Table Of ContentThe Bible and the Believer
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The Bible and the
Believer
How to Read the Bible Critically
and Religiously
z
MARC ZVI BRETTLER
PETER ENNS
DANIEL J. HARRINGTON, S.J.
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brettler, Marc Zvi.
The Bible and the believer : how to read the Bible critically and religiously / Marc
Zvi Brettler, Peter Enns, and Daniel J. Harrington.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-986300-6
1. Bible—Hermeneutics. 2. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Enns, Peter,
1961– II. Harrington, Daniel J. III. Title.
BS476.B597 2012
220.601—dc23 2012003510
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction: The Historical-Critical Reading of the
Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 3
1. My Bible: A Jew’s Perspective—marc zvi brettler 2 1
Response by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. 66
Response by Peter Enns 72
2. Reading the Bible Critically and Religiously:
Catholic Perspectives—daniel j. harrington, s.j. 8 0
Response by Peter Enns 113
Response by Marc Zvi Brettler 118
3. Protestantism and Biblical Criticism: One Perspective
on a Diffi cult Dialogue—peter enns 1 26
Response by Marc Zvi Brettler 161
Response by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. 166
Postscript 174
Notes 1 77
Glossary 195
Index 201
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Preface
this book originated in a symposium sponsored by the Jewish Stud-
ies Program at the University of Pennsylvania on October 25, 2010, on
“The Challenge of Reading the Bible Today: Can the Bible Be Read Both
Critically and Religiously? Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant Perspec-
tives.” We would like to thank Professor Jeff rey Tigay, Emeritus A. M.
Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures, and
Professor Beth Wenger, the Chair of the Jewish Studies Program at the
University of Pennsylvania, for organizing the symposium and inviting
us to speak there. The audience, several hundred students and commu-
nity members strong, asked probing questions and convinced us that
our topic was worthy of publication.
In this book, we are primarily concerned with the Hebrew Bible/
Tanakh/Old Testament. (Each writer uses the term that best fi ts his tradi-
tion.) There is no comparable volume about the topic from a Jewish per-
spective, and in most Christian discussions concerning the Bible and the
contemporary believer, the Hebrew Bible is woefully underrepresented,
even though the Old Testament constitutes about three-quarters of the
Christian Bible. Obviously, the New Testament enters into some of the
discussions concerning the Old Testament, in large part because the New
Testament authors cite the Old Testament so frequently, thus providing
one possible model for Christian appropriation of Israel’s story. But our
primary focus is on the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh/Old Testament; this will
also allow our volume to make a contribution to Christian-Jewish rela-
tions as well as to Christian ecumenical dialogue.
The heart of this book is composed of three substantial, self-standing
essays in which each author in turn addresses the challenge of reading
viii Preface
the Bible both critically and religiously from a Jewish (Brettler), Catholic
(Harrington), and Protestant (Enns) perspective. Each writer chose the
content and perspective that he felt best addresses the question. There
was no formal checklist or template, though we naturally cover many of
the same issues. Each of us also made his approach concrete by present-
ing a sample exposition of a key text or a treatment of a large historical-
critical issue or theme. Each essay is accompanied by a short response
from the other two authors; we regard these responses as conversations
that highlight similarities and diff erences and refl ect on points worthy of
further thought and conversation, not as partisan arguments or correc-
tions. A list of suggestions for further reading concludes each chapter.
In these essays, none of us claims to be an authorized or offi cial
spokesman for our religious tradition. Rather, we write as practitioners
of the historical criticism of the Bible who are also convinced of the on-
going religious relevance of the texts we study. Here we seek to indicate
how we try to put together the critical and religious readings of the Bible.
This book is a joint venture. The preface, introduction, postscript,
and glossary were written collaboratively. Although each personal essay
and response was written by one of us, it was revised in light of the
others’ comments. It has been a great pleasure for each of us to work
with one another.
Brettler’s essay benefi ted greatly from the critical comments of
Michael Carasik, Julie Deluty, Yaakov Elman, Tova Hartman, Israel
Knohl, Jon Levisohn, Lenin Prado, Ziva Reimer, Peretz Rodman, Baruch
Schwartz, Meir Ben-Shahar, Tina Sherman, and Noam Zion, and from
many conversations with students and colleagues.
Enns wishes to thank Rob Kashow, Steve Bohannon, and Kenton
Sparks for reading earlier versions of this draft and providing many
helpful comments. Immanuel Church of the Nazarene; St. Thomas’s
Episcopal Church in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania; and St. Matthew’s Epis-
copal Church in Maple Glen, Pennsylvania, provided ecclesiastical
contexts that encourage faithful intellectual exploration.
Harrington wishes to thank his students at Weston Jesuit School of
Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and now at Boston College School
of Theology and Ministry; as well as the communities at St. Peter Parish
Preface ix
in Cambridge and St. Agnes in Arlington, Massachusetts, for the opportu-
nity to teach and preach regularly in situations that have challenged him
to make explicit how he reads the Bible critically and religiously.
The three of us would like to thank Theo Calderara and Robert Miller,
editors at Oxford University Press, for their encouragement and support
in the book’s early stages. Theo was a wonderful editor, guiding this pro-
ject to completion. We are also grateful for the outstanding work and
support of Sasha Grossman and Leslie Johnson of the editorial and pro-
duction departments at Oxford University Press. Without their help, this
book would not have come together in such a timely and professional
manner.
Each of us is cognizant that we have tried to synthesize complex reli-
gions into short essays and responses; we do not view this book as the fi nal
word on how critical and religious perspectives might be reconciled. In
fact, we will judge this volume a success if it spurs further conversation on
this topic, both within particular religious traditions and between them.
