Panel: SCRIPTURE & THEOLOGY 2025: EXPLORING METHODOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIBLICAL STUDIES AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY



35.2 - NARRATIVE ETHICS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR TODAY

AUTHORS:
Versluis A. (Theological University of Apeldoorn ~ Apeldoorn ~ Netherlands)
Text:
The study of Old Testament ethics is not limited to legal texts. During the last decades, there has been a growing interest in narrative ethics. In accordance with a more general tendency within the humanities, this paper argues for the importance of narrative in the study of the ethics of the Hebrew Bible. In addition, it develops a methodology for this study, in dialogue with the methodologies of biblical scholars Gordon Wenham and Ruben Zimmermann, and systematic theologian Volker Rabens, who further develops Zimmermann's method for a dialogue between biblical and contemporary ethics. Biblical ethics is sometimes studied as a purely historical and descriptive discipline. However, given that readers are shaped by stories and are invited to reflect on their values, the question of how the Old Testament stories can contribute to contemporary ethical reflection is pertinent. The present paper aims to contribute to this discussion by exploring the question from the perspective of biblical studies, aiming for a fruitful interaction between biblical studies and systematic theology in the discussion.