Scriptural Authority And Narrative Interpretation

The authority of scripture as it intersects with hermeneutical questions about the character of biblical narrative is considered here by ten well respected theologians. The essays in this volume derive from or are in response to the theological agenda of Hans W. Frei, and are being presented in honor of him in recognition of his sixty-fifth birthday.

The theological impact of accepting the absolute authority of biblical scripture is enormous-especially for women who attend and serve churches. But until now, few books have been willing to address this issue head on. Sarah Lancaster looks at the way women in the church have dealt with the question of scriptural authority and how they can address it in the future. Some women, she says, accept the authority of the Bible without question and stay in church without change of attitude or action. Others deny that the Bible has any authority, completely leaving Christianity in the belief that the Bible and Christian tradition are irredeemably patriarchal. Still others recognize that while scripture is largely patriarchal, it is authoritative for their life of faith. The Bible possesses a narrative coherence, its story resonating in our own lives. For women, the Bible can continue to "ring true" to their experience, letting them acknowledge scripture's authority in spite of its problems. The Bible is not about patriarchy; it is about how God is present to us and interacts with us in order to bring us to fullness of life. Lancaster says that women can criticize those things in scripture that help maintain a patriarchal world without invalidating scripture's authority. Scripture, she argues, informs, forms, and transforms. With its combination of narrative and feminist theology, Women and the Authority of Scripture brings a powerful new perspective to the doctrine of biblical authority in the contemporary world. Sarah Heaner Lancaster is Associate Professor of Theology, Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. She is an ordained elder in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. She lives in Westerville, Ohio.

Written for preachers, seminary students, laypersons, teachers, and anyone interested in biblical hermeneutics and Christian theology.

This book ventures a new interpretation of revelation. The author discusses the major themes in the narrative of revelation, engaging critically with four of the century's giants in theology: Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, Karl Rahner and Carl Henry. These represent the four major phases in the narrative of revelation and Fackre addresses these alternative views in twentieth-century theology through in-depth inquiry and critical analysis. The Doctrine of Revelation challenges reductionist views and strives for an ecumenical understanding that appropriates the insights from a variety of schools of thought.

As a theological biography of Professor Walter J. Hollenweger, this book surveys his extensive interests, varied methods and wide-ranging reflection. But Price also incorporates an enquiry into the nature and function of western academic theology relating to to Christian practice today. Hollenweger's research into Pentecostalism, Ecumenism and Intercultural Theology is here brought together in a synthetic overview. Issues such as the unity and diversity of the Bible and its interpretations, the particular and universal dimensions of worldwide Chrsitianity, and relations between Christians and between Christians and 'the others' are all exploited in order to stimulate fresh thinking on the mission of the churches.

Addresses the theological impact of accepting the absolute authority of biblical scripture and its related issues, examining how women in the church have dealt with scriptural authority while offering advice on how they can address it in the future. Original.

Douglas A. Hume offers a narrative ethical reading of the passages depicting the early Christian community in Acts (2:41-47 and 4:32-35). He begins with a methodological exploration of how contemporary scholars may examine the impact of biblical narratives upon reader's moral imaginations. Given the presence of friendship language in Acts, the work subsequently launches into an examination of this idiom in Greco-Roman philosophical and literary works by Aristotle, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, and Iamblichus. The author then proceeds to an exegetical examination of how friendship language is employed by Luke in the narrative summaries of Acts. This ethical reading of the Acts 2:41-47 and 4:32-35 incorporates multiple features of narrative criticism and asks such wide ranging questions as the use of emotion, point of view, and characterization to shape the reading audience's perception of God, the early Christian community, and other characters within the story of Luke-Acts. This study has implications for biblical studies, practical theology, and contemporary understandings of ecclesiology.