Abstract
The influential British theologian David Brown and his work is the focus of this collection of essays. David Brown's theological engagement has focused on four principal areas: the relation between philosophy and theology, sacramental theology, theology and the arts, and Anglican studies. He has worked and taught at Oxford, Durham and finally till his retirement at St Andrews.
As Christopher R. Brewer notes in his introduction, while Brown has engaged with biblical studies, ‘Brown’s work, however, is rarely engaged in any meaningful way by biblical scholars’ (p. ix). This volume, the result of a colloquium held in 2015, was designed for a greater engagement with Brown’s thought not just by biblical scholars but others also working in an interdisciplinary mode. Brewer continues ‘if Brown’s work is a pointer—a trail marker, if you will—then this volume is a map that directs readers to the trailhead’ (p. x) The introduction carefully attends to Brown’s thought on the bible and how it has been received by those Brewer calls his allies. ‘All of this is part of what Brown calls ‘the moving text,’ which spans scriptural and interpretative canons; that is, ‘a shifting real text whose actual content at any particular moment could only be determined by careful analysis of its social setting’’ (p. xii)
Part One is entitled the Biblical Text and contains four essays on biblical texts and their interpretation. A number of biblical scholars directly engage with Brown’s thought in this part and illustrate his possibility as dialogue partner for their discipline. The first essay in this section is by Garrick V. Allen, one of the editors and a noted textual critic in biblical studies. Rejecting the common view of textural criticism, he engages with Brown’s view of seeing scripture as part of the broader stream of Christian tradition, foundational yes but also a product of that tradition that continues to develop and change. This reworking of a text is taken up in the next essay by Ian Boxall on the reception(s) of the story of Pilate’s wife as found in the Gospel of Matthew. Stephen C. Barton continues to explore the various interplays between tradition and scripture in the work of Brown by bringing the temple episode found in the Gospel of John chapter 2 into dialogue with the insights of Brown. Barton urges Brown to pay even greater attention to memory and remembrance in his work insisting that the role of the imagination must be grounded theologically. The last essay in this section is by Robert MacSwain who contrasts and compares David Brown and Eleonore Stump on biblical interpretation. MacSwain sees Brown [who] ‘engages with the hermeneutical philosophical tradition and traces the reception exegesis of these narratives, showing how they have been “rewritten” through the centuries in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in order to address different contexts, mediating divine revelation in the process. Stump, by contrast, situates herself in the analytic philosophical tradition, current discussions of philosophy and literature, and contemporary neuroscience, and offers original interpretations that often bear little relation to more common readings of these texts, while sometimes intentionally bracketing the question of their revelatory statues’ (p. 53). It makes for a fascination read.
Part Two focuses on the Visual Imagination and has five contributions on visual imagery and biblical texts: not only how Brown’s work might be used in the study of visual imagery but also the broader influence imagery can have for biblical studies. The first three essays deal with themes from the Hebrew Scriptures: how two Black artists reread the narratives of Genesis 1–2; the problematic narrative of Genesis 22 and the ambivalent figure of Abraham which concludes: ‘It is time to stop trying to paint a benevolent portrait of the patriarch to hang above our mantel, expecting him to gaze down approvingly on our interfaith salons and seminars. The future of interfaith dialogue depends on our ability to perforate our pieties as much as reinforce them’ (p. 103); and the image of Jacob’s ladder in contemporary artistic representations and installations. The last two essays in this section broaden out to the visual history of the Book of Revelation and the reception of texts in the stained glass of the Abbey of Steinfeld. Unfortunately there are no actual images in the volume itself which is a loss.
Part Three deals with the Literary Imagination with three articles and concludes with a reply from David Brown. How might extra biblical narratives and their development serve to enrich our understanding of familiar and indeed unfamiliar biblical narratives. Thomas Rist takes some texts dealing with the figure of the Virgin Mary. Jon Greenaway reads or rereads Frankenstein with the help of Brown and Dennis Kinlaw moves the reader into contemporary American fiction and the writings of David Foster Wallace. A fulsome reply by David Brown to these three parts follows.
The Appendix to the volume, which is really Part Four, contains four homilies from Brown himself, with an introduction penned by the editors. The editors offer some comment on the text that is used as the basis for the homily. I am struck by the lack of context for these homilies, beyond the texts that inspired them; there is no mention of the liturgical space where they were preached or the textual surroundings of the other readings or indeed the various prayer texts. There is no indication for what liturgical celebration they were composed. No mention of the music or the liturgical space in which they were preached. All of which in a sense contradicts all that preceded in this fine and stimulating volume.