New Article in EJT on LXX, Jeremiah, Textual Plurality, and Theological Interpretation

My article, developed from a conference paper delivered several years ago, has just been published:

Benjamin D. Giffone, “Can Theological Interpretation Soften the Protestant Problem of Old Testament Textual Plurality? Jeremiah as a Test Case,” European Journal of Theology 29.2 (2020): 153–178. DOI: 10.5117/EJT2020.2.004.GIFF.

The English abstract is as follows:

Discoveries in the last century which contribute to the field of Old Testament textual criticism raise challenges for Protestant use of the Masoretic Text and canon, and for evangelical doctrines of the authority and perspicuity of Scripture. Protestants maintain that the authority of the New Testament is self-attesting, not derived from the Church. Difficulties arise when Protestants apply this understanding to the Old Testament, particularly to the Masoretic Text and canon used to exclude the Apocrypha. Of particular interest is the Masoretic Text of Jeremiah, which is widely acknowledged by textual critics to represent a later version of the book than the LXX text of Jeremiah. Protestant use of the Masoretic canon (and later text of Jeremiah) in light of the early church’s preference for the LXX (text and canon) entails 1) a recognition that community reception plays a significant role in determining the extent of the canon – and that, through Jerome, Rabbinic Judaism’s Bible served to ‘correct’ the Spirit-filled church’s canon; and 2) that catholicity cannot be an adequate basis for recognizing the Old Testament canon, given that the Church has never been unanimous on this point. Through the lens of the self-attesting witness of the New Testament to Christ, ‘theological interpretation’ of the Old Testament may allow evangelicals to maintain a high view of the Old Testament as Scripture while tolerating some uncertainties concerning the precise text and outer canonical bounds of the Old Testament.

This article reflects my current thinking on some of issues I’ve raised on this blog over the years, including here, here, and here.

About Benj

I’m a native North Jerseyan, transplanted to Pennsylvania...lived and taught in Eastern Europe for six years…Old Testament professor, ordained minister, occasional liturgist…husband to Corrie…father to Daniel and Elizabeth.
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