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20 - Christian Ethics and the Hebrew Bible

from Part V - Faithful Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2021

By
Julián Andrés González Holguín
Edited by
C. L. Crouch
C. L. Crouch
Affiliation:
Fuller Theological Seminary, California
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Summary

I object to the unexamined assumption that the texts of the Hebrew Bible are suitable as a source of answers for ethical discussions of social, moral, and political questions of today. Readers with this hermeneutical supposition believe in finding rules in the biblical canon that they may enforce on modern society and church discipline. The ethical relevance of the Hebrew Bible does not reside in accepting rules, principles, or ideas that come from the text and a reconstruction of its historical contexts based on sustained critical scrutiny of the will of God in scripture. It comes from a critical discussion with the text in light of current events, such as the migrant caravan moving from Central America to the southern border of the United States in 2018. There were Christians advocating completely different political solutions and using passages of scripture to support their views, deeming it essential to their ethical stance to demonstrate a continuity between their claim and a biblical text. A critical exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, however, exacerbates rather than solves the problem because it heightens awareness of the ideological diversity within scripture and the infinite number of perspectives from which readers can interpret it. The only way that the Hebrew Bible can be regarded as straightforward and univocal in its message is if nobody bothers to read it. Even Augustine was dissatisfied with the Bible on ethical grounds, until he began conjuring allegorical interpretations to spiritualize the disturbing material away. History has shown, again and again, that turning a simple message into a political position usually provides theological justification for oppression. Is a critical reading of the biblical text relevant to deal with, comprehend, and use as a basis for action – as Christians – concerning the vicissitudes and problems that humanity faces in today’s world? How can a text produced in a world so distant from our own be essential to inform how we act and be today?

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics , pp. 306 - 320
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Agamben, G. Profanations. New York: Zone Books, 2007.Google Scholar
Auerbach, E. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Translated by Trask, W. R.. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953.Google Scholar
Barton, J. Ethics and the Old Testament. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1998.Google Scholar
Edinfer, E. F. Ego and Archetype: Individuation and the Religious Function of the Psyche. New York: G.P. Putname, 1972.Google Scholar
Foucault, M. Society Must be Defended: Lectures at the Collège de France 1975–76. Translated by Macey, D.. New York: Picador, 2003.Google Scholar
Hilton, B. Age of Atonement: The Influence of Evangelicalism on Social and Economic Thought, 1795–1875. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
Hook, B. S., and Reno, R. R., “Abraham and the Problems of Modern Heroism.” Pages 135–62 in Sacred Texts, Secular Times: The Hebrew Bible in the Modern World. Edited by Greenspoon, L. J. and LeBeau, B. F.. Studies in Jewish Civilization 10. Omaha: Creighton University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Kierkegaard, S. Fear and Trembling. Vol. 6 of Kierkegaard’s Writings. Translated by Hong, H. V. and Hong, E. H.. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.Google Scholar
Levenson, J. D. The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Nietzsche, F. Genealogies of Morals. Translated by Samuel, H. B.. New York: Dover, 2003.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, M. C. Love’s Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall, 1997.Google Scholar
Otto, R. The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non-rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational. Translated by Harvey, J. W.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923.Google Scholar
Rogerson, J. Theory and Practice in Old Testament Ethics. New York: T&T Clark, 2004.Google Scholar
Sarna, N. Understanding Genesis. New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1966.Google Scholar
Sheenah, J. The Enlightenment Bible: Translation, Scholarship, Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2007.Google Scholar

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