The lost world of scripture: ancient literary culture and biblical authority

Physical dimension

Summary / review / table of contents

I. The Old Testament world of composition and communication :
Proposition 1: Ancient Near Eastern societies were hearing dominant and had nothing comparable to authors and books as we know them ;
Proposition 2: Expansions and revisions were possible as documents were copied generation after generation and eventually compiled into literary works ;
Proposition 3: Effective communication must accommodate to the culture and nature of the audience ;
Proposition 4: The Bible contains no new revelation about the workings and understanding of the material world ;
Stepping back and summing up: How the composition of the Old Testament may be understood differently in light of what is known of ancient literary culture.

II. The New Testament world of composition and communication :
Proposition 5: Much of the literature of the Greco-Roman world retained elements of a hearing-dominant culture ;
Proposition 6: Oral and written approaches to literature entail significant differences ;
Proposition 7: Greek historians, philosophers and Jewish rabbis offer instructive examples of ancient oral culture ;
Proposition 8: Jesus' world was predominantly non-literate and oral ;
Proposition 9: Logos/Word referred to oral communication, not to written texts ;
Proposition 10: Jesus proclaimed truth in oral forms and commissioned his followers to do the same ;
Proposition 11: Variants were common in the oral texts of Jesus' words and deeds ;
Proposition 12: Throughout the New Testament, spoken words rather than written words were the primary focus ;
Proposition 13: Exact wording was not necessary to preserve and transmit reliable representations of inspired truth ;
Stepping back and summing up: How the composition of the New Testament may be understood differently in light of what is known of ancient literary culture.

III. The biblical world of literary genres :
Proposition 14: The authority of Old Testament narrative literature is more connected to revelation than to history ;
Proposition 15: The authority of Old Testament legal literature is more connected to revelation than to law ;
Proposition 16: The authority of Old Testament prophetic literature is more connected to revelation than to future-telling ;
Proposition 17: The genres of the New Testament are more connected to orality than textuality.

IV. Concluding affirmations on the origin and authority of scripture :
Proposition 18: Affirmations about the origin of scripture confirm its fundamental oral nature ;
Proposition 19: Affirmations about the authority of scripture asserts its divine source and illocution ;
Proposition 20: Inerrancy has essential roles and limitations ;
Proposition 21: Belief in authority not only involves what the Bible is but also what we do with it.

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