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Number of results: 31
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Abstract

The Hebrew Bible has long been translated into the Karaim language. Such translations are important for Karaim rituals and help to preserve the Karaim language, which has recently become endangered. Although the language of these translations shows some common features, the translations of different Karaim varieties show some differences, as well. Therefore, the present study analyses part of a translation of the Tanakh into Karaim that was published in Crimea in 1841. The language of the so-called Gozleve Bible is Crimean Karaim, an extinct Eastern variety of Karaim that belongs to the Kipchak (North-Western) group of the Turkic languages. As such, typical Kipchak features are expected to have been preserved in written Crimean Karaim sources. However, the language of this translation also shows Oghuzic characteristics. Thus, this study will demonstrate some specific linguistic characteristics of the Oghuz branch of Turkic as well as their distribution throughout the Book of Leviticus in the Gozleve Bible. Specifically, it will focus on the phonetical, morphological, and lexical features.

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Authors and Affiliations

Murat Işik
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Abstract

In recounting or representing speech, both oral storyteller and literary narrator as well as the modern translator have at their disposal similar interpretive choices in how to represent it, ranging from mimesis to paraphrase to a simple notice that speech occurred. Most commonly, these metapragmatic comments take the shape of quotative frames, which introduce the represented speech and specify various pragmatic features of it, such as the original speaker, the original addressee, the nature of the speech event, or the reason for the speech event. The metapragmatic variety of quotative frames encountered within the Hebrew Bible has usually been described as the work of authors/redactors and attributed to written literary style. In this paper we first describe the metapragmatic shapes of quotative frames in Biblical Hebrew narrative and their discourse pragmatic functions. We then review recent evidence which suggests that at least some of the metapragmatic variety in biblical narrative reflects the oral strategies of representation employed by the storytellers/performers of originally oral texts. Finally, we explore the ways in which modern translators of the biblical text also engage in interpretation (or, a metapragmatic analysis) of the speech events portrayed in the text, using the story of the rape of Dinah (Genesis 34) as an example.

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Authors and Affiliations

Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé
Jacobus A. Naudé
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Abstract

Since the adoption of Christianity in Poland, the Bible has actively shaped the culture and religiousness of the Polish people. Translations of the Bible into the Polish language, as was the case with translations into national languages in other countries, counted among the most important areas of writing. Appearing as early as the Middle Ages, they mainly covered the Book of Psalms (St. Florian's Psalter, the Pulawy Psalter, and the Cracow Psalter). The first translations of the entire Holy Bible into Polish were the Catholic Leopolita Bible and the Protestant Brest Bible. The Wujek Bible, published in Cracow in 1599, exerted the broadest and most powerful influence, defining the Polish culture and biblical language, and was effectively superseded with the publication of the Millennium Bible (1965). For the Protestants, the Brest Bible was replaced by the Gdansk Bible, which remained in use until as late as 1975, when the Warsaw Bible appeared. Today, the Millennium Bible plays the role of the Polish Bible, although it profoundly lacks the authority and impact of the Wujek Bible. For its influence to become comparable to that of the Wujek Bible, it would have to become a reference translation, and the five consecutive editions have hardly reinforced its position.

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Ks. Dariusz Kotecki
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Abstract

The Bible is an example of long-term textual transmission in which “contaminations” result, in part, from the unique role of the text itself.
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Authors and Affiliations

Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò
1

  1. University of Warsaw
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Abstract

This article tries to give an answer to the question: how much did the development of catechetics as a theological discipline have influence on the presence of the Bible in catechesis? Thus we find here presented a history of the changes that have taken place in catechetics from its beginnings up to today. Changes in catechetics went from seeing it as the methodics of teaching religion to catechetics as a theolo- gical discipline. On each stage of the development of catechetics, the Bible was present in catechetical practice, where in the earlier stages it had a ancillary and auxiliary role. The drawing near of catechetics to theology also was the cause of a very substantial change in the assignment of the place of the Bible, which was acknowledged as the source of catechesis. Even though this situation is directly connected to the kerygmatic movement, the Bible is also the source of catechesis today.

