The New Testament
Central research tasks in the New Testament have traditionally been the establishment of a scholarly text, the study of the development of the oral and textual tradition, the interpretation of the texts and placing them within their historical and religious context.
A necessary part of this work has been expertise in Greek, and developing a broad spectrum of methods for historical critical textual interpretation.
In the last decades, however, there has been a speedy development in the field with an increasing interdisciplinary bent, a cultural and literary “turn”, a clearly feminist and gender perspective, and a focus on the reception and influence of the texts. All this has set its mark on New Testament research at the Faculty of Theology, which has in many areas participated in the international research discourse.
In the study of Jesus and the early Jesus movement, historical methods are broadened with sociological and social-anthropological methods that help us to understand the development of groups, the relation to the surrounding society, and values and norms. Inspiration from literary theories such as structuralism, narrative and rhetorical theory have moved the focus from the author towards analyses of the text itself, and through (amongst other things) reader-response analyses, cognitive science and contextual and postcolonial criticism, towards the relation between text and reader/receiver.
Consciousness of the various perspectives from which a text can be read has also led to an increasing interest in studies of the history of the use and influence of the text, for example in relation to women’s priestly work, attitudes to moral questions such as slavery and same-sex relations. This development has increased the significance of hermeneutic reflection and the discussion of ethical responsibilities in Biblical interpretation and the use of the Bible.
The combination of historical, literary and hermeneutical questions has been particularly clear within studies of feminism and gender, and in time also masculinity, where the New Testament environment has experienced its strongest development in recent times. At the same time, the hermeneutical reflection attained in the New Testament research area is an important contribution to the Faculty’s teaching in Homiletics.
Permanent staff connected to the research area:
- Vemund Blomkvist, Lecturer
- Gitte Buch-Hansen, (temporary) Associate Professor
- David Nils Theodor Hellholm, Senior Professor
- Halvor Moxnes, Professor
- Turid Karlsen Seim, Professor (on leave)
Research fellows connected to the research area: