Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies In The Gospels

Product Information

In addition to the elements that are so distinctive of Bailey’s work on these stories, Bailey also offers a fresh look at some features that are noticed by scholars more generally, such as the women/gentiles in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. There are some details about Matthew’s infancy narrative that are overlooked (e.g. p.55, where Bailey assumes the traditional crèche scene with shepherds and Magi side by side, rather than considering the possibility that the scene in Matthew’s story is set when Jesus is around 2 years old). But the new material Bailey offers, such as a survey of Arab Christian traditions suggesting the Magi were from Arabia (pp.52-55), more than make up for any and all such oversights and weaker points. Bailey agrees that those four stages happened between when Jesus said or did something and when the stories became fixed in print in thecanon of the New Testament. Some scholars see this process as deterioration.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the

This is another solid contribution to the field of New Testament studies from Kenneth E. Bailey. Not quite as enjoyable or as potentially useful to the working pastor as his fine "Jesus through Middle-Eastern Eyes," it nonetheless contains several very helpful passages. Bailey has a gift of clear, lively expression; he takes advantage of his personal experiences, interest in Hebrew poetic structure, and knowledge of Arabic to bring insights into NT interpretation. - Ruth B. EdwardsBeginning with Jesus' birth, Ken Bailey leads us on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus in the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus' relationship to women and especially Jesus' parables. Over the past forty years or so as Bailey has worked through this text, he says "at critical points in the text, I have asked, 'How did Middle Eastern Christians across the centuries understand this text?'" Bailey sets out to answer this question throughout his examination of 1 Corinthians. He has three basic concerns in his approach to 1 Corinthians: 1) Paul, a Middle Eastern Jewish Christian, uses rhetorical styles that were available to him in the writings of the Hebrew prophets; 2) Middle Eastern life and literature is of assistance in recovering and bringing to life Paul's metaphors and parables; and 3) he examines 23 representative samples of the long heritage of Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew translations of 1 Corinthians. (19) In the parable of the prodigal son, is the father running down the road a big deal? For us, no. For a Middle Easterner, yes,” he says. In Finding the Lost Cultural Keys to Luke 15, Bailey quotes Ben Sirach, a Jewish philosopher who 200 years before Christ wrote, “A man’s manner of walking tells you what he is.”

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in

The distinctiveness of these essays is their interaction with early Syriac and Arabic Christian literature on the Gospels, such as the powerful ideas of Ibn al-Tayyib, a medieval scholar from Baghdad. Interaction with Arabic versions of the New Testament (translated from Syriac and Coptic) also provide insights into Eastern exegesis of the Bible. Since these linguistic sources share the broader culture of the ancient Middle East “… all of them are ethnically closer to the Semitic world of Jesus than the Greek and Latin cultures of the West” (p. 12). So, overall, the book contained some interesting information, but I didn't feel like reading it cleared up any potential confusions I had about 1 Corinthians. It was more than it pointed out possible nuances that I might not have otherwise noticed. Browse related stories about ancient Christmas sermons, Eugene Peterson and Bible translations, music from other cultures, and worship drama. Start a DiscussionPoint two regards the scope of the audience, and Bailey argues that the letter to the Corinthians was far more than simply a letter to one Church. Paul might use the Corinthians as an example to highlight some particular issues, but what he has in mind is not simply the Jewish readers, but the gentiles of the Greek world and ultimately “all believers” everywhere. The sheer weight of the evidence, when seen in light of the subtle Greek terminology and symbols along with his incredible efforts to speak to his own Jewish tradition (and Jesus transformation) in the careful terms of one who is living with both Jewish and Greek/gentile in mind, is overwhelming to say the least. This is one of the areas that simply makes so much sense, and really does change the way we read so much of the text. Indeed, Paul sets out this concern in the first chapter (from the Church in Corinth to the more generalized company of those “sanctified in Christ”, to the all encompassing “all those who in every place call upon the name of Jesus as Lord”), and continues this scope all the way through. The work will yield a rich harvest of information, pastoral support, and insight for all who read it. - Susan K. Hedahl Mary’s going into labor as she and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem. A mean innkeeper says there’s no room in the inn but lets them camp out in a stable. Meanwhile, angels visit shepherds who are shivering in the fields. Share examples of how Christians confuse culture with faith. Talk about what you’ve seen elsewhere and what you sense in your own tradition or church.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - Kenneth Bailey - SPCK