The reflection taken up in this article allows to see the close connection between catechesis and biblical theology. Thus a valid assumption emerges that in the pre- paration of catechists of today it is necessary to be more open to a collaboration with theologians working on the Bible and making attempts to carry over the fruit of their studies to the field of pastoral theology, above all to catechetics.

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Authors and Affiliations

Ks. Stanisław Dziekoński
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Abstract

This paper is dedicated to a study of the religious layer in I. Ilf and E. Petrov’s novel The Twelve Chairs. The analysis provided leads to a deeper understanding of the novel as a travesty. First of all, the few existing works devoted to the problem of biblical referencing in The Twelve Chairs are listed and summarised. Secondly, these existing works will be supplemented with previously unmentioned and unstudied allusions. Following on from the religious aspects considered are: the novel’s title, the parallel between Jesus and Ostap Bender, the character of Fedor Vostrikov, the story of the ‘hussar‑monk’ and several biblical allusions contained in The Twelve Chairs. Finally, in the last part of our research, all the religious motifs are classified in order to further an understanding of the authors’ attitude towards the Bible. In conclusion, we determine the nature of the perception of the Bible in The Twelve Chairs.
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Authors and Affiliations

Маргарита Шанурина
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Московский Государственный университет им. М. Ломоносова
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Abstract

Numerous films, especially reinterpretations of the Gospel, can be read as loci theologici. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that the commercially motivated interest of filmmakers has its theological consequences: a resulting challenge is the catechetical use of apocryphal films in the pastoral praxis of the Church. The paper recalls main documents of the Church, relating to the cinema, stressing the absence of official teaching on the cinema in the last 20 years. Films, produced with commercial motivation, are often kitsch; it’s a result of tendencies to gain the possibly large audiences and to fulfill their expectations. An analysis of selected films (e.g. The Passion of the Christ and Son of God) indicates that the kitschy audiovisual apocrypha, superficial, emotional and lacking of authenticity, become a false filmic transformation of the message of the Bible. The paper postulates the need of constructing a theology of film: its object could be audiovisual texts, which extra-ecclesial theologies influence religious imagination and thinking of the viewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

Ks. Marek Lis
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Abstract

This article covers a complex relationship between the Bible and English literature from, to quote D.L. Jeffrey, ,,the swift Christianization of Britain in 7th CE [...] down to the present 'post-Christian' era". The author concentrates on and discusses the most essential results of more than thirteen centuries of this spiritual insemination, dealing mainly with a depiction of the most essential motifs and themes and occasionally commenting on various works' generic and technical aspects. Although we see that almost every writer explored biblical allusions in one way or another, emerging as the most significant developments are Anglo-Saxon poetry, Medieval drama, works of the Metaphysical poets as well as those of J. Milton, J. Bunyan and W. Blake. Having reached this peak, literature seems to have started losing interest in the Bible, or rather instead of the mission to evangelize, it preferred filling the old purport with new words and ideas, the most notorious 'deconstructionists' being Blake and his Romantic followers, decadent Swinburne and such modernists as D.H. Lawrence or J. Joyce.

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Aleksandra Kędzierska
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Abstract

In France, as well as in other countries of the French language, the relationship between the Bible and literature mirrors the dilemma facing the European culture, a culture founded on the Greek and Roman civilization, when it was becoming Christianized. The Christians in the French speaking Europe confront the problem of 'double-fidelity': either to the Bible as the Truth, or to the Greek and Roman culture representing Art. Two trends can be observed. Some would try to prove the artistic superiority of the Bible over pagan literature. Others would attempt to show that even in that kind of non-Christian literature it is possible to observe the presence of supernatural truth. The dilemma abates and loses its importance starting with the XVIII century when literature as such emancipates and becomes an autonomous reality of esthetic character.

Unsurprisingly, in the Middle Ages, the Bible constitutes the crucial source of inspiration for French literature. Authors compose paraphrases and long poems based on Biblical motifs. There appear mystery plays, with their performance often spread over a number of days. In the XVI century, both Catholics and Protestants produce a number of translations of the Holy Scriptures. There appear poetic pa- raphrases of psalms, and also extensive epic poems adopting various Biblical threads. In the XVII century, the genre of poetic meditation appears in addition to the genres already mentioned. On the other hand, the kind of drama based on Biblical themes is in retreat; it finds refuge in the academic theater, when it becomes superseded by works of the classicist character. In the beginning of the XVIII cen- tury, some scholars try to demonstrate the religious character of the works of Antiquity.

