Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis

Rating:
Summary: This book answers qustions every Christian has asked
Review: I Believe that Webb has done Christians a great service in writing this book. All of us have struggled with the knowledge that some Biblical passages are culturally dependent while others are Trans cultural. Prior to the publishing of this book, we did not have a good set of tools to resolve our questions. Webb helps solves that problem in this book. by giving us 18 criterion by which to analyze a Biblical passage to determine its cultural and Trans cultural components.

The book is remarkable in the thoroughness of its approach. Every verse dealing with the question of the role of women, slaves and homosexuals has been analyzed. I have taught New Testament at the college level for many years and learned a great deal from his approach. He showed great sensitivity to the question of the homosexual, yet, does not compromise the Biblical position.

I currently have a group of people from my church using this set of criterion on the topic of the death penalty. All are impressed with Webb?s high view of scripture and the usefulness of his approach.

Rating:
Summary: This book answers qustions every Christian has asked
Review: I Believe that Webb has done Christians a great service in writing this book. All of us have struggled with the knowledge that some Biblical passages are culturally dependent while others are Trans cultural. Prior to the publishing of this book, we did not have a good set of tools to resolve our questions. Webb helps solves that problem in this book. by giving us 18 criterion by which to analyze a Biblical passage to determine its cultural and Trans cultural components.

The book is remarkable in the thoroughness of its approach. Every verse dealing with the question of the role of women, slaves and homosexuals has been analyzed. I have taught New Testament at the college level for many years and learned a great deal from his approach. He showed great sensitivity to the question of the homosexual, yet, does not compromise the Biblical position.

I currently have a group of people from my church using this set of criterion on the topic of the death penalty. All are impressed with Webb?s high view of scripture and the usefulness of his approach.

Rating:
Summary: Hermeneutics Means...Reading Carefully
Review: Unlike the previous reviewer I find much to commend in this thoughtful book. He says the author departs from a grammatical-historical hermeneutic. That is an oxymoron... Grammatical and Historical are modes of exegesis, they give us some of the building blocks for understanding the text, but they are not a hermeneutic. The author provides a hermeneutic...which is a means of understanding and appropriating these texts. He argues, rightly I believe, that the New Testament leans in the way of renewal...this is its elan vital. Some of the material in the New Testament (and Old Testament)...is cultural. It won't do to say flippantly, if some is...what isn't cultural. In fact, the entire New Testament are cultural productions of their times...but some of the nitty gritty specifics cannot be read with a hermeneutic that remains static, as if we could transpose ourselves to the first century and live exactly as they did, because very quickly one is riddled with impossibilities and contradictions. In a flat reading, women are subjected, slavery is endorsed, and we get caught up in such questions as "head-coverings" and "foot washing" etc... With a reading that seeks to discern the direction, trajectory if you will, you can see why at times headcoverings were encouraged and women silenced and other times women encouraged to prophesy in the churches...by examining the overall direction of thought. Then, one uses a hermeneutic or mode of understanding, informed by this deeper level ... that allows us not to get caught up in the peripherals. Do we literally need to shake dust off our feet when someone rejects christian preaching? Do we literally need to great each other with a holy kiss? Do we literally castrate those who approach things legalistically (in Paul...read Galatians)...if so, the gentleman whose review appeared before mine is in big trouble.

All in all, a good read!!!

Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate turn of events in evangelical hermeneutics
Review: Webb, Professor of New Testament at Heritage Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, had published a work, long in the making. It will make waves in the evangelical community as it has been endorsed by good scholars like Darrell Bock, Craig Evans and Craig Keener.

Webb's book begins by setting out his rationale. He hopes to bring the evangelical community back together by his "redemptive-movement" hermeneutics. His basic premise is that the more "static" approach of Grudem, Piper and others is lacking in its cultural application. Unfortunately, Webb misses the mark by departing from a grammtical-historical hermeneutic.

Webb divides the book into three sections. Slavery, which is his control group, homosexuals, and women. He eventually comes to the conclusion that slavery was a cultural convention of the ANE. Homosexuality, on the other hand is transcultural. The commands against it, go for all time. And finally, women in leadership, he feels was a cultural convention as well. That the arguments against women leadership in the Bible, was a cultural issue.

Unfortunately Webb's book does not answer the age old question, that if somethings are cultural, then what isn't cultural? He critizes the patriarchalists because they see slavery as cultural but not the women issue. Webb's basic premise that because life was better in Israel than in the ANE, and that life was better in the Church than it was in ancient Israel, and that life is better now than it was then, shouldn't we now move forward and bring women into the picture as leaders? His point is, why would we perpetuate the curse?

Unfortunately, Webb doesn't follow a generally held view of hermeneutics, and this will cause some to shy away from his book right away. A well-trained pastor or teacher could read this book with some profit, but I would not recommend it to anyone else than that.