The Bible in history : how the texts have shaped the times

469 Pages·2007·2.421 MB·English

by  Kling, David William

The Bible in History
The Bible in History
How the Texts Have Shaped the Times

DAVID W. KLING
Oxford New York
Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai
Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright © 2004 by David W. Kling

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kling, David William, 1950–
The Bible in history: how the texts have shaped the times / David W. Kling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-513008-1
1. Bible—Influence. 2. Church history. I. Title
BS538.7.K55 2004
220’.09—dc21 2003012106
“The Four Moments of Lectio Divina” from Sacred Reading: The Art of
Lectio Divina by Michael Casey. Liguori Publications, 1995. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted or within a quoted source, all Scripture quotations
contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©
1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
To Gordon S. Kling Sr.
&
To the memory of E. Regina Kling
Contents

Introduction
1. “Follow Me”: Anthony and the Rise of Monasticism
2. “Upon This Rock”: Peter and the Papacy
3. “Let Him Kiss Me with the Kisses of His Mouth!”: Bernard and the Song
of Songs
4. “The Righteous Will Live by Faith”: Luther’s Search for a Gracious God
5. “Love Your Enemies”: Anabaptists and the Peace Tradition
6. “Let My People Go”: Exodus in the African American Experience
7. “Filled with the Holy Spirit”: The Roots of Pentecostalism
8. “One in Christ Jesus”: Women’s Ministry and Ordination
Conclusion
Notes
General Index
Index of Scripture
Acknowledgments

As the reader will observe from textual references and endnotes, this work is
greatly indebted to the scholarship of others. It is also indebted to the
suggestions, insights, and assistance of numerous other people. Apart from my
own earlier ruminations on this project (discussed in the introduction), an
impetus for this book came in 1994 from John Corrigan, whose manuscript draft
of the “Christianity” section in the subsequently published Jew, Christians,
Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions (Prentice-Hall,
1998) I was asked to review. Corrigan’s attention to the role of Scripture in the
history of Christianity, though not extensive, meshed with my own embryonic
thoughts about the role of Scripture in Christian history. I wondered, could a
more comprehensive story of the Bible’s influence in Christian history be told in
a way that would at once blend history and hermeneutics? Could I offer some
insight into why a particular biblical text came to the fore, was given a particular
interpretation, and subsequently influenced the course of Christian history? What
follows, of course, is an answer to these and many other questions raised by the
readers and listeners of presentations of this book in its various stages of
development.
I first tried out the general shape of this book in two settings—an
ecclesiastical and an academic. For listening patiently to underdeveloped ideas
and prodding greater clarity of expression, I thank the participants in a 1996
adult education class at Immanuel Presbyterian Church (Miami) and students in
a 1998 fall seminar at the University of Miami. Among the latter, I gratefully
acknowledge the indulgence of Glaister Brown, Scott Chadda, Jessica Gilbride,
Kateri Hilton, Nathan Novak, Kristen Oostdyk, Jenny Reider, and Renata
Schwedhelm. Another student, Sarah Thompson Chule, rendered helpful
bibliographic assistance and commented on several chapters. Thanks also to
Alex Cuenca, my student assistant, for reconfiguring the manuscript to conform
to the guidelines of Oxford University Press.
A number of colleagues, known and unknown to me personally, took time
away from their own work to lend assistance. For adding conceptual clarity to
this project, I thank Mark Noll and several anonymous readers for Oxford
University Press. Henry Green, Dexter Callender, Nancy Hardesty, Daniel Pals,
Willard Swartley, and Michael Westmoreland-White offered bibliographic
suggestions and/or clarifications on portions of chapters. Bernard McGinn,
Mickey Mattox, Douglas Sweeney, Martin Marty, J. Denny Weaver, Stuart
Murray, Arnold Snyder, Will Coleman, and Douglas Jacobsen read and
commented upon individual chapters. I have also benefitted from conversations
with long-time friends Bruce Hultgren and David and Margo Miller.
To three scholars and friends who read the entire manuscript, I express my
heartfelt thanks. In his usual timely and efficient manner, Craig Blomberg
offered balanced judgments and bibliographic suggestions. I am especially
grateful to two colleagues in the Department of Religious Studies at the
University of Miami. With the eye of an assiduous editor, Stephen Sapp combed
through the entire manuscript and saved me from infelicities in grammar and
diction. John Fitzgerald plunged me deeper into the complex world of biblical
scholarship, offered extensive, thought-provoking comments, saved me from
embarrassing blunders, and heightened my respect for his own field of biblical
studies.
The staffs of several libraries answered queries and offered much-needed
assistance. Thanks to the library personnel and specialists at St. John Vianney
College Seminary (Miami), Western Michigan University, Associated Mennonite
Biblical Seminary, and especially the University of Miami, whose staff
processed hundreds of interlibrary loan requests.
Several other people and institutions deserve special thanks for their
encouragement and largesse. I probably would not have written this book if it
were not for Cynthia Read of Oxford University Press, whose enthusiastic
endorsement of this project in its prospectus stage enabled me to work with the
confidence that what I was doing would eventually appear in print. I could have
not sustained this project without the financial assistance of several granting
agencies. The University of Miami supported this work through a summer Max
Orovitz Research Grant and a General Research Grant for travel. I am especially
grateful to the Lilly Endowment–funded Louisville Institute for its generous
Christian Faith and Life Sabbatical Grant that enabled me to devote the 1999–
2000 academic year to this project.
Family members did not contribute anything directly to this work, but I have
been sustained by their love in the realization that the meaning of human
relationships far exceeds the meaning of texts. Parents-in-law Gordon and
Phyllis Bacon deserve special recognition for their care and support through the
years. Thanks to my children—Elizabeth Corson and son-in-law Jack Corson,
Justin Kling, Phillip Kyrk, and Hannah Kling—for enriching life in so many
ways and offering a welcomed respite from “another day at the office.” A thank
you hardly expresses appreciation to my wife, Barbara, who has graced my life
and on numerous occasions adjusted her busy schedule to accommodate my
scholarship.
This book is dedicated to parents whose call to serve and minister in the
Christian church inspired me in the pursuit of another, though not unrelated,
calling. It is to them that I owe my first exposure to the Bible.