Acts and Revelation," by Emilio Matricciani and Liberato De Caro, offers a different kind of statistical analysis of the New Testament than scholars may be familiar with. It uses mathematical methods developed for studying what the authors call deep-language parameters of literary texts, for example, the number of words per sentence, the number of characters per word, the number of words between interpunctions (punctuation within sentences), and the number of interpunctions per sentence. Matricciani and De Caro consider, in concert with generally-accepted conclusions of New Testament scholarship, the full texts of the canonical Gospels, Acts and Revelation, then the Gospel passages attributable to the triple tradition (Matthew, Mark and Luke), to the double tradition (Matthew and Luke), to the single tradition in Matthew and Luke, and to the Q source. The results confirm and reinforce some common conclusions about the Gospels, Acts, Revelation, and Q source, but the authors show that they cast some new light on the capacity of the short-term memory of the readers/listeners of these texts. The authors posit that these New Testament writings fit very well in the larger Greek literature of the time. For readers unaccustomed to using

BS 505 Introduction to Biblical Studies: New Testament

2008

is acceptable). Electronic Bible versions in Logos Bible Software are available for purchase individually (see link below), or come bundled with various packages. The advantage of having a Logos electronic version is to be able to access Scripture texts from the class readings via the "linking" capability within Logos Bible Software. The RSV in Logos is least expensive ($9.95) and is used in Asbury's IBS classes; but in Logos it contains no marginal notes; the NASB95 ($24.95) has linking to marginal notes. 2. David Bauer, An Annotated Guide to Biblical Resources for Ministry. Annotated Guides 16. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2003. NOTE: This resource should be used as an aid in finding the best NT interpretation resources (commentaries, dictionaries, Greek grammars, lexicons, concordances, etc.). 3. The Essential IVP Reference Collection. Version 2. InterVarsity, 2001, available for $102.95 at https://www.logos.com/Academic/AsburyTSKY/fall2007\. This collection contains thirteen reference works plus four pocket dictionaries covering biblical studies, the study of New Testament Greek, theological terms, and apologetics and the philosophy of religion. These are listed below. Readings for the class will come from the first four of these works, although it may be beneficial to consult the others. Several of these reference works (and Bauer above) are required for other ATS classes. a