The Bible in a World Context: An Experiment in Contextual Hermeneutics

by Dietrich, Walter

• ISBN13: 9780802849885
• ISBN10: 0802849881
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-01
• Publisher: Lightning Source Inc

Summary

In the West, the Bible is largely read and studied abstractly, without context. This is unfortunate since the meaning and value of Scripture are rooted, first, in the contextual situations of its readers. The West has much to learn from voices in places like Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where people are reading and studying the Bible in direct relation to the often trying circumstances of their daily lives.

The Bible in a World Context is an engaging work that offers a fresh look at the subjects of Bible reading and hermeneutics from a global perspective. Three rising scholars representing three distinct geographical regions each contribute to the volume a programmatic essay on hermeneutics and a shorter Bible study on Luke 2:1-20, the account of Jesus' birth. In showing the role that context plays in interpretation, these chapters demonstrate a contextual hermeneutics that brings familiar biblical texts to life in new and important ways.

Author Biography

Walter Dietrich is professor of Old Testament at the University of Bern, Switzerland Ulrich Luz is professor of New Testament at the University of Bern, Switzerland

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
THREE PROGRAMMATIC STUDIES IN CONTEXTUAL HERMENEUTICS
Reading the Bible under a Sky without Stars	3	(14)
Elsa Tamez
Inculturation Hermeneutics: An African Approach to Biblical Interpretation	17	(16)
Justin Ukpong
Ego and Self in the New Testament and in Zen	33	(20)
Seiichi Yagi
IN THOSE DAYS A DECREE WAS ISSUED BY THE EMPEROR AUGUSTUS...: THREE CONTEXTUAL BIBLE STUDIES ON LUKE 2
A Star Illuminates the Darkness	53	(6)
Elsa Tamez
The Story of Jesus' Birth (Luke 1-2): An African Reading	59	(12)
Justin Ukpong
Mary and Maya	71	(6)
Seiichi Yagi
Instead of a Conclusion: Theological Astronomy --- a Parable	77
Walter Dietrich