Together with the rationalism of Enlightenment, there appears a new attitude towards the Bible. In Voltaire, the Bible is an object of attacks and of ridicule. In Rousseau, it is a paradigm for the kind of discourse that is supposed to take its place. In Romanticism, we can observe the influence of the Bible over both Christian and non-Christian writers. In the works of the latter, the poet becomes a mystagogue interpreting the old myths. The Bible influences poetry; it serves as a stylistic and esthetic model, as a source of themes and motifs, and also as a point of reference for poems in the philosophy of history with the pantheistic or else progressist and utopic message, and for non-Christian apocrypha. In Symbolism, the Bible becomes completely despoiled of its religious value. It is being used in entirely atheistic and subjectivist ways. By the end of the XIX century, and in the first half of the XX century, we observe in France some kind of Catholic renaissance. The Bible is present in the prophetic works of Le'on Bloy. It becomes the object of the exegetical work of Claudel, of the poetry of Jouve and P. Emmanuel. In non-Christian writers in loses its function of the book of faith and becomes a book of myths.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jerzy Kaczorowski
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Abstract

The present paper aims at analyzing the conceptual metaphors for sin identifi ed in the English version of the Bible. The experience of moral evil belongs to basic human experiences and in theological interpretation, its existence is the reason for the salvation brought to people by Christ. However, from the semantic point of view, the concept of sin itself is highly abstract and diffi cult to defi ne. In order to conceptualize that notion, people frequently employ conceptual metaphors which enable them to refer to the abstract through the use of the concrete. This study is based on the English translation of Scripture published as the New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (2007[1989]). That version of Scripture is a revised edition of the famous King James Bible (1611) and it is widely used among Christians representing various denominations. The identifi ed sin metaphors are based on either sensorimotor or cultural experience. There are conceptualizations of sin that are motivated by preconceptual image schemas, ontological metaphors, and metaphors that combine cultural scripts and image schemas.
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Authors and Affiliations

Marcin Kuczok
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Abstract

Malgré sa valeur symbolique, il est étonnant de constater la totale absence du personnage biblique de Lamech et de ses péripéties dans toute la création littéraire de notre culture judéo-chrétienne; à l’inverse de ce qu’on remarque à propos de son aïeul Caïn, dont la tradition biblique a inspiré de nombreuses oeuvres. Seule la littérature apocryphe judéochrétienne a su développer la dimension symbolique de ce personnage. Nous voulons attirer l’attention sur les principaux traits de cette figure biblique, placée à l’aube de la violence développée de nos jours par ses contemporains ‘Enfants de Lamech’, traits qui attendent toujours leur moderne réélaboration littéraire: libération sexuelle, progrès technique, violence incontrôlée.
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del Olmo Lete Grigorio
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Abstract

The article presents a relation between a word and a picture against a background of art theology developing in Christianity. Such an assumption releases from the presentation of a selection of illustrations to biblical texts. Assumed deliberations have a form of an outline illustrated by the examples from the field of miniature painting and engraving, depicting in a literal sense a transformation of a word into a picture. The studies from the field of a word function in faith tradition created the whole theological and biblical literature. On the other hand analyses of the analo- gical role of a picture in Christianity are relatively new and only seldom are they conducted by theologians or art historians.

The title of the present dissertation constitutes a travesty of a sentence announced by St. John in the prologue of his Gospel: "And the Word was made flesh" (1:14). When John is talking about the Logos it means in our perspective a written word, that is the Revelation described in the Bible. Based on what St. Paul said in the Letter to the Romans (10:14-18) the expression: Fides ex auditu started to be used in theology. The question of the role of a picture in religion can be encapsulated in a paraphrase of this expression, as: Fides ex visu. Certain people in specific circumstances acquire faith through the sense of sight, through image.

