Ethics and Biblical narrative : a literary and discourse-analytical approach to the story of Josiah / S. Min Chun.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chun, Sungmin Min, 1970-

Series:

Oxford theology and religion monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Kings, 2nd--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Kings, 1st--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible. Kings, 1st.

Bible. Kings, 2nd.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xii, 274 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

This book proposes a methodological framework for an ethical reading of Old Testament narrative and demonstrates its benefits and validity by providing an exemplary reading of the story of Josiah in Kings. Part One delineates the meaning of "ethical reading" practised in the work. The theoretical framework is critically adopted from Martha Nussbaum. This approach to ethics does not extract general rules out of story, rather it allows the reader to appreciate the world of the story itself, which is analogous with real life. Part Two expounds "synchronic literary criticism anchored in discourse analysis" and elucidates its use for ethical reading of Old Testament narrative. Part Three offers exemplary ethical readings and shows how discourse analysis can help the literary issues such as plot delimitation and characterisation. Through the ethical commentary of the story of Josiah, the theme of contingency in life can be noticed to prevail in the story.

Contents:

Part I Old Testament Narrative and Ethics

1 The Object and the Task of Old Testament Ethics 11

2 A Survey of Previous Works Focusing on Their Treatment of Narratives in the Old Testament 28

3 Old Testament Narrative Ethics: Current Scene and a Proposal 43

Part II Discourse Analysis for Ethical Reading of Old Testament Narrative

4 Denning Discourse Analysis 93

5 Benefits of Discourse Analysis for Ethical Reading 114

6 Evaluation: Direct Benefits of Discourse Analysis for Ethical Reading 136

Part III Examples

7 Two Short Examples: Jeroboam (1 Kings 12: 21-5) and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18: 13-16) 155

8 Extended Example: An Ethical Commentary on the Story of Josiah in 2 Kings 22: 1-23: 30 172.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9780199688968

0199688966

OCLC:

852259489