The Bible
Ongoing Interpretations of Biblical Texts
Timothy H. Wilson
Ongoing Interpretations of Biblical Texts
Timothy H. Wilson
Phillip Cary has compared the Western tradition to a body: the two legs of this body being the Greek and Hebrew traditions, the mid-section being the Middle Ages; the arms being the Renaissance and Reformation and the head being the Enlightenment. The two legs of this Western body, the Greek and Hebrew traditions, are marked by their emphases: the Greek tradition is marked by an emphasis on REASON; the Hebrew tradition is marked by an emphasis on REVELATION.
Abraham is a founding figure in the tradition of revelation. Three major religions trace their spiritual roots to his distinctive relation to his God: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In order to understand ourselves in the modern world we need to understand these two pillars of the tradition and the contribution that the figure of Abraham makes to that tradition. What follows consists of:
Thoughts on Abraham and His God
On The Binding of Isaac (Akedah)
Textual Analysis of the Biblical Representation of Abraham (Genesis 11:26 – 25:18)
A diagram outlining a potential chiastic structure of the Abraham saga. This approach underscores how the first half of the saga involves a separation from Abram's past while the second half involves the threat of a separation from Abraham's promised future.
and the Christian-Medieval Interpretation of the Self
Lecture notes for an undergraduate course on the history of the self in Western literature. These lectures focus on the New Testament -- with emphasis on the Gospel of Matthew (Sermon on the Mount and Parabolic Discourse) and Paul's Epistle to the Romans. The lectures outline at a high-level the context of the books of the New Testament as well as the departure from the ancient Greek conception of the self that they initiated inasmuch as they could be said to have introduced the notion of an "inner self".