It has been said that in order to pursue the history of Biblical interpretation, you must include the whole philosophy of the West, which informs it at every stage. Frank Moore Cross More Quotes by Frank Moore Cross More Quotes From Frank Moore Cross My own interest is far more in the Hebrew Bible. My religion is more personally related to the Hebrew Bible than it is to the New Testament. Frank Moore Cross new-testament hebrew interest I have referred to [Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac] on occasion, but I doubt that you will find his name in any of my indices. In my view, he is important in the history of interpretation; and that is a subject I have not approached directly. Frank Moore Cross views doubt names The Garden of Eden presents the same story: If you want to make yourself gods, you'll find you're akin to the animals. Frank Moore Cross garden eden animal I have a concordance to the Talmud at home, which I have to use. Frank Moore Cross use home Happily, I come out of a Calvinist tradition in which the Hebrew Bible carries as much authority as the New Testament. No different weight is given to one or the other. Frank Moore Cross hebrew different weight The Bible is one, Old and New, in my particular tradition. Frank Moore Cross old-and-new tradition particular I find myself a little uncomfortable in the New Testament environment. And this is also true of what I would call late Judaism, the Judaism of the Second Temple and later. Frank Moore Cross temples environment littles With the Hebrew Bible, you're living in an austere world. Frank Moore Cross hebrew-bible hebrew world When you come to the New Testament you can't even swing a cat without hitting three demons and two spirits. And magic becomes something that is everywhere. In the Hebrew Bible this sort of thing doesn't go on. Frank Moore Cross swings cat two You have miracles [in the Hebrew Bible], yes, but they're not the work, normally, of demons. Frank Moore Cross hebrew demon miracle [The story of Adam and Eve] it's poetry. One must interpret it as poetry. The first 11 chapters of Genesis [the Primeval History] are absolutely remarkable. Frank Moore Cross adam stories firsts I became intimately acquainted with the Bible only as a theological student. Frank Moore Cross theological students My father's religious life was not Biblically centered. He was a saintly man, whom I could never emulate, so I went into scholarship rather than into the kind of pastoral activity that he pursued. Frank Moore Cross religious men father The history of interpretation [of the Bible] is fascinating; but that is something else. Frank Moore Cross interpretation fascinating It fascinates me to analyze these things and, yes, to see layers in the texts and the building up of Biblical literature. I think this provides insights that one simply does not get by the direct approach. Frank Moore Cross building-up biblical thinking I prefer to have all of this apparatus - historical, literary, critical - and then, beyond initial innocence and naiveté, to try to achieve a new innocence, a new naiveté. Frank Moore Cross innocence historical trying Israel defined its God and its relation to that God in existential, relational terms. They did not, until quite late, approach the question of one God in an abstract philosophical way. Frank Moore Cross philosophical israel way My father was a Social Gospel, far-left liberal, and to some degree a mystic. But we did not have Bible readings; we had prayers. Frank Moore Cross reading prayer father Certainly professionally, yes [I was interested more in history]. And literary criticism, the structure of poetry. But it is primarily as a historian that I work, although text criticism and literary criticism are very much a part of my interests. Frank Moore Cross structure interest criticism I sense that what you two [Elie Wiesel and Frank Moore Cross] share is that you each have a public relationship to the Biblical text and a somewhat private relationship to the Biblical text. Frank Moore Cross public-relations biblical two
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