Stephen B. Chapman provides a profound overview and analysis of the important contemporary debate about the formation of the Old Testament canon and its abiding theological significance.
The standard theory of Old Testament canon formation describes a literary process of linear development in three successive stages. In spite of intermittent criticism, the theory has continued to find its place in textbooks and introductions. Here Stephen B. Chapman marshals all of the important counter-arguments to the theory and proposes a fresh way to conceive of the canonical process, based upon evidence internal and external to the biblical text.
He argues against the standard theory by exposing its internal inconsistencies and critiquing its methodological presuppositions, especially its assumptions about human agency and the nature of 'canonization.' Using Charles Altieri's literary application of Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor's theory of the self, the author redescribes the canonization of the Old Testament as a process of 'strong evaluation', whose goal was to provide a religious framework for the evaluation of personal and communal alternatives, rather than the imposition of ideology. He redefines the Old Testament 'canon' as the theological 'grammar' formed by the coordination of discrete scriptures into a coherent collection, but retaining their plurality as integral to canonicity.
Stephen B. Chapman also demonstrates that the status of the prophetic writings prior to their canonization has remained an intractable problem for the standard theory. He shows how nomistic assumptions about canonization have sustained the view that the prophetic corpus was always subordinate to the Pentateuch, even though this view is at odds with the exegetical evidence. By detailed analysis of 'canon-conscious' editing within the Pentateuch and the prophetic corpus, he illustrates how collections of Law and Prophets developed simultaneously and mutually influenced each other.
Das Gesetz und die Propheten. Eine Studie über die Entstehung des alttestamentlichen Kanons. Von Stephen B. Chapman.
Die gängige Theorie von der Entstehung des alttestamentlichen Kanons beschreibt diese als einen literarischen Prozeß, der sich in drei aufeinanderfolgenden Stufen linear entwickelt hat. Stephen B. Chapman trägt die Gegenargumente zu dieser Theorie zusammen und entwickelt daraus seine eigene These. Er zeigt, daß der Status, den die prophetischen Schriften vor ihrer relativ späten Kanonisierung innehatten, für die gegenwärtige Forschung immer noch ein ungelöstes Problem darstellt. Anhand von detaillierten Exegesen und umfassenden historischen Analysen kommt er zu dem Ergebnis, daß die Kanonteile von 'Gesetz' und 'Propheten' gleichzeitig entstanden sind und sich gegenseitig beeinflußt haben. Außerdem zeigt er die theologischen Implikationen seiner These für den gegenwärtigen jüdisch-christlichen Dialog auf.
Stephen B. Chapman: Born 1962; 1990 Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School; 1990 Ordination in the American Baptist Churches, USA; 1995 Master of Philosophy at Yale University; 1995-96 Whiting Research Fellow; 1998 Ph.D. at Yale University; since 1997 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Tübingen.
Main audience: Scholars of Religion, Literature, Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, New Testament, Jewish-Christian Relations; corresponding institutes and libraries.
The standard theory of Old Testament canon formation describes a literary process of linear development in three successive stages. In spite of intermittent criticism, the theory has continued to find its place in textbooks and introductions. Here Stephen B. Chapman marshals all of the important counter-arguments to the theory and proposes a fresh way to conceive of the canonical process, based upon evidence internal and external to the biblical text.
He argues against the standard theory by exposing its internal inconsistencies and critiquing its methodological presuppositions, especially its assumptions about human agency and the nature of 'canonization.' Using Charles Altieri's literary application of Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor's theory of the self, the author redescribes the canonization of the Old Testament as a process of 'strong evaluation', whose goal was to provide a religious framework for the evaluation of personal and communal alternatives, rather than the imposition of ideology. He redefines the Old Testament 'canon' as the theological 'grammar' formed by the coordination of discrete scriptures into a coherent collection, but retaining their plurality as integral to canonicity.
Stephen B. Chapman also demonstrates that the status of the prophetic writings prior to their canonization has remained an intractable problem for the standard theory. He shows how nomistic assumptions about canonization have sustained the view that the prophetic corpus was always subordinate to the Pentateuch, even though this view is at odds with the exegetical evidence. By detailed analysis of 'canon-conscious' editing within the Pentateuch and the prophetic corpus, he illustrates how collections of Law and Prophets developed simultaneously and mutually influenced each other.
Das Gesetz und die Propheten. Eine Studie über die Entstehung des alttestamentlichen Kanons. Von Stephen B. Chapman.
Die gängige Theorie von der Entstehung des alttestamentlichen Kanons beschreibt diese als einen literarischen Prozeß, der sich in drei aufeinanderfolgenden Stufen linear entwickelt hat. Stephen B. Chapman trägt die Gegenargumente zu dieser Theorie zusammen und entwickelt daraus seine eigene These. Er zeigt, daß der Status, den die prophetischen Schriften vor ihrer relativ späten Kanonisierung innehatten, für die gegenwärtige Forschung immer noch ein ungelöstes Problem darstellt. Anhand von detaillierten Exegesen und umfassenden historischen Analysen kommt er zu dem Ergebnis, daß die Kanonteile von 'Gesetz' und 'Propheten' gleichzeitig entstanden sind und sich gegenseitig beeinflußt haben. Außerdem zeigt er die theologischen Implikationen seiner These für den gegenwärtigen jüdisch-christlichen Dialog auf.
Stephen B. Chapman: Born 1962; 1990 Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School; 1990 Ordination in the American Baptist Churches, USA; 1995 Master of Philosophy at Yale University; 1995-96 Whiting Research Fellow; 1998 Ph.D. at Yale University; since 1997 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Tübingen.
Main audience: Scholars of Religion, Literature, Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, New Testament, Jewish-Christian Relations; corresponding institutes and libraries.