Social Scientific Approach to the Hebrew Bible

In 1979, Cyril Rodd, biblical scholar, predicted the end of social scientific criticism of the Old Testament because its theories cannot be tested. He was wrong. It is currently thriving. It is interdisciplinary: either a biblical scholar who does research in the social sciences who then applies thi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Sneed, Mark (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
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Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell 2008
En: Religion compass
Año: 2008, Volumen: 2, Número: 3, Páginas: 287-300
Acceso en línea: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descripción
Sumario:In 1979, Cyril Rodd, biblical scholar, predicted the end of social scientific criticism of the Old Testament because its theories cannot be tested. He was wrong. It is currently thriving. It is interdisciplinary: either a biblical scholar who does research in the social sciences who then applies this to the Bible or a social scientist who does research on a biblical text and then applies it to the Bible. Social scientific approaches help fill in gaps that other ways of interpreting the Bible leave behind. For example, have you ever wondered why Cain was not punished with death for killing his brother? The Old Testament commands the death penalty for any murderer. Traditional interpretation emphasizes God's grace because he repented. But an anthropological perspective explains it as due to the fact that Cain was Abel's brother, his kin, and his death would have ended the family line of Adam and Eve. In less developed countries, kinship is very important, and some form of punishments like the death penalty would do more harm than good. Other forms of punishment might include payment, exile, and substitution.
ISSN:1749-8171
Obras secundarias:Enthalten in: Religion compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2008.00072.x