What Is Postmodern Biblical Criticism?

by Andrew K. Adam

Postmodernism is not simply one perspective but a basketful of related critical assumptions. A.K. M Adam prepares readers for wrestling with deconstruction, ideological criticism, postmodern feminism, "transgressive" postmodernism, and other postmodern approaches to biblical interpretation. He offers plain-language explanations and illustrative examples and shows how students might undertake their own postmodern biblical interpretation.

Genres: Nonfiction

82 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Fred Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My little trek into postmodern biblical interpretation started with the interesting little introduction to the New Collegeville Bible Commentary Series *Introduction to the Bible*, by Gregory Dawes. That book was largely a historical examination of biblical interpretation beginning with the Patristic period and going through modern (postmodern?) times. (I don’t know that it is really fair to say that we are in postmodern times, it seems to me that even those philosophers who claim to represent postmodernism tend to think in modern fashion.)

At any rate, *Introduction to the Bible* was the first book I read that mentioned postmodern biblical interpretation. The idea fascinates me, because I am dissatisfied with the traditional modes of biblical interpretation which often claim to find grand metanarratives behind the text or search for meaning behind the texts. I am not necessarily opposed to metanarratives or meaning, but when it comes to the Bible I am, like the postmodernists, deeply suspicious that we can uncover these things.

When I did a search on postmodern biblical interpretation, disappointingly this short book was the only book that popped up. I immediately ordered it, and I’m glad I did! It’s a really good introduction to the subject. I was hoping it would lead me to more resources for postmodern biblical interpretation, which it did; in spades. Each chapter ends with a section for further reading, which I mined for some great finds. Two books that I immediately ordered were *Mark and Luke in Poststructuralist Perspectives: Jesus Begins to Write*, by Stephen D. Moore (highly recommended by Adam); and *The Bible & the Reader : An Introduction to Literary Criticism*, by Edgar McKnight

There were a number of books I put on my shopping list as a result of reading this book. One that I am particularly interested in is *Lethal Love*, by Mieke Bal. I learned of Bal through an excellent essay by her in *Feminist Companion to Ruth*, by Athalya Brenner-Idan (Editor). Bal is probably the closest I have come to reading postmodern biblical criticism, although according to Google, her structured background and political commitments make her a critical post-structuralist and cultural theorist rather than a card-carrying postmodernist.

The case of Cornel West is similar. West is mentioned throughout this book. His three characteristics of postmodern thought: (1) cannot accept any system of knowledge as absolute or foundational, (2) cannot accept the premise that some body of knowledge, or subject of knowledge, constitutes a unified totality, and (3) cannot accept mystifying claims that any intellectual discourse is disinterested or pure serve as a kind of backbone for this book. Nevertheless, West is better known, at least to me, as a political activist than a postmodern philosopher. But I have put his book *Prophesy Deliverance!* on my shopping list.

The term "demystifying" was confusing to me because I’m not used to thinking of the idea of disinterested discourse as a "myth." I had to go to Google for help. Google told me "Postmodern philosophers define demystifying as the act of unmasking hidden power structures, social biases, and arbitrary assumptions disguised as universal or objective truths." This, I can see, would be a valuable tool in evaluation the truth claims of some biblical scholars, especially those that ascribe grand metanarratives to the Bible.

Even though the book is so short, Adam gives a demonstration of postmodern biblical interpretation by examining the question of who wrote 2 Thessalonians. He concludes, "We need not stop wondering who wrote 2 Thessalonians, and what the author meant by 'false letter,' but we do need to recuperate from our captivity to undecidable questions like this one." Obviously, many modern scholars do not consider the question undecidable. Adam describes this technique of biblical interpretation as introducing a certain looseness, or what Derrida calls "play," into one’s interpretations.

Adam claims that "The presence of deconstructive biblicists in the academy and in the church will mean abandoning the illusion that there is something behind or within the biblical texts that we might get at by way of sufficient research or the right method." I think he is dreaming if he thinks the academy or the church are going to abandon their illusions about the Bible anytime soon. As he himself points out, biblical scholars tend to address problems as though they already know the range of possible alternative solutions. The best he can hope for is that some in the academy and the church will recognize the shortcomings of traditional interpretative methods.

One recommended reading was Edward Greenstein's article "Deconstruction and Biblical Narrative" (1989). Greenstein deconstructs the story of Nadab and Abihu (the eldest sons of Aaron. Along the way he makes some interesting observations: "All language echoes other language" (cf. Hartman 1981), "Deconstruction is in the final analysis the death of God put into writing" (Raschke 1982. 3), and "Deconstruction holds that ambiguity is not an occasional property of literature, selectively enriching the sense of the text. Ambiguity is characteristic of language itself … meaning is always indeterminate." I think this last observation is a difficult pill for us modernists to swallow; especially moderns used to imposing a grand metanarrative on the Bible.

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a great introduction to the topic. Having no experience previously and wanting to know more, the author provided a great starting point and a guide to further exploration.

[Jann Cather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful book in understanding postmodern criticism. At times, her writing style defeats itself by using such phrases as, “in fact,” or “in truth,” which are phrases contrary to postmodernism. This book is very well organized, containing within it a method of criticism similar to postmodernism used in the Medieval times. Her description of what postmodernism does revealed how it may be applied to many “fields “other than biblical criticism. I especially enjoyed the third chapter, which discusses the transgressive interpretational properties of postmodernist criticism. It seemed, however, she ran out of steam on her third chapter. I would have enjoyed further exploration of the transgressive properties of postmodern criticism.

[Kendall Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well-written introduction. Does what it says on the tin. The introductory chapter that explained postmodernity was particularly good. Some of the later chapters that explored particular approaches were a bit more muddled and dated at this point in time. Adam is also notable for having a broad familiarity with postmodern theorists outside of biblical studies and this expertise makes this introduction particularly valuable.

[Lawrence Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what it claims

After reading this book, I am able to answer the question posed in the title. If you want to know what postmodern biblical criticism is, read this book.

[Ike Reeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

As another reviewer stated, does exactly what it purports to do. The four stars are for its conciseness and clarity in engaging an ambiguous topic, not because I agree with the methods it proposes.

[Jonathan Widell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear, readable introduction to postmodernist biblical criticism and postmodernism in general. However, I found it to be too enthusiastic to be truly postmodern. No, the enthusiasm is not contageous. And it does sound dated (1995). I liked one sentence:"...we cannot short-circuit the spiritual gift of discernment by conceding that an interpretation that is adorned with academic credentials and access to publishing facilities is automatically superior." (p. 35). Unfortunately, the case is overstated, and we get a rather rambling account of transgressive interpretations, which I feel inclined to omit and transgress.

[Bronwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me 11 years back into my English Literature Criticism & Theory classroom. A. K. M. Adam summarized, synthesized, and elucidated postmodern scholars and their thought for me in ways that my English prof had done but I had forgotten. It was a great refresher with only a few Biblical examples. If you're picking up this book and hoping it will tell you how to do postmodern Biblical criticism, you're out of luck. It's not prescriptive (and neither is postmodernism). My next read will probably be Adam's "Faithful interpretation: reading the Bible in a postmodern world".

[Seth Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you agree or not with postmodern biblical criticism, this is an excellent overview. The language is accessible and you can feel the effects of the major philosophers in the example arguments even if the author doesn't dig deeply into them.

Good introduction.

[Jason Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like it--AT ALL!