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James Barr Professor James Barr (1924-2006) was one of the most important Hebrew and Old Testament scholars of the twentieth century. His books included The Semantics of Biblical Language (1961); Fundamentalism (1977); The Typology of Literalism (1979); The Scope and Authority of the Bible (1981); Holy Scripture: Canon, Authority, Criticism (1983); and History and Ideology in the Old Testament (2000). He held professorships at Edinburgh University (1956-1961), Princeton Theological Seminary (1961-1965), and Manchester University (1965-1976), before taking up the role of Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1976-1978, and Regius Professor of Hebrew from 1978-1989. From 1989-1998 he was Professor of Hebrew at Vanderbilt University, TN. John Barton is Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford. Ernest Nicholson is Emeritus Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford. BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION Bible and Interpretation: The Collected Essays of James Barr Volume I: Interpretation and Theology Edited by JOHN BARTON OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXPORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, 0X2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © The Estate of James Barr, 2013 Introduction © John Barton, 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available ISBN 978-0-19-969288-0 Printed by the CPI Group (UK) Ltd Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work The Collected Essays are reproduced by permission of their original publishers. For publishers acknowledgements please refer to the detailed list of contents. Foreword JOHN BARTON When James Barr died in 2006 he had begun to collect many of his occasional papers for publication in three volumes, and had a contract for this with Oxford University Press. Mrs Jane Barr asked me to take over the task of preparing the material for publication, which it has been a privilege to do. I am very grateful to her for providing a number of offprints of articles hard to find elsewhere. I had a lot of help also from Dr Carly Crouch in chasing up and copying jour­ nal articles, and am indebted to her for this. Not everything that James had listed could be located, but there are only a few gaps in the intended collec­ tion. I have slightly adjusted his original division into volumes to equalize the lengths, which is why the articles on fundamentalism are in Volume 2, rather than in Volume 1 where they might be expected. In other respects the order is as he intended it. I have written a short introduction to each volume to bring out salient fea­ tures of the collection. A number of colleagues suggested that there should be a biography, and accordingly the first volume is prefaced with a shortened ver­ sion of the Memoir written by Professor Ernest Nicholson and me for the Brit­ ish Academy. I am grateful to the Academy for permission to use it. Thanks are due to the editors at the Oxford University Press, Tom Perridge and Lizzie Robottom, and to the production team for their commitment to the large task of producing these volumes: hardly any of the material was available in electronic form, so all has had to be reset from scratch. John Barton Oriel College, Oxford March 2013 Contents Detailed Contents ix James Barr Remembered by Ernest Nicholson & John Barton xiii Introduction to Volume I by John Barton 1 Part I. Biblical Interpretation and Biblical Theology 1. Does Biblical Study Still Belong to Theology? 7 2. Biblical Scholarship and The Unity of the Church 17 3. Historical Reading and the Theological Interpretation of Scripture 28 4. The Bible as a Document of Believing Communities 46 5. Some Thoughts on Narrative, Myth, and Incarnation 65 6. Reading the Bible as Literature 74 7. Divine Action and Hebrew Wisdom 92 8. Biblical Scholarship and the Theory of Truth 102 9. Literality 111 10. Exegesis as a Theological Discipline Reconsidered, and the Shadow of the Jesus of History 127 11. Biblical Criticism as Theological Enlightenment 156 12. Jowett and the Reading of the Bible ‘Like Any Other Book’ 169 13. The Bible as a Political Document 198 14. Revelation Through History in the Old Testament and in Modern Theology 215 15. Semantics and Biblical Theology—a Contribution to the Discussion 226 16. Story and History in Biblical Theology 233 17. Biblical Theology 249 18. Biblical Theology and Revelation in History: Two Dictionary Definitions 256 19. Trends and Prospects in Biblical Theology 280 20. The Theological Case against Biblical Theology 297 21. Some Problems in the Search for a Pan-Biblical Theology 311 22. Predictions and Surprises: A Response to Walter Brueggemanns Review 323 viii Contents Part II. Authority of Scripture 23. Has the Bible any Authority? 