The Prophets attributed to pictures magic forces and the power of influencing human souls. Therefore they pushed them into the field of magic and witchcraft, into the world of dark forces, using signs. According to their teaching a real cult does not need any material signs. A monotheistic religion wants to remain a religion based on reading and not watching „suspicious" pictures. Rejecting visual representations, the Old Testament favours verbal symbols. And not only has the image of a false godbecome the idol, but also a false image of the true God. The invisible God can be described, but not painted. Art is too weak to show the greatness of God. The undescribed God remained invisible. He made himself known to people only through the revealed word and depicting Him in paintings was forbidden because it was a threaten to the primary Plan of Salvation. In such an approach a word becomes a power and the rejected picture becomes weak because it is useless and even harmful. This was well expressed by Re'gis Debray, who wrote that art with its altars, paintings and figures was too heavy to be carried by the Jew, this eternal wanderer, on his way. Thus he took the book.

Despite strict bans we can find in the Old Testament statements containing human longing for watching God, either during the sleepas in the case of patriarch Jacob, or in a „face-to-face" meeting as Moses at Mount Sinai, or in a prophetic seeing as it was experienced e.g. by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, or the other ones „seeing".

The situation changed in the New Testament, when the eternal Logos - the son of God became a man. It was possible to see God through the incarnate Word, as Jesus Christ became the most ideal icon of God. The incarnation gave a possibility of depicting the one that was so far Invisible. This can be contained in a sentence that „the Word was made a picture". The Mystery of the Incarnation was invoked by the iconodules at the Second Council of Nicea, in 787.

Christianity is a religion of a word and a picture, but Protestants are different from Catholics in their approach to pictures. Taking a doctrinal assumption on the sole primacy of a word (sola Scriptura), certain sections of the Reformation rejected a picture as a form of superstition. The specific character of Protestant art became the custom of placing citations from the Bible on paintings, or even placing the sole citations or the sentences of the Reformation in altar reredos.

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Authors and Affiliations

Ks. Ryszard Knapiński
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Abstract

Designed as an introduction to the topic of „The Bible in Culture", this article is, by its very nature, synthetic. The author merely wanted to signal the necessity of a new approach to the Biblical literature which was by no means being created in isolation, independently of rich cultural milieu. For Israel, such an environment was not only a great civilization of Egypt, Anatolia or Mesopotamia but also traditional religions of Syria and Palestine. The metaphor of the seed sown into the soil, to which the Gospel so often refers, has its deep meaning also when applied to the Old Testament. Biblical authors were firmly rooted in the culture of their era, transgressing the borders of the chosen nation. However, with time a tendency would appear of Israel closing itself to the influence of the pagan world. Christ, neverthe- less, addresses his good news to all peoples (Mt 28,19), which presupposes its inculturation depending on the milieu of a given epoch.

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Authors and Affiliations

Ks. Antoni Tronina
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Abstract

A study of the Quran makes it clear, that the New and Old Testament traditions are manifest in various forms in the sacred book of Muslims. This paper presents the phenomenon of these biblical borrowings, giving the references in the Quran to the biblical persons and main themes. One finds many of the Old and New Testament stories of the prophets sometimes in precise forms where the Quranic records are relative identical with the Biblical versions. On other fragments the Quranic narra- tives contain elements of Biblical traditions mixed with folklore and fables extracted from the Talmud and in some cases (such as the story of Abraham and the idols) the sources are entirely Midrashic-Haggadic or Apocryphal. It is worth to be pointed out that the influence of orthodox Christianity on the Quran was slight but apocryphal and heretical Christian legends are clearly visible in the various Quranic fragments. Probably it is a result of Muhammad’s journeys between Syria, Hijaz, and yemen.

Scholars have adopted a number of different theories explaining the phenomenon of the biblical borrowings found in the Quran. For example it is said about Muham- mad’s dependence upon Jewish teachers and thus an overarching Jewish influence on Islam. It is generally admitted that Muhammad had opportunity to come into contact with yemenite, Abyssinian, Ghassanite, and Syrian Christians, especially heretic.

Analyzes of the Quran in the light of parallel passages in the Bible, Talmud and Apocrypha permits us to formulate an idea that early Islamic revelations were com- pilation of Muhammad inspiration with repetition of information coming to his ears, some of it Biblical and true to history, the rest predominantly mythical and fictitious. This thesis is not accepted by Muslim scholars, who maintain that the Qur’an is the divine word of God without any interpolation.

