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Huffing & puffing
Vincent Broman--No one's "huffing _uffing about who has more degrees". My
query to David Marotta was that he supply us with his qualifications for
challenging this or that scholarly view of the historical meaning of a given
passage. Of course anyone has the RIGHT to do whatever they wish in this
area. But my question was why I or anyone else should take seriously what
they say when they do so. I daresay a specialist in any field would not
be inclined to take very seriously the opinions of someone with minimum
qualifications in the subject matter and discipline in question--would you
listen to a "lay" opinion on some medical matter for example without asking
the speaker's basis for going against a professional medical opinion?
Democracy guarrantees civil liberties. But not all votes are equal in
scholarship. The value of an opinion is connected with whethr the person
knows much of the subject, methodology, and discipline in question.
Now then. To Vincent's suggestion that we examine what Marotta proposed
for "angeloi" in 1 Cor 11. I complained earlier that Marotta has rejected
a perfectly plausible meaning because he didn't personally like it. This is
hardly a basis for me taking the view with much seriousness. (I am still not
"huffing _uffing" Vincent, just talking straight--OK?)
If the list is simply an open forum for individuals to "wing it", well thanks,
but I'm a busy person. If someone has "paid their dues" by slugging through
the materials necessary to try to pronounce on a NT text, then maybe tat
person's views can be considered as woroth serious scholarly attention.
Again, I emphasize that we're talking about views which opine about the
HISTORICAL meaning of the text (i.e., what was likely the "intended"
meaning of the author/editor), not views about the religious "edification"
which may of course be based on the religiosity of the person, which I would
not want to challenge as candidly as I have the scholarly competence of
anyone who would pronounce on the historical exegesis of a text.
But, enough. Larry Hurtado, Robinson College (lwh11@phx.cam.ac.uk)
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