Scriptural reasoning

Scriptural Reasoning ("SR") is one type of interdisciplinary, interfaith scriptural reading. It is an evolving practice in which Christians, Jews, Muslims, and sometimes members of other faiths, meet to study their sacred scriptures together, and to explore the ways in which such study can help them understand and respond to particular contemporary issues. Originally developed by theologians and religious philosophers as a means of fostering post-critical and postliberal corrections to patterns of modern reasoning, it has now spread beyond academic circles.

Method

Scriptural Reasoning involves participants from multiple religious traditions^[1] meeting, very often in small groups, to read and discuss passages from their sacred texts (e.g., Tanakh, the New Testament, and the Qur'an).^[2] The texts will often relate to a common topic - say, the figure of Abraham, or consideration of legal and moral issues of property-holding.^[3] Participants discuss the content of the texts, and will often explore the variety of ways in which their religious communities have worked with them and continue to work with them, and the ways in which those texts might shape their understanding of and engagement with a range of contemporary issues.^[4]

A participant from any one religious tradition might therefore:

• Discuss with the other participants his or her own readings of the texts from his or her own tradition
• Discuss with them their attempts to make sense of the texts from his or her own tradition, and
• In turn discuss with them the texts from their own traditions.^[5]

Scriptural Reasoning has sometimes been described as a "tent of meeting" - a Biblical mishkan (Heb. משׁכן Ara. مسكن) - a reference to the story of Genesis 18. Steven Kepnes, a Jewish philosopher, writes:

Participants in SR practice come to it as both representatives of academic institutions and particular "houses" (churches, mosques, synagogues) of worship. SR meets, however, outside of these institutions and houses in special times and in separate spaces that are likened to Biblical "tents of meeting". Practitioners come together in these tents of meeting to read and reason with scriptures. They then return to their academic and religious institutions and to the world with renewed energy and wisdom for these institutions and the world.^[6]

Purpose

As originally conceived, SR was an academic practice involving theologians, religious philosophers, and text scholars, and was said to be aimed at 'repairing' or 'correcting' patterns of modern philosophical and theological reasoning.^[7] That is, it was seen not only as a form of interfaith dialogue, but also as a form of philosophical or theological reasoning.^[8] It has often been described as a 'postliberal' or 'postcritical' theological or philosophical movement.^[9] Its purpose is sometimes described more simply as that of promoting the growth of 'wisdom',^[10] or, more simply still, as 'humbling and creative' interfaith encounter^[11] or 'deeper mutual understanding'.^[12]

Basic features

Most forms of SR exhibit the following basic features:

• SR does not ask participants from different faith traditions to focus upon areas in which they are most nearly in agreement, or to bracket their commitments to the deepest sources of their traditions' distinct identities. SR allows participants to remain faithful to the deepest identity-forming practices and allegiances of their religious communities.^[13]
• SR provides a context in which the participants can discuss those commitments, and perhaps even become more self-aware about them. SR sessions therefore often highlight and explore differences and disagreements between religious tradition, and give rise to serious argument - in order to promote what has been called 'better quality disagreement'.^[14]
• SR does not assume any consensus between the participants as to how they understand the nature, authority or proper interpretation of the texts in front of them. Participants do not have to assume, for instance, that the Bible fulfills the same role for Christians as does the Qur'an for Muslims or the Tanakh for Jews.^[15]
• SR is said to rely upon the existence of honesty, openness and trust amongst the participants, and more generally upon the growth of friendship among the participants in order to provide an appropriate context for disagreement. It is therefore sometimes said that the key to SR is 'not consensus but friendship'.^[16]
• In order to encourage these relationships, the practice of Scriptural Reasoning is often located geographically with a view to engendering mutual hospitality - for example, by meeting in neutral academic spaces such as universities, or by peripatetically rotating between the houses of worship of different faiths. SR groups try to preserve an ethos of mutual hospitality with each participant being both host and guest, and to ensure parity of leadership, oversight or ownership.^[17]

History

The term "Scriptural Reasoning" was coined by Peter Ochs^[18] to name a group who now form the Society for Scriptural Reasoning (SSR)^[19] The founders of this international group, formed in 1995, include Ochs himself, David F. Ford and Daniel W. Hardy^[20] Its origins lie in a related practice, "Textual Reasoning" ("TR"),^[21] which involved Jewish philosophers reading Talmud in conversation with scholars of rabbinics.^[22] Peter Ochs was one of the leading participants in Textual Reasoning.^[23]

The core practice of interfaith biblical study resembles already existing practices, such as that of the International Theology Conference at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.^[24]

The Scriptural Reasoning Society is an independent network of SR activity in the UK, not affiliated to the international Society for Scriptural Reasoning described above.

In 2007, independent Islamic authorities in London issued a fatwa^[25] advising Muslims about participation in the practice of Scriptural Reasoning.^[26]

Developments

Scriptural Reasoning began as an academic practice. Examples of academic SR include the Scriptural Reasoning Group of the American Academy of Religion,^[27] the Scriptural Reasoning in the University group (which evolved from the Scriptural Reasoning Theory Group ^[28]), Scriptural Reasoning project at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton,^[29] the Scriptures in Dialogue project founded by Leo Baeck College, and the SR Oxford group of the Scriptural Reasoning Society ("Oxford School") founded by the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford and the Interfaith Alliance UK.

