SCIENCE MEETS BIBLICAL EXEGESIS IN THE GALILEO AFFAIR

Abstract Although Galileo's venture into theology, as discussed by McMullin, is limited to Galileo's exegesis of Scripture, it can be seen as an important element in a broader role in theology, namely in ecclesiology and in the development of doctrine. From the Council of Trent, the Reformation Council, until today there has been a development in the Church concerning the manner in which Sacred Scripture should be interpreted and as to whether it can be said to be in conflict with our scientific knowledge of nature. Galileo made a significant contribution to this development. With his telescopic observations he was, in fact, undermining the prevailing Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day and was defending the birth of modern science against a mistaken view of Scripture. The Church of his time was not prepared to accept his contribution to this theological development. What does this history have to contribute to the challenges we face today in the interactions between science and religious belief?     

读郑易管见

作者运用文字训诂方法和文献考辨方法对部分郑玄易注进行详尽疏解。通过解说郑氏易注,提出郑玄治易路数是象数、义理兼顾训诂。过去认为郑玄治易偏重象数而疏于人事,其实是一种误解。在汉代,以爻辰治《易》和以礼治《易》是郑氏易学的重要特征。郑玄解《易》不乏真知灼见,但他的解释不可能完全符合或重现《易》作者本义,只是一种依自己理解而形成的一家之言。     

Resurrection Debates: Qur'anic Discourse and Arabic Christian Apology

Abstract :  That God will raise the dead is a conviction of Christians and Muslims alike. The Qur'an proclaims and defends the reality of the general resurrection; Christian theologians who lived in the Islamic world attempted to make an apology for the career of Jesus by narrating it as a divine demonstration of that reality. This article provides an exegesis of the resurrection-discourse of one surah of the Qur'an; summarizes a Christian-Muslim discussion about the death and resurrection of Jesus from the ninth century; and offers suggestions for how Christians and Muslims might learn from one another in the 21^st century.     

论《易经》非占筮记录

自20世纪初古史辨运动兴起,易学界受科学主义思潮影响,多视"经"为卜筮记录,"传"为哲理新创,"经"与"传"必须分别而观,不可以以"经"释"传",亦不可以以"传"解"经"。本文列举九个论点,论证《易记》为政治典册,蕴含义理;《易传》义理之精义即多承继自"经"。《周易》"经""传"关系,一如父母子女之关系。父母之基因为子女所承继,"经"之基因亦为"传"所传承。"经"与"传"固有区别,就像父母子女各具独立人格。我们当然不应混"经""传"为一,但亦不宜认"经""传"为绝无关系之两种文献。     

Eve in early Reformation exegesis: the case of Iohannes Oecolampadius

Abstract

Iohannes Oecolampadius stood at the forefront of the Reformation in Basel. He not only worked tirelessly for the reform of the city's churches, but also authored pioneering evangelical works of theology and exegesis. The interpretation of Eve found in his late lectures on Genesis showcases both a new emphasis on Eve's goodness and original equality with Adam, as well as a parallel insistence on her subordination to her husband after the Fall. His conception of husband and wife as partners of equal dignity on the path toward salvation moves in the direction of companionate marriage, but it stops short of calling for women's equality in the public sphere.     

Histories and Landscapes: Two Categories of Artwork Suitable for Reformed Churches

Abstract

There are few examples of paintings or sculptures in churches of the Reformed tradition today. I argue that, despite this, it is in fact consonant with the writings of early Reformed thinkers, such as John Calvin, Martin Bucer, and Huldrych Zwingli, to allow for the use of certain types of artwork in these churches. I make a start by arguing that each of these thinkers affirmed works of art that may be described as histories. I then go on to look at how we can use ideas central to the theology of John Calvin to argue for the use of landscapes in Reformed churches. Finally, I consider how we might use such works of art in churches in order to address concerns about their use that members of the Reformed community may have.     

Teaching Exegesis in Historically Black Theological Schools

This Forum collects the papers presented at a 2010 panel at the Society of Biblical Literature, an outcome of a Wabash Center funded grant project. The project examined the unique dimensions and experiences of teaching Biblical exegesis at the six historically black theological schools (HBTSs), including discussion of the unique needs of HBTS students and their communities, and appropriate learning goals and effective teaching practices for this context. None of the biblical studies faculty were prepared as graduate students for the unique challenges that they have encountered teaching at a HBTS, so they have all had to “learn on the job” how best to approach the unique needs of the student body. The brief statements collected here summarize the findings from the project, describe and analyze some effective teaching strategies, and offer suggestions for continuing the conversation.     

Beyond Biblical Literacy: Developing Readerly Readers in Teaching Biblical Studies

Theological education in biblical studies often has focused on information, but it needs to emphasize developing skills and sensibilities in students that will produce confident, imaginative, and attentive readers. To form readers with a disciplined imagination—what we are calling “readerly readers”—educators need to inculcate skills and sensibilities that will enable students to interact with the text as a living voice, rather than as an object to be mastered, and to allow the text to provoke difficult, profound, or long‐term questions.     

Two Accounts of Qur'anic Revelation

This essay examines the notions of revelation and prophecy as offered by Fazlur Rahman and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd. Their ideas regarding prophecy and revelation contribute to the clarification of some foundational issues in Islamic theology. For both Rahman and Abu Zayd, theology begins with the idea that divine revelation is intended for human beings. So, even though this revelation is divine in origin, it is also mostly intelligible. This rethinking of the idea of revelation is welcomed by some Muslim thinkers, but has not met with so positive a reception in more traditional Islamic circles. I argue that what makes these human-centric accounts of revelation controversial is the idea of Muhammad's “contribution” to the revelation process and the article investigates this idea as it is formulated in the work of these two scholars.     

THE QUR'AN,SCIENCE, AND THE (RELATED) CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM DISCOURSE

We discuss the special place of the Qur'an in the Muslim discourse in general and on science in particular. The Qur'an has an unparalleled influence on the Muslim mind, and understanding the Islamic treatise on science and religion must start from this realization. We explore the concept of science in the Islamic culture and to what extent it can be related to the Qur'an. Reviewing various Islamic discourses on science, we show how a simplistic understanding of the plan to adopt modern science within an Islamic revival program has been corrupted in the form of the theory of “scientific miraculousness of the Qur'an.” We assess and dismiss this theory but use it to show how a serious misunderstanding of the nature of modern science and a narrow view of the Qur'an has led to that embarrassingly popular yet misguided theory. We conclude by promoting a multiplicity of readings of the Qur'an and show that this allows for an enlightenment of one's interpretation of Qur'anic verses, using various tools at one's disposal, including scientific knowledge. We uphold Averroes's principle of “no possible conflict,” which can be used to persuade the Muslim public of a given idea not by proving that it can be found in the Qur'an but rather by showing that at least some readings of it are fully consistent with the given scientific theory.