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This contribution is a slightly edited invited presentation at the Society for Biblical Literature annual international conference at the University of Pretoria, 3-7 July 2023, at a panel discussion titled "The role of context in Biblical Studies / exegesis". A broad overviewinterpretation of the past half a century Pentateuch studies in South Africa is offered, indicating implied, though seldom stated, dynamics of Hebrew Bible scholarship, doing so by means of an Aesopian interpretation. These concrete webs of meaning in substantial ways steer also the guild of Pentateuch scholars in South Africa in our time, in how historical exegesis has had to be arranged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carl Schmitt, in a sense the initiator of Political Theology, proposed that all important political concepts are reinterpretations of or parallels to theological concepts. This insight is in this contribution described and applied to current political thought, for which it is valuable as modern democracies emerge from the secularism of modernism to a more fully self-aware post-secularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article on entering the academic discipline of Christian Spirituality, terminological sensitivities in interdisciplinary work are taken as a point of departure. From this more general base, the following four points are argued: 'Spirituality' is a multivalence term, indicated from academic considerations and from non-academic writings of our time, with journalism serving as a productive example; terms 'spirit', 'spirituality' and 'Holy Spirit' ought not to be conflated with one another by new colleagues entering the discipline of Christian Spirituality; Christian Spirituality studies the experience-expression-dynamics of the Christian faith, and not the Holy Spirit as primary topic of investigation; however this should not be taken to imply an impoverished Christian theology, because the Trinity, as demonstrated, remains part of the core assumptions of this discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of the Akedah (Genesis 22) has since its very inception been contentious. The psychologically disturbing and theologically challenging account renders a series of exegetical and interpretative problems. Often methodology serves to hinder a fuller perception of the elements and aspects of the text, examples of which are given here relating to the opening phrase to the chapter, the choice of literary or historical placement implied by the exegete's choices on the opening phrase, the treatment of verses 15 to 18 (and, hence, verse 1) and the treatment of the morality (ethics and philosophy) involved with this text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, developed for and from a 2010 invited guest e-lecture presented at St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, unexpected historical and theological parallels between Pentateuch Theory and Biblical Spirituality are indicated. Both have inherent confessional impulses, and have always had those. This is indicated by first describing Pentateuch Theory in these terms, by then providing a graphic model of Biblical Spirituality, and in conclusion by summarising the parallels and the inherent existential dynamics involved in both academic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usually, the primary texts on the patriarchs of the Old Testament are considered to be those in Genesis, not only as to the extent of the material offered, but also regarding the dating accorded the patriarchs in relation to the texts concerned. References to the Old Testament patriarchs in the prophetic texts are often considered to be on the margins. In this article, this 'exile' is reversed, at least as far as the dating of the patriarchs in relation to textual references to them are concerned. Repatriating the importance of the earliest prophetic mention of the patriarchs makes possible new insights into where the patriarchs could most plausibly fit into the religious history of ancient Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]