Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Christian M. M. Brady" <cbrady AT tulane.edu>]

On 6/4/02 6:37 AM, "Ian Hutchesson" <mc2499 AT mclink.it> wrote:

> It means that we have a means of locating the writing in time.
> We know who wrote the text and why. By "who" I mean that we
> have some idea of the writer as a cultural entity. By "why" I
> mean that we have some idea of the motivation behind the
> production of the text. It is not a matter of signing a name,
> but of knowing the context of the production of a text. If a
> text cannot be contextualised, it doesn't mean that the
> writer(s) wrote fiction, but that it cannot be treated as
> historical information.

Why? Your last sentence does not follow. Why do we need to know the context
in order to treat it as historical information? Now, if you wanted to say
that in order to treat the text not as *reporting* historical fact but of
indicating perceptions and theologies of the time of the writer, then yes,
we need to place it in its context, but not if one is arguing that it is
historical fact. Not that *I* would ever do such a thing... ;-)

Cb
cbrady @ tulane.edu
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