Denver, CO
SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) Conference in Denver, CO, November 19-22, 2022. Read the topic: Being Reactive and Being Unreactive: The Attitude of the Orthodox Christian Commentators Toward the Morals of War-like Situation in Gen 32-33 and Violence in Gen 34.
Abstract:
The prose genre of the commentary in its classical form and purpose is not well employed in Orthodox Christianity for several reasons. Firstly, the church fathers of the two rival schools of Alexandria and Antioch had set the allegoric interpretation on one hand, and on the other hand the literal interpretation as the standard. Secondly, the shift of the interest from the Scripture toward the worship and liturgical aspect of the church led to the negligence of the Scripture and especially Old Testament. Finally, because of the traditional fear to embrace critical thinking in the discipline, both the Old Testament and the New Testament scholars preferred to turn toward the teachings of the fathers, rather than toward the studying of the original languages. For these reasons, the genuine commentary did not conceive in Orthodox Christianity. However, in this paper, I argue that the faithful of the Orthodox church deserve to read the Orthodox commentary which will be structured by honoring well-established Orthodox practices. Henceforth, in this paper, I suggest a method that balances out the features of the commentary and the need of the Orthodox readers. This method emphasizes the important philological, cultural, and historical aspects, and yet reflects the traditional Orthodox thought as well as the worship of the church. While Orthodox authors claim that: “The Church does not give us Holy Scripture as a book to study and interpret on our own”, believers thirst for a fuller understanding. Certainly, the Orthodox Church needs a substantial commentary series in the 21st century.
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