Using Genesis 34 in Christian Ethics: A Case Study in the Christian Ethical Appropriation of Old Testament Narratives

Abstract

This thesis aims to set out parameters within which Christian ethical reappropriations of Old Testament Narratives can take place. Chapter One sets out the philosophical foundations for the project making special use of the work of Paul Ricoeur. It is argued that the notion of a narrative-self is crucial to understanding how it is that story can ethically shape its audience. Four specific ways in which it does this are set out. Chapter Two argues that story is far more important in OT ethics than has usually been appreciated. It moves' on to defend a hermeneutical model suggested by N. T. Wright for Christian interpretation of the OT. Having set forth the hermeneutical method in the first two chapters, Chapters Three to Five attempt to apply it to a case study. Chapter Three overviews the ethical use that has been made of Genesis 34 in the history of interpretation, whilst Chapter Four proposes an interpretation. Chapter Five is an attempt to interpret Genesis 34 within the context of the biblical metanarrative. It is argued that this sheds new light on appropriate and inappropriate Christian ethical uses of the chapter