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LOOKING BACK
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AUTHORITY, OPINION,EVIDENCE, ARGUMENT
ABSOLUTISTS
RELATIVISTS
EVALUATIVISTS
forms opinion based on authority
against authority
forms opinion opinion based onevidence and - whatever subject
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WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS AGAIN?
ABSOLUTISTS RELATIVISTS
EVALUATIVISTS
CLETuesday, August 6, 13
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EVALUATIVISTS
CLE extreme definition:no faith; just reasonfaith and reason
RELIGIOUSTRUTH?
scientific or mathematicalproof
v.s
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How do we justify or evaluate religious truth?
EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
What is religious/moral authority?
What constitutes moral/religious evidences?
RELIGIOUSTRUTH?
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EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
RELIGIOUSTRUTH?
religious and moral authority and evidence
BIBLEAUTHORITY
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to read and understandas SCRIPTURE
Word of God
read asLITERATURE
EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
BIBLE
We can never claim to understand the Bible as the Word ofGod if we are not able to read and understand it asliterature in the first place
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EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
READING
THEBIBLE
ASLITERATURE
which areas of knowledge?
what kind of authority
what kind ofevidences/argument
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EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
READING
THEBIBLE
ASLITERATURE
which areas of knowledge?
ART
literature is a form of art
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EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
AUTHORITYREADING
THEBIBLEAS
LITERATURE
Who would comprise
authority if you are readingit as a community?
LITERARY CRITICSBIBLE SCHOLARS
ANY BOOK CLUBOTHERS?
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EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
EVIDENCEREADING
THEBIBLEAS
LITERATURE
What constitutes literaryevidence?
How do we support
our literaryinterpretations? What
kind of evidences?
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EVALUATIVIST APPROACH?
ARGUMENTREADING
THEBIBLEAS
LITERATURE
What are the ways of
knowing?
LANGUAGEEMOTION
applicable to literature?
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READING
THEBIBLEAS
LITERATURE
LITERARY INTERPRETATIONOF THE SCRIPTURE
3 PRINCIPLES
1. GENRE
2. MEANING3. CONTEXT
- literary forms
-different layers of meaning
-what we try to interpretin the text
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ti l
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LITERARYGENRE
3 TEXTS3 GENRES
documentary
news article
movie
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION
LITERARYGENRE
interpret a text accordingto the rules and
conventions of itsGENRE.
1ST PRINCIPLE
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LITERARYGENRE
documentary
news article
feature film
The news article... it is legitimate for you to ask did this
actually happen? Is this the sequence of events? Are
these the people who are involved? These are prettylegitimate questions.
similar with documentary?
feature film: Reading should be read different from the first two.
How should we consider Jack and Rose? Did they
actually exist?
We dont know, probably not, its possible or they did not
The questions you ask when you are watching a feature
film would be very different from the questions you ask
when you are reading a news article or watching a
documentary.
In a feature film, it can be completely fiction, it can be
based on some facts but fictionalized, exaggerated,selective details in this case, maybe there was no Jack
or Rose, factually they did not exist but we still expect
some truth from this particular text
Is there a the difference between facts and truths?
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FACT OR TRUTH?
Truth=Facts
There is more to realitythan facts.
usually today:
It doesnt have to happenfor something to be
true; it doesnt have tobe provable for
something to be true
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What truth can we derive from the movie titanic?
people do st*#pidthings because of
love
Is there really a Rose who rushed back in?
THERE IS MORE TO REALITYTHAN HISTORICAL OR
SCIENTIFIC FACTS
FACT OR TRUTH?
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CARTOONS/COMIC
DIFFERENT EXPECTATION
we suspend our disbelief, we dont expect facts
In lieu of facts, we can still expect truths. A lot of comicbooks offers profound TRUTHS about life
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When the book/movie came out... people became worried...
many were bothered by the possibility of the story being true
Was Jesus in love with andmarried to MaryMagdalene?
Was Mary Magdalenethe true Holy Grail?
Dan Brown says so...
You are not suppose to ask whether it is real or not!
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RELIGIOUS ART
DIFFERENT EXPECTATION
we suspend our disbelief, we dont expect facts
Does Jesus look like this?
Does this Icon of Mary
really look like the actualperson?
It is not right to ask
whether these imagesare factually and
historically accurate
It is not even right to expect religious art to be alwaysbeautiful
is to inspire us to prayer
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION
1ST PRINCIPLE: GENRE
Dont read the Bible like aNewspaper or a History
book
Interpret its text accordingto the conventions of its
Genre
Interpret a book according to the rules andconventions of its Genre
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1ST PRINCIPLE: GENRE
The Bible has many different literary forms.
There are 72 books in theBible
They are al l dif ferentliterary forms!
VARIETY!
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READING THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE
The Bible is difficult to read and interpret
VARIETY! -different books and literary Genres
DISTANCE -genres are too ancient andconventions are too strange
UNKNOWN/DEAD AUTHORS-no access to their
intention
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READING THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE
THE BOOK OF JOBACTIVITY:
1. Go to the website and download worksheet 4.2.
2. Discuss and come up with an answer perlearning circle.3. Upload to the PLW of one of the members.4. On the post : Indicate your learning circle # andthe PLW of your member where you uploadedyour answer
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THE BOOK OF JOB
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THE BOOK OF JOBThere was a man in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job, and that manwas blameless and upright, one whofeared God and turned away fromevil. There were born to him seven
sons and three daughters
He had seven thousand sheeps, three thousand camels, fivehundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and very
many servants; so that this man is the greatest of all thepeople of the east.
Job1:1-3
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THE BOOK OF JOB
Job1:1-3
He was a blameless man, but he
was a very wealthy man. Thentragedy struck. Everything wastaken away from him. He lost hiskids, all his properties and his
wealth.
At the beginning of the book there was a conversation
between God and Satan - having a bet
IF YOU DONT KNOW THE LITERARY FORM, YOU WILLMISUNDERSTANDTHE TEXT
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THE BOOK OF JOB
The GENRE/LITERARY FORM of the Book ofJob is NOT HISTORY
The genre is evident in the exaggerated depiction
of Job. The symbolical used of numbers
ALLEGORY
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THE BOOK OF JOB
ALLEGORY
uses symbolic, fictional persons and actions to expressprofound truth about human existence
So... did such a person
exist? NOT THE POINT!
we are not supposed to
look for facts!
WE CAN LOOK FORTRUTHS
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THE BOOK OF JOBThere are people who tend toviolate the 1st principle onGENRE. And because theyinsist that the Bible ought to
be read literallythus,
BOOK of JOB: Job existed and suffered exactly
as depictedGENESIS: The world was created in the precisemanner and in exactly 6 days
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AnALLEGORYabout
humansufferingand thedifferentviews about it
THE BOOK OF JOB
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION
2ND PRINCIPLE: LAYERS OF MEANING
Before looking for
PERSONALMEANING, make
sure you understandthe more basic
LAYERS OFMEANING
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION
2ND PRINCIPLE: LAYERS OF MEANING
authors intention / orcommentaries from
authorities
TEXT MEANING
evidence ofmeaning in the textas accepted by the
community ofreadersLITERAL MEANING
the words of the text
AUTHOR MEANING
PERSONAL MEANINGreaders opinion based on
ones personalexpereinces
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2ND PRINCIPLE: LAYERS OF MEANING
authors intention / orcommentaries from
authorities
TEXT MEANING
evidence ofmeaning in the textas accepted by the
community ofreadersLITERAL MEANING
the words of the text
AUTHOR MEANING
PERSONAL MEANINGreaders opinion based on
ones personalexpereinces
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2ND PRINCIPLE: LAYERS OF MEANING
LITERAL
AUTHOR
TEXT
PERSONAL
BOOK World of theText Words ofthe Text
WINDOW
World
Behind theText
Authors intention orcommentaries from
AUTHORITY
MIRRORWorld
before the
Text
EVIDENCE ofmeaning in the text as
accepted by thecommunity
ROSEWINDOW
World of theReader
READERS OPINIONbased on personal
history andexperience
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2ND PRINCIPLE: LAYERS OF MEANING
THE
ANNU
N CIATI O
N
AUTHORITY, EVIDENCE AND OPINION
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and Mary said to the Angel: How can this
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... and Mary said to the Angel: How can thisbe, since I have no husband? And the angelsaid to her: The Holy Spirit will come uponyou and the power of the Most will over
shadow you. Therefore, the child to be bornwill be called Holy, the Son of God.
-Luke 1:34-35
RELATIVIST INTERPRETATION?A justification for teenage
pregnancy?
PERSONAL MEANING/OPINIONONLY; WITHOUT REGARD TO
AUTHORITY AND TEXT MEANING
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
The wider theCONTEXT, the
richer and fuller the
reading!
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
context of the text
context of the reader
CON TEXT
with-the-text
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the more you include theauthor and text meaning,
the more you include
personal meaning, thericher would be your
reading
LITERARY INTERPRETATION
authors
intention /or
commentaries from
authorities
TEXTevidence ofmeaning inthe text asaccepted
by thecommunityof readers
LITERALthe wordsof the text
AUTHOR
PERSONAL
readers opinion
based on onespersonal
experiences
3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
no author and text meaning
no personal meaning
- reading will be literal
- reading will be impoverishedTuesday, August 6, 13
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3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
Job cursed the day of his birth... Why did I not perish atbirth, come forth from the womb and perish?
Job 3:1-10
The patient Jobin chapters 1 and 2
has turned into
a complainer
in chapter 3 andvirtually the rest of 40+
chapters of the book.
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3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
Who experienced a richerreading?
Reader A has always leda secured life.
Reader B has justexperienced a major lifecrisis
2 READERS; 2 CONTEXTS
Reader Bs personal experiences have helped
him BETTER UNDERSTAND the text
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3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
When we read the Bible, it is
helpful to draw from ourpersonal context, but
ALWAYS only afterunderstanding the author
and text meaning
Objectivity(divorcing our reading
from our personalcontext) is ARTIFICIALand may impoverished
our reading
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3RD PRINCIPLE: CONTEXT
Someone readingthe Anunciation toMary drawing fromhis context of
having a sister whohas experienced thehumiliation of beinga single mother at
such a young agewill understand thetextMORE DEEPLY
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION
MEANING FOCUS TEXT HISTORYPERSONAL
WORLDLITERAL
World of Text
AUTHOR WorldBEHIND the
Text
TEXT WorldBEFORE the
text
PERSONAL World of theREADER
FULL ALL of the
ABOVE
EXCLUSIVE
SECONDARY PRIMARY
PRIMARY SECONDARY
EXCLUSIVE
PRIMARY SECONDARY SECONDARY
X X
X
X
X Xrelativist
relativist
absolutist
evaluativist
evaluativistTuesday, August 6, 13
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There is no way you can read the Bible as Scripture ifyou havent learned to read it as Literature
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There are many things in theBible to make a claim; and usethe same Bible to make a
contrary claim.
There has to be a full appreciation of the genre, of themeaning of the text, and author in order to arrive at amore valid and rich reading/interpretation of the Scripture
So it depends. You cant just saythat the Bible is the evidence of
something because everythingis interpreted