The Book That Breathes New Life: Scriptural Authority and Biblical Theology

1. Biblical Authority in the Postcritical Period

3 Biblical฀Authority฀in฀the฀฀ Postcritical฀Period Each฀generation฀of฀believers฀and฀scholars฀must฀answer฀its฀own฀particular ฀form฀of฀the฀question฀of฀the฀authority฀of฀scripture,฀for฀the฀question฀ is฀posed฀differently฀for฀different฀communities฀in฀different฀intellectual฀and฀ cultural฀circumstances.฀The฀Jewish฀and฀Christian฀religious฀communities฀ have฀characteristically฀accepted฀the฀scriptures฀as฀revelatory,฀but฀have฀been฀ mostly฀unclear฀and฀largely฀uninterested฀in฀stating฀precisely฀in฀what฀ways฀ this฀literature฀is฀authoritative.฀It฀has฀been฀enough฀to฀affirm฀that฀this฀literature ฀provides฀norms฀and฀permits฀for฀the฀abundant฀life฀intended฀by฀God฀ for฀the฀creation.฀Specificity฀beyond฀that฀affirmation฀has฀been฀only฀hard฀ and฀tenuously฀won.฀The฀problem฀is฀that฀the฀articulation฀of฀any฀formal฀ criteria฀concerning฀authority฀or฀revelation฀turns฀out฀to฀be฀in฀tension฀with฀ the฀actual฀concrete฀practice฀of฀the฀communities฀affirming฀the฀authority.1 ฀ In฀most฀circumstances,฀the฀actual฀concrete฀practice฀is฀to฀be฀taken฀more฀ seriously฀than฀is฀the฀formal฀statement฀which฀tries฀to฀objectify฀and฀intellectualize ฀that฀practice. A.฀The฀Modern฀Discussion The฀governing฀categories฀for฀the฀questions฀that฀have฀dominated฀the฀modern ฀discussion฀of฀biblical฀authority฀for฀the฀last฀two฀centuries฀need฀to฀be฀ assessed฀and฀appreciated฀in฀their฀own฀cultural฀context.฀The฀question฀of฀ the฀authority฀of฀scripture฀as฀understood฀in฀the฀Euro-American฀context฀ has฀been฀framed฀in฀response฀to฀the฀rise฀of฀science,฀the฀emergence฀of฀scienti fic฀method,฀and฀the฀dominance฀of฀historical-critical฀modes฀of฀handling฀ literature.2 ฀Prior฀to฀this฀development฀in฀the฀seventeenth฀and฀eighteenth฀ centuries,฀there฀was฀in฀the฀West฀a฀sufficient฀cultural฀consensus฀concerning฀ the฀nature฀of฀scripture.฀Thus,฀even฀critical฀questions฀were฀set฀within฀the฀ chapter฀one฀ BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 3 10/5/04 5:22:28 PM 4฀฀฀The฀Book฀That฀Breathes฀New฀Life secure฀framework฀of฀well-established฀and฀widely฀held฀convictions฀about฀ the฀religious฀authority฀of฀the฀Bible.฀Prior฀to฀the฀rise฀of฀scientific฀consciousness ,฀questions฀of฀authority฀were฀indeed฀an฀enterprise฀of฀“faith฀seeking฀ understanding.”3 The฀above฀changed,฀however,฀with฀the฀introduction฀of฀new฀thought฀ patterns฀that฀shattered฀the฀theological฀consensus฀and฀paved฀the฀way฀for฀ the฀study฀of฀the฀Bible฀as฀an฀autonomous฀piece฀of฀literature—a฀literature฀ that฀was฀increasingly฀understood฀in฀relativizing฀ways.฀This฀suggestion฀of฀ relativity฀concerning฀the฀Bible฀in฀turn฀evoked฀an฀urgency฀with฀respect฀to฀ its฀certitude฀and฀absoluteness,฀a฀phenomenon฀new฀to฀biblical฀studies.฀Thus฀ the฀“Battle฀for฀the฀Bible”4 ฀forced฀extreme฀positions,฀radical฀and฀reactionary ,฀concerning฀such฀matters฀as฀inspiration,฀revelation,฀inerrancy,฀and฀infallibility .฀It฀must฀be฀recognized฀that฀the฀very฀posing฀of฀the฀question฀in฀terms฀ of฀revelation฀and฀scientific฀criticism฀is฀reflective฀of฀a฀cultural฀crisis฀that฀ challenged฀every฀settled฀authority฀and฀defined฀the฀debate฀in฀terms฀of฀relativity ฀and฀absoluteness.฀The฀above฀categories฀of฀discussion฀unfortunately฀ skewed฀the฀matter฀in฀a฀number฀of฀ways.฀The฀controversial฀discussion฀from฀ the฀eighteenth฀century฀until฀now฀(which฀is฀roughly฀coterminous฀with฀the฀ practice฀of฀Enlightenment฀criticism)฀has฀a฀strange฀quality฀to฀it,฀in฀that฀the฀ categories฀of฀the฀conversation฀have฀been฀more฀or฀less฀imposed฀from฀external ฀sources฀such฀as฀scientific฀accuracy฀or฀historical฀precision—categories฀ essentially฀alien฀to฀the฀material฀itself.฀This฀is฀just฀as฀true฀of฀radical฀views฀ that฀jeopardized฀the฀authority฀of฀scripture฀as฀it฀is฀of฀reactionary฀views฀that฀ submitted฀the฀claims฀of฀scripture฀to฀the฀canon฀of฀modern฀scientific฀certitude .฀On฀the฀one฀hand,฀radical฀criticism฀provided฀a฀sense฀of฀autonomy฀ and฀freedom฀within฀the฀literature,฀that฀is,฀now฀the฀Bible฀need฀not฀be฀taken฀ with฀such฀heavy฀authoritarianism฀when฀understood฀to฀be฀historically฀conditioned ฀in฀all฀its฀parts.฀On฀the฀other฀hand,฀reactionary฀scholasticism฀provided ฀a฀sense฀of฀intellectual฀control฀and฀technical฀assurance;฀the฀Bible฀was฀ understood฀as฀a฀lone฀champion฀of฀unbending฀reality฀in฀a฀situation฀marked฀ by฀“change฀and฀decay.”฀“Change฀and฀decay”฀is฀one฀important฀perception฀ of฀the฀rise฀of฀science,฀technology,฀secularization,฀and฀individual฀freedom,฀ and฀its฀corollary,฀the฀demise฀of฀the฀old฀hegemony฀in฀its฀intellectual,฀moral,฀ economic,฀and฀political฀dimension.฀“Change฀and฀decay”฀is฀one฀experience฀ of฀the฀emergence฀of฀modernism.฀But฀neither฀such฀autonomy฀and฀freedom,฀ nor฀such฀control฀and฀assurance,฀seems฀particularly฀germane฀to฀the฀biblical฀ literature฀itself;฀nor฀are฀they฀finally฀satisfying฀as฀responses฀to฀the฀religious฀ thirst฀for฀truth฀as฀mediated฀by฀the฀Bible.฀The฀Bible฀does฀not฀mediate฀the฀ kind฀of฀certitude฀sought฀in฀these฀categories. BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 4 10/5/04 5:22:28 PM [18.188.20...