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Imprecation as Divine Discourse

By: Kit Barker
Format: Soft cover

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Description:

Speech Act Theory, Dual Authorship, and Theological Interpretation
Journal of Theological Interpretation Supplement 16

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Christian readers of the Hebrew Bible are often faced with a troubling tension. On the one hand, they are convinced that this ancient text is relevant today, but on the other, they remain perplexed at how this can be so, particularly when parts of it appear to condone violence. Kit Barker’s volume seeks to address this tension in two parts: (1) by defending a particular form of theological interpretation and (2) by applying this interpretive method to the imprecatory psalms.

Barker suggests that the goal of theological interpretation is to discover God’s voice in the text. While he recognizes that this goal could encourage a subjective methodology, Barker offers a hermeneutic that clearly locates God’s voice in the text of Scripture. Utilizing the resources of speech act theory, Barker notes that texts convey meaning at a number of literary levels and that God’s appropriation of speech acts at these levels is not necessarily uniform for each genre. He also discusses how the Christian canon alters the context of these ancient speech acts, both reshaping and enabling their continued function as divine discourse. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this hermeneutic, Barker offers theological interpretations of Psalms 69 and 137. He demonstrates how Christological fulfilment and the call to forgive one’s enemies are determinative for a theological interpretation of these troubling psalms, concluding that they continue to form an essential part of God’s voice that must not be ignored.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part 1. In Pursuit of Theological Interpretation
Chapter 1. Speech Act Theory
Chapter 2. Dual Authorship
Chapter 3. Speech Act Theory, Dual Authorship and Canonical Hermeneutics

Part 2. Theological Interpretation and the Psalter
Chapter 4. The Divine Illocutions of the Psalter in Its Old Testament Context
Chapter 5. The Theological Interpretation of Imprecatory Psalms
Chapter 6. A Theological Interpretation of Psalm 137
Chapter 7. A Theological Interpretation Of Psalm 69

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Authors and Subject
Index of Scripture

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