One Bible Many Voices by Gillingham - Essay Example

? Book Review On One Bible Many Voices  Book Review On One Bible Many Voices  Introduction In her book, One Bible many voices, Gillingham advocates a pluralist approach to reading the Bible. Throughout the book, Gillingham appreciates the numerous voices that speak throughout the Bible. In order to demonstrate the plurality inherent in the Bible, Gillingham introduces literary, theological and historical insights that play a part in the compilation of Scripture, as well as the modern progress, in biblical studies. On the whole, Gillingham presents an intriguing and helpful introduction to the Bible, particularly by highlighting the primary issues that come into play with regard to comprehending the Bible (Barrick 2003, p. 113). Throughout this volume, Gillingham adopts an academic and postmodern approach to studying the Bible, examining its formation, interpretation and overall character. Although the vast majority of authors deal with either the Old Testament of the New, Gillingham deals with the scripture in its entirety (Traina, Bauer & Peterson 2011, p. 124). On the other hand, while other authors deal with either the interpretation or formation of the Bible, Gillingham takes on both of these topics. The aim of this paper is to provide a succinct analysis of Gillingham’s book, One Bible many voices, discovering its essence and inherent message. Gillingham’s volume integrates noteworthy elements of knowledge she acquired while undertaking a long-distance module at St. John’s College, as well as elements she learnt in a theology course at the Oxford University’s undergraduate program. According to Gillingham (1999, p. xv) the book is targeted at adults with a fairly deep interest in biblical studies or theology. From the onset, Gillingham postulates that the core of the modern day is postmodernism comingled with pluralism. She believes that such comingling should also be adopted in the study of the Bible (Gillingham 1999, pp. 4-5). In essence, she attempts to demonstrate the application of pluralism, as a prominent element of postmodernism, is useful in biblical studies. One Bible many voices consists of two segments: Plurality in the making of the Bible and Plurality in the Reading of the Bible. The initial segment consists of four chapters that delve into Gillingham’s outlook concerning the diverse albeit integrated character of the description of the Bible through diverse tests and versions adopted by different groups of people. Across the chapters, Gillingham demonstrates that both the Old and New testaments have been subjected to widespread modifications in order to produce the present version (Traina 2002, p. 219). Gillingham (1999, p. 44) presents the theological, literary and historical approaches to examining the Bible. She notes that these approaches are inherently complementary, in line with the concepts of postmodernism. Gillingham holds the opinion that no biblical text has a single inflexible meaning, and this allows for the constant creation and development of fresh interpretations. Conventionally, theology provides for a single properly controlled approach to biblical studies, arguing that the cannon itself is a crucial control (Barrick 2003, p. 113). However, Gillingham proposes diverse interpretations, opposing the establishment of controls. In fact, she poises that it is impractical to establish controls regarding the inclusion or exclusion of different books. This view opposes the existence of one authoritative cannon. For Gillingham, reading the Bible is the only sure way of understanding it. She poises that the open-ended and pluralist way of reading provides a clear picture of the essence of the Bible (Gillingham 19997, p. 72). In contradiction of the book’s title, the inference of the first segment is that no single standard biblical text, universal cannon and biblical theology exists. Gillingham introduces the second segment of the volume in alignment with the book’s title. It is in the second part that she introduces the diverse approaches to biblical studies. The initial approach (theological) encompasses the examination and interpretation of Jewish and Christian traditions, including Jewish traditions of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Samaritan Pentateuch and Christian tradition including church fathers such as Gregory the Great and other biblical hermeneutics (Boyd & Eddy 2009, p. 214). Even through the analysis of these traditions, Gillingham manages to demonstrate that theological pluralism is still the key to understanding the Bible. Gillingham further presents five prominent problem areas that theologians encounter whenever they attempt to interpret the inherent meaning of the Bible (Tate 2008, p. 294). Gillingham presents factors such as miracles, the historical Jesus, biblical contradictions and religious language as the main problematic areas. Gillingham paints a picture of how scholars settled on these key problems, using a synchronic and diachronic approach with the former approach encompassing six forms of literary-critical methods, including narrative and poetic criticism, rhetorical criticism, holistic criticism and structuralist criticism (Gillingham 1999, pp. 176-86). On the part of diachronic approach, Gillingham argues that the approach is almost equivalent to a historical-critical manner of analysing and interpreting the text of the Bible. Gillingham argues that like the synchronic approach, the diachronic approach also constitutes six major criticisms. These include redaction criticism, cannon criticism, form criticism, source criticism, tradition criticism and biblical criticism (Gillingham 1999, pp. 157-69). It is clear that while Gillingham provides fairly brief details regarding these major criticisms, these details are significantly objective. For instance, she argues that while the tradition criticism is the best pluralism approach, form criticism does not constitute science while source criticism