347 24. Biblical Hermeneutics in Ecumenical Discussion 357 25. The Authority of Scripture 363 26. Scriptural Proof 371 27. The Authority of Scripture: The Book of Genesis and the Origin of Evil in Jewish and Christian Tradition 376 28. A Review of William J. Abraham, Divine Revelation and the Limits of Historical Criticism 390 PartHI. Judaism 29. Judaism—Its Continuity with the Bible 397 PartIV. NaturalTheology 30. Biblical Faith and Natural Theology 411 31. Mowinckel, the Old Testament, and the Question of Natural Theology 424 32. Biblical Law and the Question of Natural Theology 441 33. Greek Culture and the Question of Natural Theology 458 34. Ancient Biblical Laws and Modern Human Rights 470 Part V. Environing Religions 35. Philo of Byblos and his ‘Phoenician History* 483 36. The Question of Religious Influence: The Case of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity 515 37. The Language of Religion 546 Index 557 Detailed Contents James Barr Remembered by Ernest Nicholson and John Barton xiii Introduction to Volume I by John Barton 1 Part I. Biblical Interpretation and Biblical Theology 1. ‘Does Biblical Study Still Belong to Theology?’ Inaugural Lecture, Oxford, 26 May 1977, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1978; reprinted in Explorations in Theology 7: The Scope and Authority of the Bible, London: SCM 1980, pp. 18-29 7 2. ‘Biblical Scholarship and The Unity of the Church’ 19th lecture of the R. T. Orr Visitorship; London, Ontario: Huron College 1989 17 3. ‘Historical Reading and the Theological Interpretation of Scripture Explorations in Theology 7: The Scope and Authority of the Bible London: SCM 1980, pp. 30-51 28 4. ‘The Bible as a Document of Believing Communities H. D. Betz (ed.), The Bible as a Document of the University: Three Essays, Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press 1980; reprinted in Explorations in Theology 7: The Scope and Authority of the Bible London: SCM 1980, pp. 111-33 46 5. ‘Some Thoughts on Narrative, Myth, and Incarnation A. E. Harvey (ed.), God Incarnate: Story and Belief London: SPCK 1981, pp. 14-23 65 6. ‘Reading the Bible as Literature Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 56,1973-4, pp. 10-33 74 7. ‘Divine Action and Hebrew Wisdom’ S. Coakley and D. Pailin (eds), The Making and Remaking of Christian Doctrine: Essays in Honour of Maurice Wilesy Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1 -12 92 8. ‘Biblical Scholarship and the Theory of Truth’ V. Collado Bertomeu (ed.), Palabray Prodigioy Poesia: In Memoriam P Luis Alonso Schokel S./., Rome: Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico; Javea (Alicante): Huerto de Ensenanzas (Alas), 2003, pp. 365-73 102 X Detailed Contents 9. ‘Literality’ Faith and Philosophy 6,1989, pp. 412-28 111 10. ‘Exegesis as a Theological Discipline Reconsidered, and the Shadow of the Jesus of History’ Donald G. Miller (ed.), The Hermeneutical Quest: Essays in Honor of fames Luther Mays, Allsion Park: Pickwick 1986, pp. 11-45 127 11. ‘Biblical Criticism as Theological Enlightenment’ (‘Bibelkritik als theologische Aufklarung’) T. Rendtorff (ed.), Glaube und Toleranz: Das theologische Erbe der Aufklarung, Giitersloh 1982, pp. 30-42 156 12. ‘Jowett and the Reading of the Bible “Like Any Other Book” ’ Horizons in Biblical Theology All-511,1983, pp. 1-44 169 13. ‘The Bible as a Political Document’ Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 62,1979-80, pp. 268-89 198 14. ‘Revelation Through History in the Old Testament and in Modern Theology’ Interpretation 17,1963, pp. 193-205 215 15. ‘Semantics and Biblical Theology—a Contribution to the Discussion Vetus Testamentum Supplements 22,1972, pp. 11-19 226 16. ‘Story and History in Biblical Theology’ Journal of Religion 56,1976, pp. 1-17 233 17. ‘BiblicalTheology’ E. Fahlbusch (ed.), Evangelisches Kirchenlexicon, Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, vol. 1,1985, cols. 488-94; tr, The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans 1999, vol. l,pp. 246-51 249 18. ‘Biblical Theology and Revelation in History: Two Dictionary Definitions’ Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible supplement volume, Nashville: Abingdon 1976, pp. 104-11 and 746-9 256 19. ‘Trends and Prospects in Biblical Theology’ Journal of Theological Studies 25,1974, pp. 265-82 280 20. ‘The Theological Case against Biblical Theology’ G. Tucker et al. (eds), Canon, Theology and Old Testament Interpretation, Philadelphia: Fortress 1988, pp. 3-19 297 21. ‘Some Problems in the Search for a Pan-Biblical Theology’ P. Hanson, B. Janowski, and M. Welker, Biblische Theologie, Munster: LIT Verlag, 2005, pp. 31-42 311

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