The Return of Oral Hermeneutics: As Good Today as It Was for the Hebrew Bible and First-Century Christianity

Description

Have Western exegetes turned an Eastern book into a Western one? Has our fondness for a fixed printed text capable of being analyzed with precision and exactitude blinded us to other hermeneutic possibilities? Does God require all people to be able to analyze grammar to interpret Scripture? Does God assume all people can interpret Scripture through oral means? The authors recognize the effects of centuries of literacy socialization that produced a blind spot in the Western Christian world—the neglect by most in the academies, agencies, and assemblies of the foundational and forceful role orality had on the biblical text and teaching. From the inspired spoken word of the prophets, including Jesus (pre-text), to the elite literate scribes who painstakingly hand-printed the sacred text, to post-text interpretation and teaching, the footprint of orality throughout the entire process is acutely visible to those having the oral-aural influenced eyes of the Mediterranean ancients.Could oral hermeneutics be the “mother of relational theology”? Title Page Foreword Preface Abbreviations Setting the Stage Part 1: Demonstrations Chapter 1: Elisha and the Widow’s Oil Chapter 2: Reflections on the Elisha Story Part 2: Propositions Chapter 3: Orality’s Influence on Text and Teaching Chapter 4: Oral Hermeneutics Chapter 5: Hebrew Hermeneutics Chapter 6: Character Theology Chapter 7: Questioning Our Questions Chapter 8: Reflections Part 3: Echoes Chapter 9: Elisha and General Naaman Chapter 10: Reflections on the Elisha Story Concluding Reflections Glossary Appendix A: Three Communication Eras Appendix B: The Continuum between Reading and Listening Appendix C: Alter’s Oral-Textual Parameters Appendix D: The Quintessential Characters, Stories, and Texts of the Old Testament Appendix E: The Wise Counselor Story Bibliography