Newsletter 30 September 2009
Responsible Application of
the Bible
Dr. David F. Watson
As a New Testament scholar, I spend a great deal of
my time teaching history and engaging in historical research. Understanding
the proper historical context of the biblical writings is essential for gaining
a better understanding of the writings themselves. It was a fantastic opportunity,
then, for me to travel with a group of students from United Theological Seminary
in Dayton, Ohio, to Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank. We saw fascinating
biblical sites. We visited Jerash, Jordan (biblical Gerasa). We stayed in
Bethlehem and visited the Church of the Nativity. We walked the streets of
Nazareth and Jerusalem. We took a boat out on the Sea of Galilee. As a historian,
I felt it was a great privilege to visit these places. I took scads of pictures
and kept a journal of our travels. In my teaching, I now incorporate both
the images and insights that I brought back.
My interest in learning more about the world of the Bible, however, is not
simply a matter of historical curiosity. For people of faith, the books of
the Bible are sacred texts that shape our ideas, attitudes, and actions, often
in ways that we do not even perceive. There are profound ethical implications
to the ways in which we think about and appropriate the biblical texts. Putting
the works of the Bible in their proper historical context is an important
part of responsible interpretation, but it is not the endgame. Rather, understanding
what these texts meant in their original settings aids in the responsible
application of them today.
With the Society for Biblical Studies, I found an organization that shares
my love of both rigorous history and ethical reflection. During our trip,
we had the opportunity to visit with Palestinians living on the West Bank.
We met with Israelis who supported Israel’s policies regarding the Palestinians
and others who opposed those same policies. We saw the massive “separation
barrier” that the Israelis are building. We visited a Palestinian refugee
camp in Bethlehem. We learned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not
simply a two-sided confrontation, but is a complex issue with many different
voices seeking a variety of resolutions.
The Middle East has a present and future and not simply a past. There are
deep and abiding troubles in this part of the world and these troubles can
in part be traced to the religious convictions of the parties involved. In
the process of interpreting and applying our sacred texts, we should be aware
of the ways in which our decisions come to bear on the lives of Israelis and
Palestinians. The trip that my students and I took with The Society for Biblical
Studies was an intense “crash course” on these issues. Each of
us grew from this trip intellectually, ethically, and spiritually. I look
forward to another trip to the Holy Land with S.B.S., once again to be immersed
in this fascinating and complex part of the world.
David Watson is a professor of New Testament at
United theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio
