Isaac in the Old Testament : a new interpretation from Genesis 22, based on hermeneutical-methodological and exegetical investigations

Isaac, the least of the patriarchs in the texts of the Old Testament and in the eyes of its readers, offers a surprising number of possibilities for new avenues of interpretation of the Pentateuch and related texts. These are arrived at in this study by first tracing a number of historical-developmental trajectories relevant to the author, namely from philosophy of science, through the main points from the history of Pentateuch studies in South Africa, via an argued choice for historical exegesis over against a-historical methods, and by means of a brief overview of the major insights that had shaped the scholarly study of the Old Testament patriarchs. The central part of the study is exegetical, with the main focus on Genesis 22, which has proven to be a key text. An overview of the historical issues related to this text is offered. Illustrating the limitations of a-historical exegesis, a narrative reading of Genesis 22 is undertaken, followed by a new historical interpretation of the same text, which draws on all of the foregoing. In the light of this new Genesis 22 interpretation, the other Isaac texts in the Old Testament are reviewed, as they would have been understood in post-exilic inner-Judean identity politics, namely between the tradents of the patriarchal traditions. Drawing throughout on an anecdotal view of Old Testament historiography, a theory proposed on the multiplex or composite nature of the personages of the patriarchs, though of Isaac in particular, and on the idea of the post-exilic inner-Judean identity politics, a creative, critical, historical retelling in almost narrative mode is offered of the history of Isaac in the Old Testament as a conclusion to the study.Thesis (DD)--University of Pretoria, 2009.Old Testament Studiesunrestricte

The bible, open and distance education and learning, and spirituality : possibilities in a post-secular time

To teach the Bible to students of theology at tertiary level (university/seminary/(Bible/Mission) college) is at the best of times fraught with difficulties. Combining the initially often intellectually a-critical religious sentiments of students with the demands of biblical/Old Testament/ New Testament studies as science (language skills, exegetical methodologies, critical theories, hermeneutics of understanding and of relevance) is characterised by some difficulties, which lead to various and some extreme reactions among students. The balance between spirituality and exegesis is not always easy to maintain for many teachers of theology. These problems are in some respects compounded in Open and Distance Education and Learning institutions such as the University of South Africa, where direct contact with students and, hence, spiritual formation (undertaken either implicitly or explicitly) is limited and media-ted. Yet, new times also hold new promises. This contribution outlines an intellectual matrix of these problems and dynamics, with possibilities offered that align well with the more faith-positive cultural sentiments currently dawning internationally, known as post-secularism.In a sense, all research does so: One cannot write about what one has not read, lived through or critically reflected on. This intellectual biography is, however, more often than not hidden behind the subject matter and the competences required to analyse one’s topic, but with an author’s self often visible “between the lines”, as it were, for the careful reader to see.http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/atam2021Practical Theolog

Two approaches to life in the second temple period : Deuteronomy and Qoholet

The prosaic Mosaic death in Deuteronomy 34 leaves the way of life [foreign font omitted] as constituted in [foreign font omitted]. That is, par excellence: Life [foreign font omitted] is found in words. In Qohelet, another kind of existentialism, in the face of death, is found, namely in the sensual life of enjoyment of food, drink and companionship. These two approaches constitute different, competing Second Temple period conceptions of how to live, despite death, coram Deo. These two conceptions indicate the existence of more than one ethos within ancient Judaic society – a dynamic often lacking in the South African context.http://www.hts.org.zahb201

Law and faith in ancient Israel and in modern democratic statehood as search for socio-political wellbeing

In this contribution, the argument pits two cultural reflexes against one another. In modern democracies, religion is removed from the socio-political sphere; in ancient Israel, religion was inserted into the socio-political sphere. In both cases, the intention was the same: the socio-political wellbeing of the citizenry. Such a cultural comparison puts to question the false assumption in modern democracies, that a public sphere emptied of religion constitutes greater freedom.http://scriptura.journals.ac.zaam2022Practical Theolog

Isaac multiplex : Genesis 22 in a new historical representation

In this paper, a new interpretation of the Genesis 22:1-19 account is offered. Based on the new view of biblical historiography as anecdotal (Frykenberg), and drawing on the author’s own recent studies on the historical problems related to, and historically sensitive narratological interpretative possibilities of, this Genesis text, a new meaning and a new dating for Genesis 22:1-19 are concluded to. This text, namely, reflects the end of a struggle for dominance between the different tradents of the patriarchal traditions, in which the Abraham tradents finally subjugate, with this Genesis 22-text, the Isaac tradents. This occurs late in the compositional history of the Pentateuch, namely between 400 and 250 BCE.http://explore.up.ac.za/record=b100134

Four recent books on spirituality and the Psalms : some contextualising, analytical and evaluative remarks

In the four years from 2002 to 2005, four new books on the Psalms and spirituality have been published. These are: Stuhlmueller, C 2002. The spirituality of the Psalms. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. Brueggemann, W 2002. Spirituality of the Psalms. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Waaijman, K 2004. Mystiek in de psalmen. Baarn: Uitgeverij Ten Have. Firth, D G 2005. Hear, o Lord. A spirituality of the Psalms. Calver: Cliff College Publishing. In this paper, brief remarks on the context within which this publication trend takes place, are made. Each of the works is then briefly described, and general evaluative remarks are concluded with.http://explore.up.ac.za/record=b152516

Persuasion/conviction and preaching : word play on a heart game

This article employs a wordplay on "oortuiging" - persuasion and integrity - to analyse certain aspects of homiletics. Examples of the use of research into persuasive communication and the benefits of these perspectives for effective preaching are given. Of greater importance, though, is the integrity of the preacher, which has three dimensions: that ministers should themselves be convinced of the theology of the text from which they preach, that the concrete contexts of the hearers of the message should be addressed competently, and that exegetical methodology and homiletical pronouncements should correspond.Continued 2001 as Verbum et Ecclesiahttp://explore.up.ac.za/record=b102527

South African perspectives on the communication of the Bible in Church and society

Please note: This degree was awarded by the North-West University. Permission was granted to archive it in this database for teaching purposes Over the past eight years I have been engaged in researching the way in which the Bible has been brought to bear on a number of frameworks within the South African socio-historical context. It is of course not at all surprising that the Bible would become a part of the dialogues of the church; the Bible remains the source of the Christian identity of the churches in South Africa in a very particular way. Nor is it really unexpected that the Bible would be influential in discussions on broader societal issues in South Africa. With ± 80% of the South African populace subscribing to the Christian faith, and with the most prominent strands of Christianity found in South Africa making so much of the role of the Bible in their lives of faith, it would be perplexing if the Bible had indeed not been a major feature in these debates. The Bible spoke and speaks to church and country in South Africa. Put differently, as a phenomenological formulation: the Bible is brought to speech, that is, is brought to communication within the closer ecclesiological precincts as well as the broader socio-political environment of South Africa, precisely because of the particular religious configurations that characterise church and culture locally. The following could be posed as a general research question, albeit retroactively, as running centrally through all the research essays under review here: How was the Bible brought to communication within different spheres of the South African society? A total of nine publications are listed below, although in fact they represent seven research outputs. Note, thus, that number 5 below is a re-publication in somewhat altered form of number 9, and number 6 is, similarly, a re-publication of number 8. In both these cases the research was first published as chapters in books, and was then re-published in article format. The publications are listed in reverse chronological order, that is, starting with the most recent publication: “The Old Testament in Christian spirituality: perspectives on the undervaluation of the Old Testament in Christian spirituality”. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 59/2, June 2003, pp 433-450. “Elke vertaling is ‘n vertelling. Opmerkings oor vertaalteorie, geïllustreer aan die hand van die chokmatiese ratio interpretationis”. Old Testament Essays. 15/3, December 2002, pp 754-765. “The Bible in the apartheid debate”, in Hofmeyr, JW, Lombaard, CJS&Maritz, PJ (eds) 2001: 1948 + 50 years. Theology, apartheid and church: Past, present and future (Perspectives on the Church / Perspektiewe op die Kerk, Series 5: Vol. 1), pp 69-87. Pretoria: IMER (Institute for Missiological and Ecumenical Research), University of Pretoria. “The left governing hand and the right governing hand: begging for a church without public hands?” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 109 (March 2001), pp 17-24. (From paper read at 2000 conference of the Southern African Society for Biblical and Religious Studies). “ ‘n Woord vir ons wêreld. Kontekstuele prediking met behulp van kommentaarjoernalistiek”. Praktiese Teologie in Suid-Afrika 16(1), 2001, pp 19-39. “The Bible and ecumenism”. Ekklesiastikos Pharos 83/1&2 (2001; New Series 12), pp 149-160. “Oortuiging” en prediking - woordspel op ‘n “hartsaak”. Skrif en Kerk 21 (3, 2000), pp 607-620. (Paper read at the 1999 Lewende Woorde sermon seminar, Dept. Greek&Latin Studies, R.A.U.) . “Ecumenism and the Bible”, in Lombaard, C (ed.) 1999. Essays and exercises in ecumenism, pp 26-41 (29 contributors). Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications. “ ‘n Woord vir ons wêreld: Kontekstuele prediking met behulp van kommentaarjoernalistiek”, in Lombaard, C (red.) 1999. "...in die wêreld..." Vyf bydraes tot kontekstuele prediking, pp 22-46. Johannesburg: Lewende Woorde. These are the publications taken into consideration for the PhD in Communication Studies (specific discipline: Religious Communication) based on research publications.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2005.Church History and Church PolicyUnrestricte

Oorredingsveranderlikes in redaksionele kommentaar in koerante : 'n verkenning

M.A. (Communication Science)This dissertation is a profusion in combining two sub disciplines of the communication science, namely journalism and persuasion theory. An. analysis of journalism as a form of persuasion is made in which is shown that not only in explicit commentary, but also in everyday news stories the contents is slanted. This is because of the inescapable subjectivity of man that de-objectifies information. The sources of de-objectification is localized in the study by means of a model of the press process, which traces the development of the news item and identifies the different phases in which the information is, mostly unknowingly, given new meanings by subtle slanting. As a pilot study, and therefore as a matter of testing the validity of combining the two communication subdisciplines mentioned, a simple comparative study is done. The most explicit commentary article, namely the leader, of three Johannesburg newspapers are sampled and judged by means of three of the most simple persuasion principles. A comparison is made of the effective use of these persuasive techniques by the three newspapers' leader writers. The conclusion is reached that further studies in this field could be very fruitful, keeping the following two qualifications in mind firstly, that the many contradicting conclusions reached within persuasion research should be cleared up, and secondly, that some sort of stable scale for measuring the effectiveness of journalistic persuasion, except by comparative means, be devised

The Old Testament in Christian spirituality : perspectives on the undervaluation of the Old Testament in Christian spirituality

Christian spirituality draws strongly on the Bible. Yet, it is the New Testament that almost without exception features most prominently. Ten possible reasons are offered why the Old Testament takes on such a disproportionately diminutive role in the practice and study of spirituality: Textual complexity/critical scholarship/theological education; Modern popular pieties; The cultural gaps between the Old Testament worlds and our worlds; Theological difficulties/Christian sensibilities; Fear of “boundary-less” interpretations; The reference to Scripture by writers on spirituality; The notion of progressive revelation; Theological diversity within the Old Testament; OT : NT = law : grace; The long and the short of textual units.Spine cut of Journal binding and pages scanned on flatbed EPSON Expression 10000 XL; 400dpi; text/lineart - black and white - stored to Tiff Derivation: Abbyy Fine Reader v.9 work with PNG-format (black and white); Photoshop CS3; Adobe Acrobat v.9 Web display format PDFhttp://explore.up.ac.za/record=b100134