Jaco Gericke - A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament

Episode: How should we read the Old Testament? Is there only one valid interpretation or a plurality of interpretations? If the latter, then how do we maintain intellectual humility and find valid methods for addressing the texts of Scripture? For a first-ever joint episode with the Center for Hebraic Thought, Dru talks to Dr. Jaco Gericke of North-West University, South Africa about his journey to philosophical theology, and some of his current research, particularly his recent book, A Philosophical Theology of the Old Testament: A historical, experimental, comparative and analytic perspective. Along the way, they discuss atheism, the necessity of bringing a philosophical perspective to biblical studies, developing reliable methods for reading Scripture, and even some terrible jokes.

Guest: Jaco Gericke is Associate Research Professor of Theology and Philosophy at North-West University, South Africa. He is also the author of What is a God?: Philosophical Perspectives on Divine Essence in the Hebrew Bible (Bloomsbury) and The Hebrew Bible and Philosophy of Religion (SBL Press).

Event: A socially-distanced live (outdoor) event at Nashotah House Theological Seminary on July 21st. More info HERE.

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Shownotes:

• 1:18 Introducing Dr. Jaco Gericke and his research
• 8:06 Why Dr. Gericke doesn’t like to call himself an atheist and why he still studies the Old Testament
• 13:41 The difficult with the terms “biblical theology” and “philosophical theology”
• 24:55 The necessity of humility and openness to a plurality of interpretations for understanding scripture
• 30:06 James Barr and the renewed philology movement
• 35:20 Ways to do philosophical theology in the Old Testament
• 46:32 How philosophical theology prevents us from reading our own philosophical categories into the text
• 50:43 Speed Round