Certainly a great paper, Ted; I see how you like it for student use. I'll
put it on my list of things to share. It reminds me of the discussion of
Genesis in Falk's Coming to Peace with Science.
But I predict, if I shared it with the largely literalist members of my
church, I'd get the following questions.
1) Is a "literal" interpretation of Noah's Flood similarly "inappropriate,
misleading and unworkable?" What about the Plagues and the Exodus? How do
you stop yourself from falling into the trap of declaring the entire Bible
non-literal, including the miracles and resurrection of Jesus?
2) What about New Testament passages (1 Cor 15:22, I Tim 2:13, Matt 24:37)
that refer to the stories of Adam and Noah as if they were literal and
historically true events?
__
Louise M. Freeman, PhD
Psychology Dept
Mary Baldwin College
Staunton, VA 24401
540-887-7326
FAX 540-887-7121
Ted responds:
I would say that one person who bothered to read Genesis in light of what
we know about the ancient Near East is Conray Hyers, whose essay "Dinosaur
Religion" greatly helps my students to understand the importance of cultural
context and literary genre for doing biblical hermeneutics. This is my
NUMBER ONE recommended article on origins issues, bar none. I put it above
articles by scientists, historians, philosophers, theologians, and other
biblical scholars.
It's also one of our own--ie, an article from PSCF. It ought to be getting
thousands of annual hits, but sadly it is not very well known.
Here it is:
http://www.asa3.org/aSA/PSCF/1984/JASA9-84Hyers.html
ted
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Received on Tue Jan 30 15:36:59 2007
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