volume 11, issue 1, 2019, pages 1-10

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsDJQH3676
Published online: 2019-06-01
Published in print: 2019-06-30

Abstract: Approaching biblical research from the perspective of history and literature has long been given. Added to these approaches, the canonical and intertextual reading of the Bible is increasingly gaining importance within the exegetical debate. Considering texts within their canonical context, and in their interaction with other textual units within the canon, implies that the unity of Scripture would be a basic premise of this kind of reading. This contribution describes (1) tree dimensions creating unity: the history of the origin of Scripture as one coherent book; furthermore its collective concern, namely the creation of a just society, which reveals the true Face of God; and thirdly the process of canonisation, leading to the establishment of Holy Scripture as the founding document of a community of reception. Therefore, (2) modern biblical Hermeneutics is increasingly paying attention to the canon. Within the confines of the canon, a polyphonic and intense theological discourse on Truth can be distinguished. The “contoured intertextuality” (N. Lohfink) of the canon challenges the reader towards creative participation in this discourse. Finally, (3) the two stages of the canonical reading of Scripture – the analytical-descriptive and the synthetic-interpretive – are briefly described.