Texts Reading Texts, Sacred and Secular: Two Postmodern Perspectives PDF
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l i b r a r y o f n e w t e s t a m e n t s t u d i e s TEXTS READING TEXTS, SACRED AND SECULAR ALISION M. JACK JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SUPPLEMENT SERIES 179 Executive Editor Stanley E. Porter Editorial Board David Catchpole, R. Alan Culpepper, Margaret Davies, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Stephen Fowl, Robert Fowler, Robert Jewett, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Robert W. Wall Sheffield Academic Press Texts Reading Texts, Sacred and Secular Alison M. Jack Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 179 This book is dedicated to the memory of Carol Kellas, friend and scholar Copyright © 1999 Sheffield Academic Press Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd Mansion House 19 Kingfield Road Sheffield SI 1 9AS England Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library EISBN 9781850759546 CONTENTS Preface 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 10 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 11 Parti MARGINALIZATION Chapter 2 HOGG'S READINGS OF THE BIBLE 38 Chapter 3 REVELATION READING THE HEBREW BIBLE 75 Part II DECONSTRUCTION Chapter 4 READING THE CONFESSIONS DECONSTRUCTIVELY 126 Chapter 5 READING REVELATION DECONSTRUCTIVELY 167 Chapter 6 CONCLUSION 205 Appendix 1: Genesis Rabbah 19.9 and 19.10 210 Appendix 2: 4Q385 Second Ezekiel 2 212 Bibliography 213 Index of References 228 Index of Authors 233 PREFACE The language, themes and imagery of the Bible have been read and re- written in texts across time. In the Revelation of John, the Hebrew Bible echoes and is reinvented, just as, in James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824), many explicit and implicit readings and interpretations of the Bible are offered. In this book, these readings of the Bible, and the ways in which Revelation and Hogg's Confessions have themselves been read, are considered from two postmodern perspectives. The validity of reading the Bible as literature is defended in the Introduction to the book by demonstrating that many of the problems that might prevent such a reading, such as the multiplicity of available manuscripts and the undefined role of the author/editor, also have to be overcome by those working in the field of literary studies. In the fol- lowing chapters I suggest that postmodern ideas of marginalization and deconstruction offer new contexts in which to read both Revelation and Hogg's Confessions. In Part 1 (Chapters 2 and 3), I argue that readings of the Confessions that are sensitive to the 'ex-centricities' of the text enable new readings of Revelation from the same perspective. In Part 2 (Chapters 4 and 5), I suggest that readings of Revelation from the per- spective of deconstruction open up new possibilities for readings of the Confessions. Chapter 2 argues that Hogg's understanding of the Bible and its interpretations may be regarded as marginal in a postmodern sense. Readings of the Bible offered in the Confessions, and in other examples of Hogg's work, demonstrate this 'ex-centricity'. When, in Chapter 3, Revelation is read in a way that highlights its marginalized status within society, its readings of the Hebrew Bible take on new significance. Both texts are shown to offer readings that are subversive and sceptical of the claims of the dominant master narratives of their time. The insights of postmodernism illuminate these previously silenced 'ex-centricities'. 8 Texts Reading Texts, Sacred and Secular In Part 2, various modern readings of Revelation and the Confessions are discussed, and their inadequacies are demonstrated from the per- spective of deconstruction. In Chapter 4, a reading of Revelation from the perspective of the 'abyss' makes possible a reading of the Confes- sions in which Robert's assumed culpability is questioned and Gil- Martin's role is redeemed. When the burden of explanation of every ambiguity in the novel is lifted, the horror of the text stands without any natural and supernatural explanation, and is placed within the locus of everyday experience. A new reading of Revelation is offered in Chapter 5 which foregrounds the nightmarish aspects of the text, and reconsid- ers the conflicting roles assigned to the Christ character. When Revela- tion is read as a nightmare, the text is robbed of its status as Scripture. When the text's apparent message about the necessity of choosing God over Satan is deconstructed, the boundary between the lost and the saved is blurred. Out of the context of postmodernism, new ways to approach texts have arisen. Two of these, a sensitivity to a text's marginalized status and deconstruction, have offered new ways to read both Revelation and the Confessions. Reading the two texts side by side in these ways dis- turbs and challenges traditional readings of them both. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have helped to bring this book to completion. I could not have hoped for a more interesting and interested PhD supervisor than Dr Douglas Templeton of the New Testament Department at New Col- lege. Dr Templeton's comments were always thought-provoking and to the point. In the English Literature Department, Professor Ian Campbell was hugely helpful and supportive, and pointed me in the direction of James Hogg. In Professor Campbell's sabbatical year, Dr Penny Field- ing offered constructive criticism and lots of encouragement. Dr Timo- thy Lim was a willing sounding-board while I was working on the Qumran section. As always, Professor John O'Neill showed much kindness and scholarly concern. I should like to thank my parents for their belief in my abilities, des- pite their horror at the topic I eventually chose. My husband, Paul Davies, has been supportive, caring and interested throughout, even when I was in danger of losing interest myself. Many other friends have helped by talking and listening: my thanks go especially to Catriona Morrison, Arul Dhas and Abigail Clark. I was assisted by a scholarship which enabled me to spend a week at St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, and I should like to thank the Trustees of the Library for their generosity.
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