is largely hypothetical. In order to assist the reader appreciate the significance of the criticisms, Gillingham makes use of tables and charts to highlight the link between the diverse methodologies (Barrick 2003, p. 113). The author further appreciates that Bible readers’ present settings significantly influence their literary appreciation of the Bible. Through the analysis of the two approaches, Gillingham demonstrates how the literary, theological and historical approaches intertwine so as to provide a measure of control regarding open-ended readings based on the idea of pluralism (Gillingham 1999, p. 185). The irony inherent in Gillingham’s volume is that while she continually argues for the development of constraints, as well as controls, in order to deter abuse of the Bible’s text (pp. 45 & 185), she goes on to point an accusing finger at the methodologies encompassed in the synchronic and diachronic approaches (Silberman 2003, p. 154). In the conclusion of the text, Gillingham claims that the methodologies appear to be targeted at controlling the Bible’s text, thereby constraining its overall interpretation (pp. 245-247). Gillingham affirms that this irony is enough to produce, in people, the belief that they should always critique postmodernism and its core elements including pluralism while also critiquing all exclusivist approaches that presume possession of the single key control. In her last paragraph, Gillingham implores the readers, including theologians, to appreciate that fixed texts, as well as open voices, within the volume are relatively hollow. She argues that all she feels is a sense of mystery, within which lies the challenge inherent in the study of the Bible as a modern, academic discipline (Gillingham 1999, p. 247). Gillingham’s One Bible many voices is applicable to the contemporary setting. The book is implicit of the necessity of sufficient knowledge regarding contemporary theories and modern schools of thought regarding biblical criticism. In the modern era, novel methodologies continue to emerge, pushing conformist theologians to adopt a defensive approach based primarily on their reverence for biblical authority and inerrancy (Yarchin 2011, p. 294). Predominant issues that affected biblical studies and theology decades ago continue to cause havoc today. These issues impact not only theological academicians who attempt to safeguard points of view that contravene liberal individuals, but all readers of the Old Testament, as well. Today, scholarly studies of the Bible are based on conformity to critical thought (Barrick 2003, p. 114). In fact, textbooks are typically criticised based on the degree to which they support the existing form of critical principle. Conservative and liberal theologians and biblical academicians continue to rally behind their diverse opinions regarding the view and interpretation of the Bible. This discussion is critical since the approach used to view and interpret biblical text plays a vital role in determining current theology. Gillingham’s book is essential in this debate since it presents a myriad of ways in which the Scripture can be analysed and interpreted. Conclusion It is evident that Gillingham’s approach to cover the entire Scripture in a small amount of space has resulted in the text possessing a summary-like quality. From the beginning of her book, Gillingham lays emphasis on the pluralist nature of the Bible, appreciating the diverse quantities of Bible versions, as well as the nonexistence of universally accepted cannon (Mead 2007, p. 303). It is particularly in the second portion of her work that Gillingham adopts the description of her famous approaches to interpreting the Bible, including the literary, historical and theological approach. Utilizing each of these approaches, the author concludes her volume by demonstrating an integrative approach to interpreting the Bible through the examination of the book of Psalms (Hill & Walton 2000, p. 187). Gillingham’s text is widely accessible to typical readers, but is primarily a production of the academy rather than the synagogue or church. As a consequence, the book is most suitable for use in the undergraduate university classroom situation. However, from the review, it is clear that Gillingham’s volume is also an appropriate reading material for theological scholars who are primarily conservative in nature (Barrick 2003, p. 115). This is because the volume can shift their view resulting in their understanding that the methodologies presented in the book are a prominent part of a comprehensive philosophical system centred on diverse unbiblical concepts. By and large, Gillingham seeks to show the deficiencies inherent in critical methodologies so as to bring about change in the growing number of theologians who still experiment with critical methodologies. References Barrick, W 2003, “Book review: One Bible, many voices: Different approaches to biblical studies, Master’s Seminary Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, vol. 113-116. Boyd, GA & Eddy, PR 2009, Across the spectrum: understanding issues in evangelical theology, 2nd edn, Baker Academic, Michigan. Gillingham , SE 1999, One Bible, many voices: Different approaches to biblical studies, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Cambridge. Hill, A & Walton, J 2000, A survey of the Old Testament, 2nd edn, Zondervan, Michigan. Mead, JK 2007, Biblical theology: Issues, methods, and themes, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, Kentucky. Silberman, NA 2003, The Bible unearthed, Simon & Schuster, New York.  Tate, WR 2008, Biblical interpretation: an integrated approach, 3rd edn, Baker Academic, Michigan. Traina, RA 2002, Methodical bible study paperback, Zondervan Publishers, London. Traina, RA, Bauer, DR & Peterson, E 2011, Inductive Bible Study: a Comprehensive Guide to the Practice of Hermeneutics, Baker Academic, Michigan. Yarchin, W 2011, History of biblical interpretation: a reader, McGraw Hill, London. Read More