Critical Essay

Formatting style: Chicago Style for Footnotes and Bibliography

Critical essay

One of the objectives of reading the Bible is information: reading the Bible “as an historical document … written sometime in the past about events that did or did not happen. … We can inquire about the production of the text and its transmission. We can raise historical questions about how the text’s account is related to the actual past events it purports to recount. We can struggle to understand the theological position it presents and their relationships…to the surrounding world of thought. We can try to establish what kinds of spirituality and religious practices these texts represent.”[1]

Write a critical essay that demonstrates the limitations of reading the Bible exclusively for information and offers a critical reflection on how you interpret a biblical passage that overcomes these inadequacies.

1) Pick just one biblical passage from the following:

Gen 1-2:3:

Isa 40:1-11

2) Explain and demonstrate how a person interpreting the passage solely from the perspective of the past would approach the task. Identify the benefits of approaching the passage as a historical document and also describe the limitations of solely interpreting the passage from the perspective of the past. (1000 words)

3) Explain how you would go about addressing the limitations by interpreting the passage also from the perspectives of the present and future. (300 words)

4) Thinking critically and reflectively, articulate and justify your interpretation of the passage in a way that can make the passage relevant to an audience today. (500 words)

5) Introduction and conclusion (500 words)

Purpose: The critical essay gives students the opportunity to apply to a selected biblical text what they have learned of the methods and principles of critical interpretation and argumentation, including the formulation of a personal, social or religious response to the biblical text. The task also requires students to articulate the relevance of contemporary approaches to biblical interpretation to their own professional contexts. You must display engagement with scholarly resources, and reference these. The resources you have used must be listed in a bibliography. The assignment should have appropriate referencing.