Scriptural Reasoning has also become a "civic practice" in the community, examples of which include the Central Virginia Scriptural Reasoning Group sponsored by Eastern Mennonite University, at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace at St Ethelburga's Bishopsgate, the SR Camden and SR Westminster groups of the Scriptural Reasoning Society sponsored by Camden Faith Communities Partnership, Liberal Judaism (United Kingdom) and different places of worship in London.

Civic developments from Scriptural Reasoning carrying different names, include the Faith and Citizenship programme of London Metropolitan University, and Tools for Trialogue, a youth project of the Three Faiths Forum, which develops modes of scriptural study for young people in schools and local communities.

Criticisms

Theologian Adrian Thatcher has questioned whether Scriptural Reasoning flattens theological differences in the way the three traditions approach their respective Scriptures, noting especially "the paucity of references to Jesus Christ" in the essays in The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning (see, e.g., Ford and Pecknold 2006), and asking whether this "may indicate … the further erosion of Christocentric biblical interpretation."^[30]

Another theologian, James M. Gustafson, questions the claim he believes implied by Peter Ochs' descriptions of Scriptural Reasoning that it "has not only the capacity, but also the authority to correct 'modernist reason'" – and asking whether Scriptural Reasoning has been sufficiently open to the critical discourses fostered in modernity. His claims have been responded to directly by S. Mark Heim.^[31]

Christina Grenholm and Daniel Patte ask whether SR "presupposes a view of Christianity as a separate nation with clear borders and set markers" and whether it lacks a "critical perspective that would reveal that there are different kinds of 'scriptural reasonings.'"^[32]

