Abstract
Drawing on 45 years of personal experience as a postgraduate student, lecturer and researcher, the author outlines a meaningful approach to the practice of New Testament Studies in South Africa. The study is set against the backdrop of a drastically changed academic landscape. The author recalls a “golden era” in the 1980s when numerous academic posts were available at state universities, partly because Biblical Studies was a subject in public schools. Since the subject was abolished, the number of full-time positions has significantly decreased. Despite these challenges, South African New Testament scholars continue to make substantial contributions both locally and internationally. Against this background, the author proposes a methodology for practising the discipline built on four interdependent pillars.
The starting point – a thorough investigation of the text
The indispensable first step in New Testament scholarship is a meticulous investigation of the Biblical text itself. Before any interpretation or appropriation, one must carefully study the lexical concepts, grammar, syntax, structure and stylistic features of a text in its original language. The author stresses that proficiency in the Biblical languages is of cardinal importance for making a significant contribution to the field, not only for academic study but also for preaching. To illustrate the value of such foundational work, two examples are provided. The first is drawn from Hermie C. van Zyl’s analysis of the calming of the storm narrative, which demonstrates how Matthew adapted Mark’s account to emphasise his own theology. Key changes include a reframing of the narrative as an example of what it means to follow Jesus, replacing Mark’s word for storm, λαῖλαψ, with σεισμός to highlight the eschatological significance of the event, and pastoral nuances such as changing the way in which the disciples address Jesus from a reproach (“Master, don’t you care that we are perishing?”) to a cry of faith (“Lord, save us, we are perishing!”) and reversing the order of Jesus’ actions, thereby highlighting a pastoral concern for the spiritual state of the disciples over the external circumstances. The second example shows how an in-depth analysis of a single verse, Galatians 4:19, can illuminate Paul’s understanding of spiritual transformation. The verse combines three intricate metaphors. First, Paul calls the Galatians his “children” (τέκνα), a familiar paternal metaphor that establishes his spiritual authority and affection. He then shifts to a maternal metaphor, stating that he is in the pains of childbirth (ὠδίνω) for them again, implying that their previous spiritual parent-child relationship has collapsed and they must be spiritually “reborn”. The third metaphor focuses on the goal of this process: “until Christ is formed (μορφωθῇ) in you”. The verb used here often describes the formation of an embryo and vividly pictures Christ being formed in the Galatians. These metaphors should not be understood chronologically, as they describe the same event from different perspectives: Paul’s labour pains will cease only once Christ is formed in them. This analysis reveals that for Paul, spiritual transformation is a long-term process through which the presence of the risen Christ becomes tangible in the daily lives of believers, a process which is characterised by faith, love and freedom guided by the Spirit, among other things.
The way to generating new knowledge – finding new angles of interpretation
Given the limited corpus of just 27 New Testament texts, generating new insights requires scholars to seek new angles of interpretation. The author invokes Paul Ricoeur’s concept of the “surplus of meaning” to refer to the inexhaustible potential of these texts. In South Africa, approaches like narratology, feminism, postcolonialism and gender studies have enriched the understanding of New Testament texts. One example is how a narratological reading of the Gospel of John provides new insight into the characterisation of Peter, revealing three distinct phases. In the first phase (chapters 1–6), Peter gets off to a “good start”. Jesus gives him the name Cephas (referring to a rock), creating an expectation of steadfastness, which Peter seems to fulfil when he acts as the loyal spokesman for the Twelve in John 6. In the second phase (chapters 13–18), things take a “bad turn”. Peter displays impulsiveness and an inability to understand Jesus during the foot-washing, and his role as spokesman is undermined by the “beloved disciple”. He rashly promises to lay down his life for Jesus, ironically using the same language as the Good Shepherd, a promise he fails to keep when he acts violently during Jesus’ arrest and subsequently denies Jesus three times. The third phase (chapters 20–21) depicts Peter’s restoration. He is the first disciple to enter the empty tomb, and in John 21 he is fully rehabilitated. The Good Shepherd commissions Peter as a shepherd of his sheep, and Jesus’ final words to him are, “Follow me!” The implication is important: To be a good shepherd to the believers, Peter must first become a good follower (or sheep) of the Good Shepherd.
