What is Structural Exegesis?

Publisher Marketing: Structural exegesis is a major recent development in biblical studies and is related to simultaneous currents in other fields of academic study. Here, at last, is an introduction to structuralism and structuralist methods that does not presuppose advance knowledge of linguistics or anthropology. Traditional exegetical methods follow a historical paradigm; structuralism follows a linguistic paradigm. Thus, these two approaches involve significantly different attitudes toward the biblical text. Through clear analytic explanations illustrated by application to specific texts, Daniel Patte shows how structuralism and traditional scholarship must go hand in hand so that together they can carry the exegetical task to its end--opening the possibility for fresh insights based on clear understandings. Daniel Patte is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. Contributor Bio:  Patte, Daniel Daniel Patte, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, received a B. A. from the University of Grenoble, a B. D. from the Protestant Theological Seminary, Montpellier, a Th. M. from the University of Geneva and a Th. D. from Chicago Theological Seminary. After serving two terms as General Editor of Semeia: An Experimental Journal for Biblical Criticism of the Society of Biblical Literature, he is now on the editorial boards of The Bulletin of Contextual Theology in Southern Africa and Africa and of Chinese Christianity: An Experimental Journal of Bible, Theology and Culture. His twelve books, six edited volumes, and more than 80 articles reflect his overall quest for a "hermeneutics of moral responsibility in biblical interpretation." His interest in hermeneutics (Early Jewish Hermeneutics in Palestine) and in theories of communication, structuralism, and semiotics (three books on "Structural Exegesis") led him to pay special attention to The Religious Dimensions of Biblical Texts and, in particular, of Paul's letters (Paul's Faith and the Power of the Gospel) and Matthew (The Gospel according to Matthew). Daniel Patte's concern for moral responsibility in research and teaching (Ethics of Biblical Interpretation) led him to a practice of "Scriptural Criticism" that accounts for the ways in which Christian believers in diverse social and cultural contexts are affected by New Testament texts and their interpretations (The Challenge of Discipleship: A Critical Study of the Sermon on the Mount as Scripture). In the Society of Biblical Literature, he develops this approach together with an interdisciplinary international group of scholars who study Romans Through History and Cultures (a book series he edits). With Cristina Grenholm, he co-edited the first volume, Reading Israel in Romans, and co-authored the programmatic "Overture: Receptions, Critical Interpretations, and Scriptural Criticism." In his research and teaching, Daniel Patte follows an anthropological approach for which ordinary Christian believers are appropriate informants. Thus, be it at Vanderbilt, in Europe, in the Philippines, or in Africa, where he goes regularly, he begins with the "believers' interpretations" of New Testament texts, "reading with" people from diverse cultures.