Robert Karl Gnuse
Список книг автора Robert Karl GnuseThe Elohist
Though many Old Testament scholars prefer no longer to speak of the Elohist source in the Pentateuch, Gnuse seeks to defend the existence of this pentateuchal tradition by responding to scholarly critics, isolating texts belonging to the source and offering a theological assessment of these texts. Dream reports in ancient Near Eastern texts from the seventh and sixth centuries BCE bear striking familiarity with the biblical dream reports in the Elohist. Prophetic narratives in the books of Samuel and Kings appear to have inspired the subsequent creation of the Elohist narratives in the Pentateuch. Thus, Gnuse situates the Elohist tradition in the seventh century BCE after the fall of the state of Israel in the north in 722 BCE, which is a later date than scholars have attributed to this source in the past. Because of this setting the Elohist texts may be assessed differently than they have been in the past. The texts might have spoken to exiles from the northern state with themes that bespeak devotion to one God, hope of restoration, and absolute obedience to a transcendent deity who is revealed through dreams, fire, and prophets. The author also ponders what these texts say to our modern age.
Trajectories of Justice
The Bible proclaims a message of liberation. Though the Bible arose in an age when slavery and patriarchalism permeated society, the biblical authors sought to elevate the rights of slaves, the poor, and women. Their attempts to elevate the oppressed set in motion a trajectory of evolution, which we should still be advancing today. Critics of the Bible declare that it accepts slavery and the subordination of women, but they fail to understand the biblical texts in their historical context. For their age the biblical authors were advanced in their understanding of human rights, and the democratic values we hold today actually resulted from their early attempts to affirm the dignity and rights of slaves and women. It is equally important that we critique those spokespersons of the church who quote the Bible literally but have lost sight of its historical context so that they might still subordinate women today. Such spokespersons also declare that the Bible condemns homosexuality. But a closer reading of the text discerns that those few passages that address same-sex relations actually condemn rape, ritual prostitution, and master-slave relations. To use the Bible to condemn people often is to misuse the Bible.
Misunderstood Stories
Narratives in Genesis 1-11 have been misunderstood in many ways, but they especially have been used to oppress women and African Americans and to present a God of wrath and judgment. This commentary seeks to explain the real message behind those narratives, which is one that speaks of human dignity and equality, that affirms monotheism, that criticizes kings and tyrants, that declares our oneness with the animal realm and nature, and that proclaims a powerful message of divine grace with a deity personally involved in the human world. Humor may also be found in some of these stories. These biblical passages can be best explicated by close reading as well as by knowledge of comparable stories from the ancient Near East and from the classical world, and finally by knowledge of the concomitant social and political values connected with those other myths and narratives.