God is the Creator
Uploaded by Brent R Goodin on May 09, 2004
Christianity is a religion which embodies the teachings of Jesus Christ. Christ is completely divine and mortal. He is God. He is truly unique in that He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah. The aforementioned prophecies were explicitly communicated through the Bible, a guidebook for followers of Christianity. Specifically, the Old Testament is the foundation of many religions (i.e. Judaism, Islam and Christianity). The Bible (the Scripture) is composed of several books; each book is regarded as both a historical as well as allegorical source. The Bible is the canon of the Scripture, the basis of Christian beliefs. Every story chronicled throughout the scripture is factual. Although each story has a separate author, they all share a common link; they were inspired by way of revelation; therefore they are the truth.
The Bible can be interpreted in three different ways: the divine oracle paradigm, the historical paradigm, or the literary paradigm. These biblical interpretive techniques are described in an article by Carl R. Holladay called “Contemporary Methods of Reading the Bible.” Using “A Historical View of Texts” under the umbrella of the literary paradigm, particular claims of the scripture will secure credibility and further meaning. “A Historical View of Texts” does not take into account the Bible’s development over time especially in terms of cause and effect how those shaped the texts; rather, it scrutinizes the Bible in its entirety, as a “finished product.” More importance is given to literal than historical interpretation, “spatial rather than temporal (Holladay, p.138).” Historical references are only made when the text requires the reader or interpreter to do so. The net-effect of being oblivious to time whilst interpreting a piece is a purely literal breakdown of the text.
This form of biblical analysis has two offshoots: diachronic and synchronic analysis. Holladay explains:
In diachronic analysis, the interpreter thinks in terms of a linear time line along which the development of language and texts can be plotted. Synchronic analysis, by contrast, focuses on a single point in the time line and draws comparisons from other texts that are either roughly contemporary or otherwise relevant. In the literary paradigm, synchronic analysis may also involve comparing texts, or aspects of language, from different chronological periods, but doing so as if they occupied the same moment in...