Theological interpretation Archives

*Conspicuous in His Absence,* Chloe T. Sun. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2021.

Summary: Adopting the approach of theological interpretation, explores through various lenses the significance of the absence of mentions of the name of God in Song of Songs and Esther.

If it is accurate to say that God is the central subject of the Bible, what do we make of the absence of mentions of God in two of the books of the Bible? Absence? What books? Song of Songs and Esther. If we hadn’t noticed, we might have been absorbed in the love poetry of Song of Songs, or the storytelling of Esther. Chloe T. Sun has noticed and makes this the subject of one of the most thoughtful considerations I’ve read of these two books. The experience of the absence, or apparent absence of God is one most of us have experienced and Sun notes that these two books serve as a counter to the overwhelming presence of God elsewhere in scripture.

After some introductory material, Sun begins by considering the theological work exploring the presence and absence of God in other parts of scripture. She notes the receding character of God’s presence in later periods of scripture, and the placement of these books at the center of the arrangement centers the experience of absence amid presence. Chapter two looks at these two books as countertexts to the wisdom books, showing wisdom in nature, erotic love, and human responsibilities–a fuller picture of the wisdom of God.

Chapter three looks at the element of time in both books. There is the timelessness of love in Song of Songs and the breaking in of time in the lover’s absence. In Esther, there is the central idea of “for such a time as this,” the coming together of the strands of Esther and Mordecai’s lives and the plots against the Jews. These moments in time of absence intensify the longing and expectancy for the presence of God. Chapter four shifts from time to temple. Much of Song of Songs revolves around the garden, a place of love, and Esther occurs in a palace with gardens, harking back to the garden temple of Eden. The imagery points toward the presence of God even in absence.

These books bookend the megilloth, five books connected with the five feasts. Song of Songs is associated with Passover; Esther is connected to Purim. In time Purim ends the Jewish year, weeks before the beginning of the year with Passover. This is a season of absence within a year of presence. Sun considers the resonances in the books with the associated feasts and the significance of a rhythm of absence and the remembrance of presence. Finally, Sun looks at the canon, and the resonances and dissonances in other books with these two. Here again, Sun develops the dialectic between presence and absence.

As she concludes the work, Sun made an observation that tied together much of the material for me:

“Christian faith is a dialogic faith. Through prayer and interaction with God, we may find the dynamics of a Christian journey that involves doubt, protest, lament, faith, and hope. In other words, when we sense God’s silence, we do not keep silent. We voice our thoughts to him and we take action using the best of our knowledge to enact change and to maintain order as much as we are able” (p. 294).

This book combines careful theological reflection that brought out new insights into both books for me while helping connect them to the broader testimony of scripture. While the book reflects good theological scholarship, what made it “sing” for me is that it is a book of theological formation, that makes sense of our own longings for presence in the absence of God, not only through these books but in the larger dialectic of presence and absence that runs through scripture.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Reading Scripture as the Church (New Explorations in Theology), Derek W. Taylor. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2020.

Summary: Brings Dietrich Bonhoeffer into conversation with three theologians concerning how the church reads and interprets scripture.

The printing press, the Reformation, vernacular translations and rising literacy put the Bible into the hands of many more Christians, leading to a rise of personal Bible reading, contributing both to personal devotion, and the rise of idiosyncratic interpretations. The latter makes it ever more apparent that scripture is meant to be read and interpreted as the church, within Christian communities.

Derek W. Taylor explores the contribution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the reading of scripture in community in a conversation with three other theologians: John Webster, Robert Jenson, and Stanley Hauerwas. Bonhoeffer was a leader in the Confessing Church movement that resisted Hitlerian tyranny, and the seminary community at Finkenwalde, a ministry centered around reading scripture within community. The central idea coming through in this volume is that of following this risen Lord who calls his people to follow him in discipleship into his mission in the world. Taylor unpacks this in four parts:

The church as a creation of the word. Here he draws on John Webster’s idea of the church as creatura verbi. What Bonhoeffer brings to this is the idea of the risen Christ without whom the community of the church cannot exist.
The church as an institution. Taylor brings in Robert Jenson who emphasizes the importance of reading within the traditions of the church, allowing how the church has read to influence how we read. To this Bonhoeffer adds the dimension of the living Christ who has been leading this church into all truth throughout history.
Reading as a congregation. Taylor focuses on a leading exponent of ecclesial theology, Stanley Hauerwas. Hauerwas sees the church’s reading together as enacting the community. Bonhoeffer would counter that the gathered community is the place addressed by the risen Lord, and led by him into discipleship.
The church as missional community. Here, Taylor doesn’t draw upon a particular theologian but notes that Bonhoeffer’s missional theology is inherent in the question “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” that addresses the community in its given context.

The most significant conclusion to this discussion for me is one Taylor makes in his epilogue. He states:

By examining the church in terms of its identity-defining relationships, I have suggested that this hermeneutic is not a method but a posture and that this posture can be most succinctly summarized as the ongoing act of discipleship (p. 258).

For Taylor, scriptural interpretation can never be codified into the fabric of the church nor its history of interpretation. Rather, the risen Lord speaks through scripture leading his people, forming them as disciples and leading them into mission, helping them to be both ever true, and ever new in their life together and work in the world. Taylor brings Bonhoeffer in conversation with three theological interpreters of scripture, and adding his own insights, offers a rich account of how we might read scripture as the church.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.