Category Archives: Blog

The texts of the New Testament were authored over a much shorter period of time and thus were not subject to a large amount of redaction. However, manuscript evidence does point to differences between copies of the texts mostly due to scribal error, explanations, additions and/or deletions. These textual variants have mostly minimal effect onContinue reading “New Testament Polyphony Explained”

Many attempt to explain the polyphonic nature of the biblical texts as follows: “The Bible is not a book that was written by a single author. It is a small library, a collection of diverse books that were written by different people, in different places, at different times, for different audiences, and even in differentContinue reading “Factors Which Produced Biblical Polyphony”

What might come as a surprise to many conservative evangelical and fundamentalist readers of the Bible is that numerous evangelical, open, and open and relational authors also see the biblical anthology (including both Old and New Testaments) as being polyphonic in nature. Clark Pinnock, in his much debated and highly influential book, Most Moved Mover:Continue reading “Pinnock and Held-Evans on Biblical Polyphony”

Jewish theologians often emphasize the polyphonic nature of the Hebrew Bible. Marc Zvi Brettler notes that numerous Christian theologians have come to the conclusion that the biblical texts are polyphonic and states, “Jewish theological work reaches conclusions similar to those reached by these scholars [i.e., Christian scholars] but for different reasons—reasons connected to the premiseContinue reading “Jewish Theologians and Biblical Polyphony”

[Note: Walter Brueggemann and Terence Fretheim are two of the most internationally respected Old Testament scholars of the 20th and early 21st centuries.] In regard to defining polyphony Mihai Handaric states, “Polyphony refers to the dialogue that is established between several voices in society, which demand to be listened and accepted. … Mihail Bakhtin helpsContinue reading “Brueggemann and Fretheim on Biblical Polyphony”

Bible Nerd Alert — Some heady thoughts regarding… Smith, Christian. The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2012. In Part 1 of the book—comprising the first four chapters—Smith, a Harvard University sociology professor, does an excellent job explaining biblicism and its “impossibility” inContinue reading “The Bible Made Impossible”

When researching “all things biblical” the BEST is to read the primary literature either first or in connection with secondary literature. In spite of having read the biblical texts many times and digging deep into various individual texts and pursuing various themes, it is amazing to me how, after 45 plus years, there is stillContinue reading ““All Things Biblical” Primary Sources”

3.0  Τὰ Βιβλία – Persistently Polyphonic “I accept diversity among the biblical witnesses and recognize the dialogical character of the Bible. … The Bible does not speak with a single voice; there is dialogue between the different voices. The writings contain a long and complex search for the mind of God and in this struggleContinue reading “My Dissertation, The Next Chapter—A Preview”

Note: Thanks for reading this far. You must be a bit of a nerd regarding “all things biblical,” like me. This is the final instalment for this chapter of my dissertation. I will not be posting instalments of the draft of a second chapter for a few months, as I’m still in the researching stageContinue reading “The Implications of Persistent Biblical Pluriformity (4)”

Persistent Pluriformity and the “Canonical Approach” Many evangelical and fundamentalist biblical scholars and theologians are bothered by what they refer to as the “atomization” of the Bible which, they claim, has resulted from over reliance on both the historical-critical hermeneutic and the work of textual criticism.[1] Believing that the canon of texts was brought togetherContinue reading “The Implications of Persistent Biblical Pluriformity (3)”