Prophecy and Canon - (Studies in Judaism and Christianity) by Joseph Blenkinsopp (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This study contributes to the new approach to the problem of the authority of the Bible and religious authority in general known as canon criticism, and will at the same time promote better understanding and cooperation between Christian and Jewish biblical scholars. The author considers the Hebrew canon, and especially the juxtaposition of law and prophecy within it, not as a component of Christian canon, as is usually done, but as a historical and theological problem focusing on the issue of religious and sociological implications of the claims that underlie the formation of the tripartite canon, particularly the claims staked by the authority of the Bible and how this bears on the self-understanding of Judaism--and Christianity. Joseph Blekinsopp has traveled and studied extensively in the Middle East and Europe. Among his many books are A Sketchbook of Biblical Theology, Sexuality and the Christian tradition, Gibeon and Israel, and Scripture Discussion Commentary: Pentateuch. He is presently professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Prophecy and Canon is the third publication based on research sponsored by the University of Notre Dame Center for the Study of Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity.

Review Quotes

"An imaginative work, informed by the social sciences, which argues that the tripartite form of the Hebrew Bible mirrors tensions among rival claimants to interpret common religious tradition. The law (Pentateuch) developed in response to claims put forth by institutionally unattached prophets; in a counterdevelopment, the prophetic writings came to assert a balance between this free prophecy and the priestly-scribal order that lay behind the normative Pentateuch. Finally, the writings reflect various ways in which prophecy was absorbed, transformed, and contained within developing priestly-scribal theocracy. Blenkinsopp conludes with brief theological reflections based upon his argument. This is a major statement, reordering perspectives on the Hebrew Bible, and standing at the heart of modern attempts to recover the dynamic process by which tradition became scripture." --Choice

"Joseph Blenkinsopp dives head on into the question. He portrays the prophets in a very authentic role of interpreting earlier laws and traditions so that these continue to be normative and unifying guides amid new problems and possibilities." --The Bible Today

"This is an important book, not only as a contribution to the study of Jewish origins . . . but more, for the author's approach to the Hebrew Bible as canon. . . . Blenkinsopp has applied the insights of sociological studies, particularly those of Max Weber and Otto Plöger, to the study of canon. In showing that canon functions at the very center of one of the most basic conflicts in a religious community, and in fact functions to preserve tension rather than to settle the conflict, Blenkinsopp has made an important contribution to the study of canon." --Journal of Biblical Literature

"This study is systematic in approach and yet views the Old Testament from within itself and not from purely Christian perspectives. . . . It forms an imaginative and scholarly reconstruction of the process of canonization that provides a badly-needed ecumenical dimension to the question of scriptural authority." --Theological Studies

About the Author

Joseph Blenkinsopp is the John A. O'Brien Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies in the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Abraham: The Story of a Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015. He received his B.A. in History from the University of London and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.