Form Criticism Of Rabbinic Literature

This book brings together the contributions of the foremost specialists on the relationship of the New Testament and Rabbinic Literature. They present the history of scholarship and deal with the main methodological issues, and analyze both legal and literary problems.

In Midrash and Theory, David Stern presents an approach to midrashic literature through the prism of contemporary theory. As midrash--the literature of classical Jewish Scriptural interpretation--has become the focus of new interest in contemporary literary circles, it has been invoked as a precursor of post-structuralist theory and criticism. At the same time, the midrashic imagination has undergone a revival in the larger Jewish community and shown itself capable of exercising a powerful influence and hold on a new type of contemporary Jewish writing. Stern examines this resurgence of fascination with ancient Jewish interpretation from the persepctive of the cultural relevance of midrash and its connection to its original historical and literary contexts.

This magnum opus is not another catalogue of the forms of biblical literature, but a deeply reflected account of the significance of form itself. Buss writes out of his experience in Western philosophy and the intricate involvement of biblical criticism in philosophical history. Equally, biblical criticism and the development of notions of form are related to social contexts, whether from the side of the aristocracy (tending towards generality) or of the bourgeois (tending towards particularity) or of an inclusive society (favouring a relational view). Form criticism, in Buss's conception, is no mere formal exercise, but the observation of interrelationships among thoughts and moods, linguistic regularities and the experiences and activities of life. This work, with its many examples from both Testaments, will be fundamental for Old and New Testament scholars alike.

These eighteen pieces have been commissioned to provide a succinct yet comprehensive guide to the best of recent evangelical thinking about how the New Testament is to be interpreted, so that it may speak most clearly to today's world. The need for such a handbook can be felt more keenly as on the one side a secularized world dismisses the biblical faith as outmoded, unworkable, and unsatisfying; and, on the other, numerous Christian communities, committed to taking that faith with ultimate seriousness, are driven by controversies about how to read and understand the Bible. Following the editor's introduction, in which I. Howard Marshall examines a familiar New Testament passage in order to exemplify the problems and rewards that await the careful interpreter, the essays are arranged under four headings, beginning with overviews of the history of New Testament study and the role of the interpreter's presuppositions in this enterprise; then going on to discuss the various critical tools, the methods of exegesis, and the application of the New Testament to the faith and life of the contemporary reader. An annotated bibliography concludes the presentation. Because the issues involved here have too often been ignored in many quarters, more than one approach to or opinion about a given matter may surface in these essays; yet, undergirding this diversity is the author's shared conviction, as conservative evangelicals with a high regard for the authority of Holy Scripture, that we are called upon to study the Bible with the full use of our minds. As the editor writes, The passages which we interpret must be the means through which God speaks to men and women today. Our belief in the inspiration of the Bible is thus a testimony that New Testament exegesis is not just a problem; it is a real possibility. God can and does speak to men through even the most ignorant of expositors of his Word. At the same time he calls us on to devote ourselves to his Word and use every resource to make its message the more clear.

Surveying the corpus of rabbinic literature, written in Hebrew and Aramaic and which contains the foundations of Judaism, in particular the Talmud, this book explains why the character of the texts is crucial to an understanding of rabbinic thought, and why they pose problems to modern, Western-educated readers.

David Stern shows how the parable or mashal--the most distinctive type of narrative in midrash--was composed, how its symbolism works, and how it serves to convey the ideological convictions of the rabbis. He describes its relation to similar tales in other literatures, including the parables of Jesus in the New Testament and kabbalistic parables. Through its innovative approach to midrash, this study reaches beyond its particular subject, and will appeal to all readers interested in narrative and religion.

The existence of suffering poses an obvious problem for the monotheistic religions. Why does an all-powerful, benevolent God allow humans to suffer? And given that God does, what is the appropriate human response? In modern times Jewish theologians in particular, faced with the enormity of the Holocaust, have struggled to come to grips with these issues. In Responses to Suffering in Classical Rabbinic Literature, David Kraemer offers the first comprehensive history of teachings related to suffering in rabbinic literature of the ancient world. The age of formative Judaism was filled with suffering for its people. From the conquering of Palestine by Rome, and the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem, to persecution at the hands of Hadrian, Jewish faith in a just and merciful God was tested repeatedly. The seemingly unjustified affliction elicited varying responses from rabbis. Beginning with the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.), Kraemer examines traditions on suffering, divine justice, national catastrophe, and the like, in all major rabbinic works of late antiquity. The earliest rabbinic works, Kraemer shows, adhere to the "orthodox" biblical opinion which sees suffering as punishment for sins. But rabbis quickly began to record other explanations and responses. Palestinian rabbinic tradition, even at the end of this period, condemns any who would question or deny God's justice. In contrast, the Babylonian Talmud permits such questioning, itself giving voice to lengthy deliberations which reject the efficacy of suffering and question the justice of some suffering which humans are forced to endure. Bringing to bear recent methods in the history of religions, literary criticism, canonical criticism, and the sociology of religion, Kraemer offers an analysis of the development of attitudes that are central to and remain contemporary concerns of any religious society.

The Oxford Handbooks series is a major new initiative in academic publishing. Each volume offers an authoritative and up-to-date survey of original research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned essays from leading figures in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates. Biblical studies is a highly technical and diverse field. Study of the Bible demands expertise in fields ranging from Archaeology, Egyptology, Assyriology, and Linguistics through textual, historical, and sociological studies to Literary Theory, Feminism, Philosophy, and Theology, to name only some. This authoritative and compelling guide to the discipline will, therefore, be an invaluable reference work for all students and academics who want to explore more fully essential topics in Biblical studies.