https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Understanding Biblical Inspiration as a Written Response to Symbolically-Mediated Revelation; a Hermeneutically-Aware Model which can Inform the Reading of the Bible within the Church By Robert James Hill Submitted toward the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Glasgow, Faculty of Arts, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, September 2005 Robert James Hill, 30 September 2005 ProQuest Number: 10646037 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uesL ProQuest 10646037 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ■■'I [GLASGOW 1 Acknowledgements I am grateful to many people who have helped m in the production of this work. I particular, I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the generosity and encouragement of the late Cardinal Thomas Winning, former Archbishop of Glasgow, who first gave me the encouragement and support to begin this study. In addition, I wish to thank sincerely the Most Reverend Mario Conti, the current Archbishop of Glasgow, for his continued support and encouragement, as well as for his much appreciated on-going interest in the progress of this work. 1 am deeply grateful to members of staff at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Glasgow: their willingness to offer advice and assistance at all times is much appreciated. Especially, I wish to thank Professor John Riches, my former supervisor, for his help, as well as for his inspiration, and latterly, Julie Clague, who, with great patience and wisdom, assumed the burden of supervising this endeavour, doing so to an extent that was not only most helpful, but to an extent which frequently ran well above the normal course of duty! Grateful thanks must be given to my former teachers in Seminary, the former St. Peter’s College. In particular, I must single out for mention two men whose enthusiasm for, and expertise in matters Biblical, have done more than any others to instil in me a love for Biblical studies, namely the Very Rev. James Foley, and the Rev. John Fitzsimmons. Colleagues in the priesthood have done more than they realise to support and affirm my work; my sincere thanks go to all of them. Many people have contributed insights and information which have allowed this study to grow: I wish to acknowledged every such contribution, while at the same time taking sole responsibility of deficiencies and errors which occur. I dedicate this study to my immediate family: may late mother, my father, and my sister. Abstract This study offers a model for a hermeneutically aware contemporary understanding of Biblical Inspiration, as the Spirit-animated response to symbolic Revelation. It is supported by Biblical scholarship and philosophical hermeneutics; its compatibility with doctrinal requirements of the Catholic Church is also demonstrated. Chapter 1 surveys sources traditionally called upon to defend Inspiration; New Testament passages, and official church statements. A critique of these highlights what they actually tell us about Inspiration. Chapter 2 evaluates past and recent theories of Inspiration, and critiques the traditional Principle of Instrumental Efficient Causality. It also considers opinions of scholars, from Lagrange to Hoffmann, to provide a basis for this particular model. Chapter 3 outlines the model, assessing the contribution of the symbol for a theory of Revelation which accompanies the model of Inspiration given here. Tillich, Fawcett, Polanyi, Wheelwright, Dulles and Ricoeur are among scholars whose insights are called upon. Ricoeur provides the necessary philosophical hermeneutics for the validation of the model. Finally, Biblical evidence is sought for the contention that this model is identifiably at work in Scripture; Brueggemann and Westermann provide insights from some prophets and the psalms, which support the proposed model; they also, with Perrin, Crossan, and others, provide support from the New Testament. Chapter 4 explains how metaphor and myth can aid the interpretation of symbol in Scripture. Through Ricoeur’s proposed five types of Revelatory Scriptural discourse, the chapter proposes that Ricoeur’s model of Revelatory discourse is closer to what this study calls Inspiration. Chapter 5 shows the compatibility of the model for Inspiration with Catholic Magisterial pronouncements. Drawing from contemporary readings of Scripture by Mesters, Mabon, Dewey, Belo and Best, the study demonstrates that this model satisfies academic requirements and also is relevant for the person of faith’s reading of Scripture, whether in the church of today, or the past, thereby providing theological underpinning for the Second Vatican Council’s desire that the Bible be made available to the widest possible readership. