Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
1 Packaging the Word of God in America Today 1
Hyperspecific Features 2
Translations 2
The Bible Plus: Study Notes, Life Application, and Other Supplementary Materials 3
Individual Expert Interpreters 5
Groups of "Expert" Interpreters 6
Modernist Interpretive Strategies 8
Canon and Scriptural Authority 10
Conclusion 11
2 Different Ways of Reading: Promises and Pitfalls 13
Premodern Approaches 15
Promises and Pitfalls of Premodern Interpretation 16
Modernist Approaches 16
Promises and Pitfalls of Modernist Approaches 23
Postmodern Approaches 25
Emergent Churches as a Postmodern Case Study 26
Promises and Pitfalls of Postmodern Approaches 32
Study Questions 33
3 Four Gospels: Problem or Gift? 35
To Harmonize or Not to Harmonize? 35
To Harmonize 36
The Facts about Mary Magdalene (According to the Bible) 37
Mary Magdalene in Matthew 37
Mary Magdalene in Mark 37
Mary Magdalene in Luke 37
Mary Magdalene in John 38
Mary Magdalene: An Anointing Prostitute? NOT! 39
The Anointings 39
Anointing in Matthew 39
Anointing in Mark 40
Anointing in Luke 40
Anointing in John 40
The Named Marys 41
Marys in Matthew 41
Marys in Mark 41
Marys in Luke 41
Marys in John 42
Seven Last Words from the Cross 43
Not to Harmonize 44
Questions of Genre 45
Story? 46
History? 47
An Exercise: Big Fish 48
Both/And/And/And: Four Senses of Scripture 50
4 The Synoptic Problem 55
Exhibit 1 Jesus' Baptism 55
Exhibit 2 Jesus' Rejection in His Own Hometown 57
Exhibit 3 Jesus' Stilling of the Storm 58
Exhibit 4 Jesus' Walking on the Water 61
Proposed Solutions to the Synoptic Problem 62
Two-Source Hypothesis 62
Griesbach Hypothesis (or the Two-Gospel Hypothesis) 63
The Farrer Hypothesis 64
Form Criticism and Redaction Criticism 64
Summary 65
John, the Maverick Gospel? 67
Important Issues Raised 69
1 I Love to TELL (Not Write) the Story, For Some Have Never Heard (Not Read) 69
2 Q Questions and Critiques 71
3 Dear John 74
Study Questions 75
5 Authorship Issues: The Pauline Trajectory 77
What Did Paul Write? 78
Eschatology 78
Jewish-Christian Relations in Paul 81
Gender Issues 83
Church Offices 86
Questions Raised Thus Far 87
1 Why Might Someone Write in Paul's Name? Isn't That Dishonest? 87
2 If Paul Didn't Write These Texts, Who Did? 88
3 Is It Important to Ponder Whether Paul Wrote Them or Not? 88
4 If Paul Didn't Write Them, Do They Count as Less Authoritative than Paul's Own Writings? 89
Formation of the Christian Canon 89
From Talk to Text 90
Use 92
Apostolicity 92
"Rule of Faith" (Regula Fidei) 92
Canon and Scriptural Authority 93
When We Say that the Bible Is Authoritative, What Do We Mean? 97
What about Other Books of the Bible? 98
Study Questions 101
6 The Historical Jesus Debate 103
The First Quest 105
Jesus: Apocalyptic or Not? 107
The New Quest 108
The Third Quest 109
The Jesus Seminar 109
Academic Considerations 112
Theological Considerations 112
E. P. Sanders 113
John Dominic Crossan 114
John P. Meier 116
Gerd Theissen 116
Marcus Borg 117
Summary 118
Puzzlements 118
Where Are the Missing Voices? 118
Where Is the Gospel of John? 119
Recurring Issues 119
Questions, Hackles, and Warnings Raised by the Quests 120
1 Does the Historical Jesus Really Matter for Christian Faith? 120
2 "Buddy Jesus": The Domestication of the Savior of the World 121
3 Resist the Tabloids: Choose the Narrow Gate and/or Ask Scholars to Widen It 121
4 Does W(hat) W(ould) J(esus) D(o) Matter? 122
5 Continuity/Discontinuity 122
6 Jesus' Self-Understanding 122
7 Capacious Dialogue 123
8 History and Theology 123
Christology 125
Eschatology 125
Study Questions 126
7 The Politics of Biblical Interpretation 127
Feminist Biblical Interpretation: A Tale of Two Eliz(s)abeths 130
Queer Commentary 133
Race and Ethnicity 133
Postcolonialism 134
Disability Theory and Biblical Interpretation 135
Summary 137
An Exercise in Ideology Criticism 137
The Residence of Meaning(s): Authors, Texts, Readers 138
Authors? 138
Texts? 138
Readers and Reading Communities? 139
You, the Reader(s) 139
Hermeneutical Self-Inventory 140
A Canon within a Canon? 143
Sample Exercise: Matthew 15:21-28 144
Power and Accountability in Biblical Interpretation 147
Scripture Index 149
Subject Index 151