Footnotes

References

• Abernethy, Bob (October 12, 2007), "Scriptural Reasoning (interview with David Ford, Rumee Achmed and Peter Ochs", Religion and Ethics News Weekly 
• Adams, Nicholas (2006), Habermas and Theology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-68114-8 
• Afzaal, Ahmed (Oct–December 1998), "Rendezvous in Orlando" (PDF), The Qu'ranic Horizons: Quarterly Journal of the Qu'ranic Academy: 3–12, retrieved 2009-03-19  Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Anglican Communion Network for Inter Faith Concerns (NIFCON) (2008), Generous Love: The Truth of the Gospel and the Call to Dialogue; An Anglican Theology of Inter Faith Relations (PDF), London: Anglican Consultative Council, ISBN 9780955826108, retrieved 2009-03-19 
• Bailey, Jeffrey W. (September 5, 2006), "Sacred Book Club: Reading Scriptures Across Interfaith Lines", The Christian Century 
• Batnitzky, Leora. (July 2008), "Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: Some Comments on the Work of Peter Ochs", Modern Theology, 24 (3): 479–485, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2008.00470.x 
• Burrell, David B. (October 2006), "Review of David Novak, Talking with Christians: Musings of a Jewish Theologian (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005) and Michael Wyschogrod, Abraham's Promise: Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004),", Modern Theology, 22 (4): 705–709, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2006.00344.x 
• Campbell, William S. (October 2001), "Jewish Responses to the Revised Understanding of Judaism and of Self-understanding in Christianity", Journal of Beliefs and Values, 22 (2): 123–131 
• Campbell, William S.. (2006), Paul and the Creation of Christian Identity, New York: Continuum, ISBN 978-0-567-04434-1 
• Clooney, Francis Xavier (2008), Beyond Compare: St Francis De Sales and Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God, Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, ISBN 978-1-58901-211-0 
• Donnelly, Phillip J. (2009), Milton’s Scriptural Reasoning: Narrative and Protestant Toleration, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-50973-2 
• Fatahllah, Muhammad; Al-ansari, Salah; Al-Salamoni, Muhammad (17 July 2007), Fatwa on Scriptural Reasoning (English) (PDF), retrieved 2009-03-20 ; also in Arabic: Fatahllah, Muhammad; Al-ansari, Salah; Al-Salamoni, Muhammad (17 July 2007), Fatwa on Scriptural Reasoning (Arabic) (PDF), retrieved 2009-03-20 
• Ford, David F. (June 2006), "An Interfaith Wisdom: Scriptural Reasoning Between Jews, Christians and Muslims", Modern Theology, 22 (3): 345–366, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2006.00322.x  = Ford, David F. (2006), "An Interfaith Wisdom: Scriptural Reasoning Between Jews, Christians and Muslims", in Pecknold, C.C.; Ford, David F., The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning, Malden, MI / Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 1–22, ISBN 978-1-4051-4630-2 
• Ford, David F. (2007), Christian Wisdom: Desiring God and Learning in Love, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-87545-5 
• Gaylord, Alan T. (2006), "Reflections on D. W. Robertson, Jr., and "Exegetical Criticism"", The Chaucer Review, 40 (3): 311–333, doi:10.1353/cr.2006.0003, ISSN 0009-2002 
• Grenholm, Christina.; Patte, Daniel (2005), "Introduction", in Grenholm; Patte, Daniel, Gender, Tradition and Romans, New York: Continuum, pp. 1–18, ISBN 978-0-567-02911-9 
• Gustafson, James F. (2004), An Examined Faith: The Grace of Self-Doubt, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, ISBN 978-0-8006-3628-9 
• Hardy, Daniel W. (2002), "Textual Reasoning: A Concluding Reflection", in Ochs, Peter; Levene, Nancy, Textual Reasonings: Jewish Philosophy and Text Study at the End of the Twentieth Century, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, pp. 269–276, ISBN 0-8028-3997-5 
• Hauerwas, Stanley (2008), "Why 'The Way the Words Run' Matters: Reflections on Becoming a 'Major Biblical Scholar'", in Wagner, J. Ross; Grieb, A. Katherine; Rowe, C. Kavin, The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, pp. 1–19, ISBN 978-0-8028-6356-0 
• Heim, S. Mark. (June 20, 2004), "A Faith Worthy of Doubt, a review of James M. Gustafson's An Examined Faith: The Grace of Self-Doubt (Fortress, 2004).", The Christian Century: 25–36, retrieved 2009-03-19 
• Higton, Mike (23 June 2008), A Session of Scriptural Reasoning, retrieved 2009-03-19 
• Kepnes, Steven (June 2006), "A Handbook for Scriptural Reasoning", Modern Theology, 22 (3): 367–383, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2006.00323.x  = Kepnes, Steven (2006), "A Handbook for Scriptural Reasoning", in Pecknold, C.C.; Ford, David F., The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning, Malden, MI / Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 23–39, ISBN 978-1-4051-4630-2 
• Lamberth, David C. (July 2008), "Assessing Peter Ochs through Peirce, Pragmatism and the Logic of Scripture", Modern Theology, 24 (3): 459–467, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2008.00468.x 
• Levene, Nancy (2002), "Introduction", in Ochs, Peter; Levene, Nancy, Textual Reasonings: Jewish Philosophy and Text Study at the End of the Twentieth Century, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, pp. 15–27, ISBN 0-8028-3997-5 
• Mudge, Lewis S. (2008), The Gift of Responsibility: The Promise of Dialogue Among Christians, Jews and Muslims, New York: Continuum, ISBN 978-0-8264-2839-4 
• Ochs, Peter (2002), "Introduction", in Ochs, Peter; Levene, Nancy, Textual Reasonings: Jewish Philosophy and Text Study at the End of the Twentieth Century, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, pp. 2–14, ISBN 0-8028-3997-5 
• Ochs, Peter (2006), "The Logic of Indignity and the Logic of Redemption", in Soulen, R. Kendall; Woodhead, Linda, God and Human Dignity, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, pp. 143–160, ISBN 978-0-8028-3395-2 
• Pecknold, C.C. (June 2006), "Preface: The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning", Modern Theology, 22 (3): 339–343, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2006.00321.x  = Pecknold, C.C. (2006), "Preface: The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning", in Pecknold, C.C.; Ford, David F., The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning, Malden, MI / Oxford: Blackwell, pp. vii–xi, ISBN 978-1-4051-4630-2 
• Scriptural Reasoning Society (n.d.), The Scriptural Reasoning Society - Scriptures in Dialogue, retrieved 2009-03-20 
• Scriptural Reasoning Society (2007), The Community Ethic of the Scriptural Reasoning Society: The 'Oxford Ethic' (PDF), retrieved 2009-03-20 
• Smith, James K.A. (July 2008), "How Religious Practices Matter: Peter Ochs' "Alternative Nurturance" of Philosophy of Religion", Modern Theology, 24 (3): 469–478, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2008.00469.x 
• Society for Scriptural Reasoning (2005), JSR Forum: Participating Societies, retrieved 2009-03-20 
• Society for Scriptural Reasoning (2006), SJSR: How Do I Get Involved?, retrieved 2009-03-20 
• Soulen, Richard N.; Soulen, R. Kendall, eds. (2001), "Postcritical Biblical Interpretation", Handbook of Biblical Criticism, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, pp. 139–140, ISBN 978-0-664-22314-4 
• Thatcher, Adrian (2008), The Savage Text: The Use and Abuse of the Bible, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4051-7017-8 
• Torrance, Iain (January 2009), "Friendship as a Mode of Theological Engagement: David Ford's Exploration of Christian Wisdom", Modern Theology, 25 (1): 123–131, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0025.2008.01504.x 
• Williams, Jenny (March 12, 2009), "Sense and Spirituality" (PDF), The Baptist Times 

External links

• The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning
• The Children of Abraham Institute
• Central Virginia Scriptural Reasoning Group
• The Scriptural Reasoning Society
• The Citizenship and Faith Initiative
• Islamic fatwa on Scriptural Reasoning
• St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
• Scriptural Reasoning Online Discussion Forum
• Tools for Trialogue
• Scriptures in Dialogue Programme - Leo Baeck College