Overview

It is common opinion in biblical scholarship that the biblical documents functioned in a sociocultural context dominated by the spoken word. Detextification is the result of addressing the complex relation between this formally acknowledged functioning in its original oral delivery and the daily praxis of biblical scholarship in which these documents function as autonomous texts in an ever-expanding universe of texts. The argument in this book is that in addition to acknowledging the difference in media (oral performance there and then versus reading text here and now), it is crucial to differentiate and explicate the mindsets behind these media. A literate reader in the present structures thought, vis-a-vis text, differently from someone intensively formed by oral-aural communication, in the moment of exposure to a performing orator. The latter perspective was Paul's in the process of his letter composition. Therefore, this is a leading question in detextification: How can a contemporary biblical scholar relate to the text of Paul's letters in such a way as to understand how the apostle envisioned his original addressees structuring their thoughts during the event of a letter's oral-aural delivery? Two test cases are provided from the Letter to the Galatians (Gal 2-3).

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9781666762969

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"""Ben F. van Veen's insightful exploration adeptly bridges the gap between historical context and contemporary interpretation, prompting a serious reevaluation of our comprehension of ancient documents. For those captivated by the confluence of history, communication, and biblical studies, this book embarks on a journey that stimulates profound reflection."" --A. W. Zwiep, professor of hermeneutics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam ""Ben F. van Veen presents a thorough challenge to all textually trained scholars to fully embrace the different mindset of the New Testament authors. Employing a vast range of previous studies of orality, van Veen points to new avenues on how to study the New Testament and suggests ways to understand how Paul and other authors structured their thoughts in various forms of textual argumentation. Here scholarship will find help to transform oral theory to analytical interpretation."" --Samuel Byrskog, professor of New Testament studies, Lund University"

Author Information

Ben F. van Veen received his PhD at the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam). He is currently a prison chaplain in the Netherlands.

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