A second example is the establishment of Biblical Spirituality as an academic subdiscipline, pioneered by Pieter G. de Villiers. This new field, developed in collaboration with international experts like Kees Waaijman, fills a significant gap by applying academic rigour to the study of spirituality in Biblical texts. Through a series of publications, this perspective has been shown to uncover important themes often overlooked in traditional exegesis, such as the emphasis on love and spiritual transformation within the otherwise polemical letter to the Galatians.
Understanding the state of scholarship as a catalyst for new insights
A comprehensive understanding of existing scholarship is crucial, not only to avoid redundancy but also to identify gaps where new contributions can be made. A prime example is Jan G. van der Watt’s groundbreaking research on Johannine ethics. By thoroughly reviewing the literature, he discovered that no monograph had ever been written on the topic, because many leading scholars believed ethics was not a central theme in John’s Gospel. Van der Watt’s own investigation proved this assumption wrong, leading him to uncover a detailed and nuanced “grammar of ethics” embedded in the text. This ethical framework is divinely originated, revealed through Jesus, requires faith, and is expressed in love, obedience, service, and discipleship. This seminal work originated from the identification of a clear gap in existing research. Similarly, examining the history of interpretation of Biblical texts over a long period can yield fresh insights by exposing scholars to different zeitgeists. For instance, studying commentaries on Philemon from the fourth to the eighteenth century revealed that the now popular idea that Onesimus intentionally fled to Paul was first proposed by a few early commentators like Ambrosiaster and Luther before being rediscovered in modern times.
Embracing the appropriation of texts as inherent to the discipline
Finally, the discipline must embrace the task of appropriating texts for the contemporary situation, moving beyond what a text meant to what it means today. This involves going beyond Krister Stendahl’s “descriptive task” to engage with what he referred to as the “hermeneutic question”. In South Africa, scholars have an opportunity to guide faith communities in critical reflection, helping them to move past simplistic readings of the Bible. This sometimes requires balancing a “compliant reading” of Biblical texts with a “resistant reading”. While a compliant reading takes the Biblical text seriously, a resistant reading adds another dimension by critically examining how texts portray “the Other”. Historically, the church needed a resistant reading to move away from the Bible’s outdated worldview and its acceptance of slavery. Furthermore, without a resistant reading of Biblical texts on sexuality and homosexuality, faith communities in our time will never be able to move beyond the current dead end created by a compliant reading strategy of these texts. The letter to Philemon also illustrates this tension. A compliant reading provides valuable lessons on love and community in the face of power abuse. However, a purely compliant reading was historically used to defend slavery, arguing that because Paul sent a runaway slave back, the institution was divinely willed. A resistant, postcolonial reading, such as that by Jeremy Punt, balances this by reading the text from a different perspective, namely recognising that the letter was written from the perspective of slave owners; it concerns Onesimus, but his perspective is nowhere to be found in the letter. Furthermore, interdisciplinary collaboration can significantly enrich the process of appropriating Biblical texts. The author describes a project on theological responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, undertaken with a systematic theologian, Rian Venter. While the Biblical scholars identified key themes like lament, mercy and hope, the systematic theologian offered a broader conceptual framework, emphasising the need for a comprehensive and coherent Trinitarian hermeneutic to connect the crisis to core Christian symbols of creation, brokenness, incarnation, and new creation. This collaboration demonstrates how a deeper, more constructive theological engagement with contemporary challenges is possible.
Keywords: appropriation of texts; hermeneutics; history of research; methodologies; New Testament Studies; original languages
- This article’s featured image was created by Jesus Vidal and obtained from Pexels.
Lees die volledige artikel in Afrikaans
Die beoefening van Nuwe Testamentiese wetenskap as vakdissipline in Suid-Afrika