Concilium
2002 / 1
Introduction: Understanding the Issues of Unity and Diversity of Scripture Today
Seán Freyne
Modern literary, historical and social scientific study has stressed the great diversity within the Bible, not just a diversity of genres and contexts, but a diversity of perspectives also, which often appear as competing, if not conflicting voices. This issue of Concilium seeks to explore the significance of that diversity in its challenge to a monistic understanding that is often imposed on the Bible in the name of canonical orthodoxy. Faced with the mystery of divine self-communication, plurality and difference, we believe, should be seen positively as a gift to be celebrated, a symphony rather than a cacophony.
The recognition of diversity within the Bible is not just the result of a greater awareness of the literary and historical character of the various writings and their authors. There is a growing acknowledgment today that readers also play a role in the creation of meaning through encounters with texts. This insight has legitimated different reading practices of the Bible in different social and cultural contexts. New and challenging perspectives emerge when biblical texts are appropriated within contexts of oppression, marginalization and exclusion, situations which often involve issues of gender, class and cultural bias. This issue of Concilium seeks to augment the diversity of authorial perspectives within the Bible by representing the diversity of reading practices world-wide. Our intention is that this issue will complement previous scriptural issues such as The Bible and its Readers (1991/1) and The Bible as Cultural Heritage (1995/1) by giving voice not only to the many voices of the text but also to the many voices today that have discovered in the scriptures ‘the words of eternal life’ (John 6.68).
The two opening sections deal with specific instances of conflicting perspectives from within the First and Second Testaments. A third section is devoted to ‘the voices from the margins’, focussing on contemporary [8] readings from two perspectives of marginalization. The concluding section addresses some of the historical and theological questions that arise from a recognition of diversity as a fundamental aspect of the biblical record.
Concilium
English