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Authors and Affiliations

Ks. Krzysztof Kościelniak
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Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze and interpret way in which a topos of Cain was evoked in literary works and other texts of culture in the light of the concept of transgression. An approach adapted in analysis will be inspired by comparative hermeneutics, yet not only literary contexts will be taken into consideration, but also religious, philosophical, and scientific ones. In the very structure of the topos one can discern a series of binary oppositions, which become valuated in various ways in different historical contexts. It is above all the opposition between destructive and constructive component of the theme. Interpretations of the topos in the works of George Byron, Władysław Orkan, and Jerzy Andrzejewski are discussed deeper. The analysis leads to the conclusion that in the historical development of a significant change in its valuation is taking place. Regarded as a symbol of evil in the Middle Ages, it is ennobled as a patron of rebels, reformers and creators in the twentieth century.

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Krzysztof Gajewski
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Abstract

The purpose of the paper is foremost to present Andrey Muraviev’s approach to fasting, both in his personal life and in literary work. The main basis of the analysis are the memories of the writer and his Letters about the service of the Eastern Catholic [Orthodox] Church (Письма о Богослужении Восточной Кафолической Церкви). Attention is paid to the Slavic word post ‘fast’, to its etymology, sense, its equivalents in biblical languages, i.e. in Hebrew and Greek as well. The writer’s considerations for fasting are confronted with appropriate biblical comments on this topic. The paper emphasizes that Muraviev, despite being brought up in a religious spirit, in his childhood and youth was not used to following the restraints of fasting. Only on his way to the Holy Land, did he fast throughout the entirety of Lent. Then he gradually got used to other multi‑day fasts and to weekly fasts, on Wednesdays and Fridays. In his reflections, referring to the books of the Old and New Testament, the works of Church Fathers and church songs, Muraviev argued that fasting is an important means in man’s spiritual life. He pointed out the need not only to renounce a particular type of food, but also above all to subdue the body to the soul and to tame passions. For the writer, fasting was a sign of faith and a practice supporting prayer.
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Authors and Affiliations

Anna Kościołek
1
ORCID: ORCID
Arleta Szulc
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu
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Abstract

Why is the word “tenderness” rarely mentioned in the Bible? Can we make any judgement about God’s tenderness? We talk to Father Tadeusz Dola, Professor Emeritus of Theology and head of the Theological Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

Tadeusz Dola
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Abstract

The presence of the Bible in the movies is a complex reality: besides direct interpretations of the stories from the Holy Scriptures, a number of films has been inspired by other cultural sources (passion-plays, arts, literature, music, other films). By reason of its subject and its non-religious origin, a biblical film is important for theologians: numerous audiovisual adaptations of the Gospel have raised the issues of the faithfulness of this particular kind of translation (transmediatization) of the Bible. A particular attention should be paid to Jesus-movies because of their impact on the audiences and very different ways of portraying of Jesus (from a relatively simple „historical" Jesus till elaborated Christ-figures).

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Authors and Affiliations

Ks. Marek Lis
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Abstract

The main aim of this article is to present necessary relations between the Bible (and biblical studies) - understood as a source of theology - and theology. At the beginning the author has shown a wide historical perspective of the main problem, which is changes in the ways of understanding the Bible and theology and relations between them. Than he has said about some modern ways of resolving this difficult problem, mostly from methodological perspective. He included also the reality of the Divine Revelation, the Church and her Tradition.

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Ks. Marian Rusecki
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Abstract

Pluralism and multiculturalism are new terms in biblical studies . Pluralism used in social sciences means a conditio of society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious or social groups maintain their unique cultural identities. Multicultu-ralism focuses on interactions between different groups and communities within the confines of a common society. This paper aims at analysing the practice and models of pluralism in the Bible and the evaluation of pluralism in the biblical context (from separatism in the Abraham days until the multicultural Christian community in the first century). Christianity existed as a pluralistic community from the beginning. Paul the Apostle presents the Church as the body of Christ and interactions within the Chri-stian community consisting of Jews and Gentiles are illustrated by relations between members of the body. The mission of the Church is based on various models of incul-turation (contextualisation). All of these models intersect with one another in different ways. Pluralism in the biblical studies manifests itself also in the use of different Bible translation strategies and various methods of biblical exegesis and interpretation.

