Postmodernism and the interpretation of biblical texts for behavior

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Fall, 2003 by John F. O'Grady

When individuals fail to read the whole story, false hypotheses arise which cause disastrous consequences for the one who hears the story. People do not have to accept a jealous, revengeful God who destroys enemies, kills women and children, and imposes punishment on generations. Although verses can be found in the Bible which support this hypothesis, it makes no sense in the overall understanding of the stories told by people in different periods of human history. The stories associated with anger and revenge must also be read in the light of forgiveness and mercy and redemption. Intertexuality prohibits an exclusive reading of a particular verse (von Wolde). Humans usually want revenge and want the destruction of enemies. Naturally they would think God would act according to how humans act but the full stories of God contradict the way ordinary people act. Mercy and forgiveness overcome all thought of anger and revenge. The stories about God in the Old Testament deal rather with what people do to themselves by their choices rather than what God does to them because of their actions. The good stories outweigh the bad stories and change the context of the bad stories. Intertexuality adds a new meaning to interpreting texts (Claassen).

Stories

Stories are interpretations of history. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle has greatly influenced the physical sciences: "the physical world is bizarrely complicated and unyielding to rational explanation". Something similar can be applied to the human world; human relationships and behavior are bizarrely complicated and unyielding to rational explanation. Thus people tell stories which never should be critically analyzed seeking some objective expression of reality. Rather, the stories are poetic, often conveying more than the actual meaning of the words involved. Stories flow spontaneously in a creative and often occasional manner rather than a detailed thought-out structure to which the storyteller adds the flesh. Good storytellers use poetic words as well as a poetic non-structure. In this way they convey more than just the ideas expressed in the words. In fact such a poetic non-structure often conveys what exists behind the words rather than the actual traditional understanding of a union between word and reality. The good storyteller brings about a union between the listener and the interpretations of reality as presented and lived by the storyteller. Then understanding, even if sometimes non-conceptual and apaphatic, takes place. The stories in the Bible are dialogic inviting the listener or reader to participate and thus allowing a multitude of interpretations. In the language of Bakhtin great time: "the infinite and unfinalized dialogue in which no meaning dies"(Bakhtin: 169) allows for new meaning.

Second Testament Injunctions about Women

   Wives, be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord
   [Col 3:18].

   Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
   Wives, be subject to your husband as to the Lord [Eph
   5:21-23].