Cultural Interpretations
Reorienting New Testament Criticism
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Cultural Interpretations: Reorienting New Testament Criticism
Building on insights into the social functions of language,
especially its interpersonal dimensions, Blount constructs
a culturally sensitive model of interpretation that provides a
sound basis for ethnographic and popular, as well as
historical-critical, readings of the biblical text.
Blount's framework does more than acknowledge the inevitability of multiple interpretations; it foments them. His analysis demonstrates the social intent of every reading and shows the influence of communicative context in such diverse readings of the Bible as Rudolf Bultmann's, the peasants of Solentiname, the Negro spirituals, and black-church sermons. Then Blount turns to Mark's account of the trial of Jesus, where he shows how this hermeneutical scheme helps to assess the emergence and validity of multiple readings of the text and the figure of Jesus.
Blount's expansive interpretive proposal will help scholars and students open up the possibilities of the text without abandoning it.
Blount's framework does more than acknowledge the inevitability of multiple interpretations; it foments them. His analysis demonstrates the social intent of every reading and shows the influence of communicative context in such diverse readings of the Bible as Rudolf Bultmann's, the peasants of Solentiname, the Negro spirituals, and black-church sermons. Then Blount turns to Mark's account of the trial of Jesus, where he shows how this hermeneutical scheme helps to assess the emergence and validity of multiple readings of the text and the figure of Jesus.
Blount's expansive interpretive proposal will help scholars and students open up the possibilities of the text without abandoning it.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9780800628598
- Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5
- Pages 232
- Publication Date December 14, 1995
Endorsements
"A well-conceived, thoroughly researched, and elegantly written work, Cultural Interpretation establishes Blount as a sophisticated voice with new provocative challenges for church, academy, and culture. As a demonstration of the power of sociolinguistics for 'de-centering' and establishing the cultural variability of biblical interpretation, his book has far-reaching ramifications for biblical scholarship….Required reading for all serious students of the Bible."
— Vincent L. Wimbush
Union Theological Seminary, New York City
— Vincent L. Wimbush
Union Theological Seminary, New York City
Table of Contents
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Preface
- A Contextual Approach to New Testament Interpretation
PART ONE: Cultural Contexts and Biblical Interpretation
- Existential Interpretation
- The Gospel in Solentiname
- The Negro Spiritual
- The Sermon in the Black Church
PART TWO: Interpreting the Trial of Jesus in Mark
- Potential Meaning in Mark's Trial Scenes
- Jesus the Redeemer
- Jesus the Tragic Hero
- Jesus the Revolutionary
- Jesus, Man of the People
- Beyond Interpretative Boundaries
Notes
Bibliography
Indexes