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Page 1 Why Bother About Inspiration? CHAPTER 1 page 5 Biblical Inspiration: Setting the Boundaries Exploring issues relevant to the concept of Inspiration; the witness of Scripture, the Patristic age, some influential concepts and theories, a survey of the Magisterial pronouncements related to Inspiration. CHAPTER 2 page 52 Theologies and Models for Biblical Inspiration Elements of past theories of Inspiration, considering; Instrumental Causality, Multiple authorship. Social Dimension of Inspiration. Analysis and comment on each CHAPTER 3 page 115 Explaining Inspiration the Biblical way. Symbols and Meaning Hoffmann’s model for Inspiration Symbol as mediation of revelation; Tillich, Fawcett, Ricoeur, Wheelwright, Polanyi, Dulles et al. Brueggemann and Westermann on the plurivocality of Scripture CHAPTER 4 page 173 Hermeneutical background for Inspiration Paul Ricoeur; hermeneutics; interpreting symbol, metaphor, differing types of Biblical discourse, and ‘naming of God’ CHAPTER 5 page 223 From theory to practice Examining how this model of inspiration satisfies traditional understandings of the doctrine; how it makes possible a wide Biblical readership in any age; and how its implications are seen in diverse readings of scripture. APPENDIX page 276 BIBLIOGRAPHY page 281 Introduction: Why bother about Inspiration? Many scholars today would doubt whether pursuing the question of Biblical Inspiration is worth the effort involved. Some have dismissed the concept as irrelevant for today, for example, the brothers A. T. and R. P. C Hanson declare that, not only is it impossible for intelligent people to subscribe to the traditional doctrines of inerrancy and inspiration, but that these represent a deviation in Christian doctrine (although they do concede that the Holy Spirit may have used such erroneous theorising to good use in the past).' John Barton doubts whether the concept is useful,^ and Karl Rahner observes that some scholars are apparently happy to endorse inspiration, but don’t bring it into their exegetical work,^ while still others give up the pursuit of a meaningful description of Inspiration, because they conclude that the problems associated with it are beyond solution."' Sandra Schneiders notes a strange outcome of this: that some scholars who undertake quite sophisticated research share a view with people of very unsophisticated and simple faith, because both categories are prepared to accept the reality of inspiration, but are unable to give a rational explanation!^ Finally, there is a significant group of scholars who believe that it is not only possible and desirable to try to say something useful about Inspiration, but, as Martini maintains, perhaps even necessary for theology to day. ^ Add to the list Pierre Benoit, Karl Rahner, Roderick A. F. MacKenzie, John L. ' See Collins, R. F., ‘Inspiration’, 65:72, p. 1033, in Brown, R. E., Fitzmyer, J. A., Murphy, R, E, (General Editors) The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, pp. 1023 - 1033, Geoffrey Chapman, London, 1997. ^ Barton, J., People of the Book? The Authority of the Bible in Christianity. SPCK, London, 1988, p. 37. ^ Rahner, K., translated by Henkey, C. H., revised by Palmer, M., ‘inspiration in the Bible’, p. 7, in Rahner etc., Studies in Modern Theology. Herder, Freiburg, and Burns & Oates, London, 1965, pp. I - 86. See Schneiders, S. M., The Revelatory Text. Interpreting the Hew Testament as Sacred Scripture. The Liturgical Press, Minnesota, 2"** Edition, 1999, p. 48; see also McKenzie, J. L., The Old Testament Without Illusion. Image Books, Doubleday and company. New York, 1980, p. 12. ^ See Schneiders, S. M., The Revelatory Text, p. 48. Collins, R.F., ‘Inspiration’, 65:72, p. 1033. McKenzie, Thomas A. Hoffmann, Sandra Schneiders, et al., who have tried to contribute to contemporary understanding of Inspiration, and it becomes apparent that interest in Inspiration is far from dead. Of course, the question must arise: what does the present study expect to contribute to the subject? Is there still something to add to the opinions of those listed above? I believe that the answer is in the affirmative.