Disassembling Provenance: Origin Stories and Why They Matter for Scripture
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Francis Borchardt
Abstract
In the context of early Jewish and Christian prologues, stories of discovery are ubiquitous. Sometimes these stories of discovery claim a special access and agency for the translator, allowing them to take credit for the work, and by extension earn favor with potential readers and with God. Yet these tales are present even when the one who claims to translate or otherwise adapt the text is anonymous, and desirous of neither prayer nor any other reward for their efforts. This evidence suggests that such fictions may serve a different rhetorical function. This chapter argues that these fictions of provenance serve to realize the texts to which they are attached. The stories of provenance conjure the idea that the texts they introduce have existed long before, continue to exist now, and will continue to exist in the future. They do so by telling tales of unique access to writings, a special skill or opportunity that allows for the necessary transformation of the text, and a manufactured legacy that ties the writing back to a hoary past. In telling these stories they reveal a set of ancient Jewish and Christian values around scriptural writings. This chapter compares the stories of discovery in the translator’s prologue to Ben Sira, the prologue of the Sibylline Oracles, and the prologue of the Gospel of Nicodemus to illustrate how these prologues work to create the works to which they are attached as fully realized entities in the world.
Abstract
In the context of early Jewish and Christian prologues, stories of discovery are ubiquitous. Sometimes these stories of discovery claim a special access and agency for the translator, allowing them to take credit for the work, and by extension earn favor with potential readers and with God. Yet these tales are present even when the one who claims to translate or otherwise adapt the text is anonymous, and desirous of neither prayer nor any other reward for their efforts. This evidence suggests that such fictions may serve a different rhetorical function. This chapter argues that these fictions of provenance serve to realize the texts to which they are attached. The stories of provenance conjure the idea that the texts they introduce have existed long before, continue to exist now, and will continue to exist in the future. They do so by telling tales of unique access to writings, a special skill or opportunity that allows for the necessary transformation of the text, and a manufactured legacy that ties the writing back to a hoary past. In telling these stories they reveal a set of ancient Jewish and Christian values around scriptural writings. This chapter compares the stories of discovery in the translator’s prologue to Ben Sira, the prologue of the Sibylline Oracles, and the prologue of the Gospel of Nicodemus to illustrate how these prologues work to create the works to which they are attached as fully realized entities in the world.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Foreword VII
- Scripture and Theology in Context: An Introduction 1
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Part 1: Scripture and the Web of Meanings
- An Anthropological Analysis of Ezekiel 13:17–21 35
- Messiahs and Redeemer Figures in Postexilic Texts 57
- Early Divine Christology: Scripture, Narrativity and Confession in Luke-Acts 89
- Why is the New Testament Called “New Testament”? 119
- Disassembling Provenance: Origin Stories and Why They Matter for Scripture 149
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Part 2: The Bible at Work: Historical Case Studies
- Power Dynamics in the Preached Word: A Fourth Century Case Study 165
- Augustine without a Theodicy of a Condemning God 195
- Philosophy in Aquinas’ Exegetical Work and Its Meta-Theological Implications 235
- Hamann between Luther and Hume 261
- Let Everything that Hath Breath Praise the Lord 283
- The Divine Forwards: Karl Barth’s Early Exegesis of the Pauline Epistles 305
- Karl Rahner’s Use of the Bible 327
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Part 3: Informing Theological Discourse: Systematic Perspectives
- Canonical Theology, Social Location and the Search for Global Theological Method 345
- Quadriga without Platonism 375
- Reinventing the Quadriga 397
- The Theological Art of Scriptural Interpretation: Lessons from von Balthasar 415
- The Holy Scriptures as a Recognition- and Witnessing-Authority 433
- The Relationship of Scripture and Tradition in the Light of God’s Revelation 453
- Deriving Theology from Scripture 473
- List of Contributors 487
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Foreword VII
- Scripture and Theology in Context: An Introduction 1
-
Part 1: Scripture and the Web of Meanings
- An Anthropological Analysis of Ezekiel 13:17–21 35
- Messiahs and Redeemer Figures in Postexilic Texts 57
- Early Divine Christology: Scripture, Narrativity and Confession in Luke-Acts 89
- Why is the New Testament Called “New Testament”? 119
- Disassembling Provenance: Origin Stories and Why They Matter for Scripture 149
-
Part 2: The Bible at Work: Historical Case Studies
- Power Dynamics in the Preached Word: A Fourth Century Case Study 165
- Augustine without a Theodicy of a Condemning God 195
- Philosophy in Aquinas’ Exegetical Work and Its Meta-Theological Implications 235
- Hamann between Luther and Hume 261
- Let Everything that Hath Breath Praise the Lord 283
- The Divine Forwards: Karl Barth’s Early Exegesis of the Pauline Epistles 305
- Karl Rahner’s Use of the Bible 327
-
Part 3: Informing Theological Discourse: Systematic Perspectives
- Canonical Theology, Social Location and the Search for Global Theological Method 345
- Quadriga without Platonism 375
- Reinventing the Quadriga 397
- The Theological Art of Scriptural Interpretation: Lessons from von Balthasar 415
- The Holy Scriptures as a Recognition- and Witnessing-Authority 433
- The Relationship of Scripture and Tradition in the Light of God’s Revelation 453
- Deriving Theology from Scripture 473
- List of Contributors 487