Again, an interesting methodological position, but also seemingly innovative in comparison to the modern exegetical tradition. That's not to say it's a bad thing. But I think it's a supplemental position, since it does seem to be an unusual one.However difficult the passage, Bailey tries to help us understand what it really meant in the original language and in the culture of the time. He also helps us understand that Paul was writing in a format that was understood in his time and culture but is unfamiliar to modern Western readers. It's not written in a linear A, then B, then C, then D style, for the most part. Instead, the climax comes in the middle of a section, and the phrases leading up to and away from the climax mirror each other. It's a new way of looking at 1 Corinthians for me, but according to Bailey it's the original way, and the only way in which it can be fully understood. For more than ten centuries, Christians who translate the gospels into Arabic have not seen the prodigal as repenting in the far country. They say he’s returned to his senses. He’s figured out how to play his father and earn money for food and land. Did you design a participatory project that helped Christians from different cultures—including Middle Eastern ones—talk about their faith practices? As Ken Bailey explains Luke 2, the Greek word ( katalymaor kataluma) translated as innin Luke 2:7 does not mean a commercial building with rooms for travelers. It’s a guest space, typically the upper room of a common village home.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - Google Books Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes - Google Books

Two things remove this book from the four star ranking I've previously given some of Bailey's work. First, there is a sense that in dealing with the Corinthian milieu Bailey is slightly out of his element. He is, after all, an expert in the area of the agrarian Levant rather than the urban centers of Rome. Secondly, much of his approach in this book is built off of a thorough knowledge of Hebrew and Greek rhetoric. Form criticism is, in general, of interest only to the specialist. It doesn't preach well. I find both this outline and these three principle ideas helpful, if not innovative. A glance through my commentaries on 1 Corinthians--Fee, Thiselton, Collins, Ciampa/Rosner, and Witherington--don't share his thematic outline, though Collins comes close who identifies 6 rhetorical "demonstrations." And from what I remember, and in my review of these commentaries in light of this review, I don't recall them drawing out the Hebraic rhetorical style that Bailey centers upon. In fact the most recent addition to the 1 Corinthians commentary library from Ciampa and Rosner state Paul uses Graeco-Roman rhetoric. Except a Hebraic rhetorical style culled from the prophets themselves is what Bailey argues for: "Using his own Jewish literary tradition, he built on the rhetoric of the classical writing prophets and composed a series of masterpieces not the topics he selected." (27)

The book is made up of six parts: (1) the birth of Jesus, (2) the Beatitudes, (3) the Lord’s Prayer, (4) the dramatic actions of Jesus, (5) Jesus and women, and (6) the parables of Jesus. The contents of these parts are in the form of textual studies with cultural-based interpretations. There are thirty two chapters in all. The author’s style is clear. He first discusses pertinent textual and literary features, then provides a commentary on the text under discussion, and concludes each chapter with a clear summary of the salient features discussed. In chapter 12, it is suggested that Jesus may have been nurtured with a “theological education” in the lay movement of the haberim that sprung up around this time (p.147). The Dead Sea Scrolls are appealed to as shedding light on the Messianic understanding of Isaiah 61 (pp.149-150), and the Targum also helps us contextualize the passage as it was understood in early Judaism (pp.155-156). The complaint that follows Jesus’ reading of that text in Luke’s Gospel is, according to Bailey, to be understood as expressing the community’s feeling that Jesus has departed from their own understanding of the passage. Nazareth was a “settler town” (p.152), and the community took offense at Jesus’ omission of those very lines from Isaiah that gave voice to their expectation that the Messianic age would be glorious for them, while a time when God’s vengeance would deal with their enemies (p.162). You’ve likely pictured Jesus as born in a stable because English translations of Luke 2:7 say Mary placed baby Jesus “in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” So how does Bailey use his Middle Eastern experience and sources to help give us a sharper, crisper reading of 1 Corinthians? Look at some examples: In other words, Joseph’s relatives welcome him and his betrothed for the final weeks of her pregnancy. The village midwife and women help Mary birth Jesus. “They don’t have a cradle, so they lay Jesus in the manger, which is clean, and put a blanket over him nice, warm, and tidy,” Bailey said. Surprise! Shepherds welcomed