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Authors and Affiliations

Kalina Wojciechowska
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Abstract

Five major phases of interrelation between the Bible and literature may be distinguished in German literary history. During the Middle Ages, when the Church and Christian faith played the dominant role, the Bible was treated in literary circles as a work in itself. Authors of the abundant biblical epic poetry, affirmatively paraphrasing Scripture texts, initiated the emergence and development of national literature. The works of that period had a propagandist character and served Christianization as well as the deepening of the faith. The original sense and meaning of the Bible was challenged - in the name of science and the social idea - during the period of the Enlightenment. The Bible seen as poetry endowed with wonderful rhythm, having powerful imaginative impact, and containing elements of Eastern folklore became popular and enjoyed its renaissance in the 19th century, mainly on Herder's account. Contemporary literature employs the language of the Bible not as ornamentation but as key element of poetic expression, and biblical characters serve either auto-reflection or the presentation of archaeological archetypes. 20th century German literature tends to have critical and negating biblical stylization. Such sty- lization results when the author's intentions and value system do not agree with what the biblical text contains, and when the word of God is used for the purpose of alienation and parody. Affirmative biblical stylization occurs sporadically in contemporary literature. The most common kind of biblical stylization, typical of modernist and postmodernist lyric poetry, is partial stylization, serving polemic purposes or alternative solutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

Marzena Górecka
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Abstract

This essay deals with, or rather attempts to explore, the problem of irony and humour (sensu largo) in the Bible. On the whole Polish theology, homiletics and academic biblical studies have hardly anything to say about it, and when they do mention it, it is done in a rather perfunctory and unsatisfactory manner. This article asks what may be reasons for this ‘exegetical retouch’ (tabooing?), i.e. why has the question of biblical irony, which is a staple of international scholarship, received so little attention in Poland? Why do contemporary Polish biblical and homiletic studies cultivate a staid and solemn tone, and steer clear of a direct and plain exposition laced with subtle irony and a touch of asteism, a sure sign of a wise sense of humour that characterizes ancient Judaism? For Gary Webster, Terri Bednarz and Yehuda Radday the recognition level of biblical humour, sophisticated wordplay or irony depends on the reader’s competence, his linguistic and cultural sensitivity, his ability to detect cognitive presuppositions, and his knowledge of relevant contexts. Yet even a thorough understanding of the biblical text and its cultural conditioning cannot rule out doubts, moot points and interpretative dilemmas that bedevil the work of every translator and hermeneutic analyst and stoke up unending debates.

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Authors and Affiliations

Albert Gorzkowski
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Abstract

Patristic exegesis followed certain hermeneutical rules different from the modern principles of scientific interpretation of the Scripture. The main feature was christocentrism: Jesus Christ was the first hermeneutical key to understand the Bible. The second principle is the unity of the Scripture: the Old Testament is read and interpreted in the light of the New Testament. The third characteristic is the twofold way of reading the Word of God: literal and spiritual; both are complementary and need each other to achieve the full comprehension of the biblical message. The fourth is typology and symbolism: each literary motif of the Scripture (person, thing, event, etc.) can be a carrier of many meanings useful for spiritual purposes, exceeding the historical context. A special attention is attributed also to the tradition of the Church, the Eucharistic perspective and the fact that Church Fathers and ancient Rabbis interpreted and explained the Old Testament in the contexts of their communities of faith, independently but sometimes following similar intuitions.
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Authors and Affiliations

Krzysztof Bardski
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Abstract

The article contains a multifaceted analysis of Jan Kochanowski's poem “Zuzanna” in a comparative approach to the biblical prototype. Maintaining the conclusions of previous researchers stating the classicization that Kochanowski subjected the original story, the article clarifies the opinions formulated so far too univocally by examining the plot layer, the structure of the presented world, and in particular the characters, the manner of narration and the stylistic layer. In conclusion, it is stated that the humanistic consciousness influences the way the characters are built and the narrative (which has not been noticed so far), although at the same time the versification refers to a certain extent to the medieval poem.
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Authors and Affiliations

Krzysztof Gajewski
1

  1. Instytut Badań Literackich PAN, Warszawa

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