SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM AS EXEGETICAL APPROACH

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BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

The letter to the Hebrews (hereafter referred to simply as Hebrews) is generally accepted as a difficult book to understand in the New Testament canon. The ambiguity surrounding its author and audience creates difficulties for many scholars. The questions of the situation being addressed in Hebrews, the purpose and how the author sought to achieve this purpose are the subjects of many scholarly discussions which are all inseparably bound to the identity of the audience. Traditionally, the author’s intensive use of examples from the Jewish scriptures and religious tradition has given the impression that the author’s rhetoric was against the Jewish religion. This was built on the belief that the purpose of Hebrews was to stem the tendency of some Jewish Christians to return to the Jewish religion. Three important questions on the purpose of Hebrews are bound to the identity of the audience: 1) Does the author’s extensive use of the Jewish scriptures and religious traditions indicate that the author was trying to work against the pull of his audience back to Judaism? 2) was his use symbolic, such that it implicitly has rhetoric against the pull of other competing groups from which the believers had previously come? 3) In what sense is the author working against attempts
by the group(s) concerned to pull back the believers from the Christian group?

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This study supports the conviction that the social context of the audience of Hebrews provides a credible way of interpreting Hebrews. Though his arguments are theological, the author was primarily dealing with a social issue – namely, the tendency of his readers to leave the Christian group as well as his concerns and efforts to stem that tendency which held disastrous social consequences for the Christian group. It is therefore a viable option to attempt an understanding of Hebrews from the perspectives of the social institutions, interactions and scripts of the time and context of the audience. Failure to do this will reckon the audience and their situation as far removed from the experiences of human existence. This however, is not to say that Hebrews was written as a social identity piece of work, for instance. Rather, it is to assert that the social experiences of the audience provide the framework in which the writer’s thoughts are consciously or unconsciously articulated. The same social experiences of the audience offer the framework for understanding Hebrews on the part of the audience. As David A.

THE RESEARCH GAP

Social-scientific criticism is a relatively new and evolving approach to biblical exegesis. It involves the use of models and theories from the social sciences for the study of biblical texts. This approach has so far not seen much application to the interpretation of the letter to the Hebrews. Among the few that have been done, some have employed theories in social identity, while others have preferred other theories and models. In order to situate this study in the field of Hebrews and social-scientific criticism, a review of works done so far is undertaken. The review will be presented in three parts. The first will comprise works done with interest in social identity of the audience without explicit application of social-scientific theories.

METHODOLOGY

As hinted earlier, the study employs social-scientific criticism as exegetical tool for the interpretation of Hebrews. Detailed discussion of social-scientific criticism and its use of theories and models are given in Chapter 2, while the specific theories of social identity to be applied in this study are dealt with in Chapter 5. To address the social identity issues in Hebrews, theories on ethnicity, ingroup/intergroup behaviour and personality are used as perspectives from which Hebrews’ appeal to the audience is to be appreciated. The application of these theories brings to light social institutions, interactions and scripts of the Mediterranean society which are both reflected in and give legitimate lenses from which to understand Hebrews. The study therefore involves the explanation of the theories and the outlining of their aspects that are applicable to the study of Hebrews. These theories are applied to the warning passages after discussing the flow of thought in each warning passage. The warning passages are chosen because in them the author makes appeals that show how the author expects the audience to behave in the light of the social identity he presents of them. The warning passages are therefore chosen to embrace the immediate theological arguments in which they are located, so that strictly speaking, they involve more than what one would describe as warning passages. Social identity within Akan society is then used for the reading of Hebrews by focusing on the summary of findings of the social identity issues resulting from the application of the three theories to the warning passages. An assessment is then undertaken of the similarities and differences between the use of concepts of social identity in the Mediterranean society for the interpretation of Hebrews, and the use of the concept of social identity in the Akan society for the same purpose.

CHAPTER 1:BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1.1 BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
1.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1.3 THE RESEARCH GAP
1.4 METHODOLOGY
1.5 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER 2: SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM AS EXEGETICAL APPROACH
2.1 HISTORY OF SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM
2.2 DESCRIPTION, DEFINITION AND FUNCTION OF SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC MODELS AND THEORIES
2.3 CRITICAL VIEWS ON SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC CRITICISM AND RESPONSES
CHAPTER 3: THE CONTEXT OF HEBREWS
3.1 AUTHOR
3.2 INTENDED READERS
3.3 SOCIAL CONTEXT AND AIM
3.4 TIME OF WRITING
CHAPTER 4: THE AKAN SOCIETY OF GHANA
4.1 THE AKAN PEOPLE
4.2 ORIGIN OF THE AKAN PEOPLE
4.3 THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF AKAN ETHNICITY
4.4 ETHNIC IDENTITY
4.5 THE CONCEPT OF THE FAMILY, RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY
4.6 THE COMMUNAL ORIENTATION OF THE AKAN SOCIETY
4.7 HONOUR IN THE AKAN SOCIETY
4.8 AKAN CONCEPT OF A PERSON
4.9 THE AKAN AS A SOCIAL PERSON
4.10 KNOWLEDGE AND RIGHT CONDUCT
4.11 TRAINING AND INTEGRATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL INTO THE SOCIETY
4.12 CONTROL OF PEOPLE’S CONDUCT
4.13 RELIGION AS INTEGRAL TO THE AKAN SOCIETY
4.14 SALVATION IN AKAN THOUGHT
4.15 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5: READING SCENARIOS: SOCIAL IDENTITY, ETHNICITY AND PERSONALITY
5.1 SOCIAL IDENTITY
5.2 CATEGORIZATION, IDENTIFICATION, AND COMPARISON
5.3 SOCIAL COMPARISON AND SOCIAL IDENTITY
5.4 RELEVANT ASPECTS OF SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY FOR THE STUDY OF HEBREWS
5.4.1 Group distinctiveness
5.4.2 Group difference in status and power
5.4.3 Social mobility
5.4.4 Drawing boundaries
5.4.5 Stern warnings
5.4.6 Social creativity
5.4.7 Ingroup prototype
5.4.8 Superordinate identity
5.5 ETHNICITY
5.5.1 Some theories of ethnicity
5.5.1.1 Primordialism
5.5.1.2 Constructionism
5.5.1.3 Instrumentalism, social psychology, ethno-symbolism
5.5.2 Features of ethnicity/ethnic sentiments
5.5.3 Ethnicity and power
5.5.4 Multiple ethnic identity
5.5.5 Israelite ethnicity
5.5.6 Christianity and ethnic identity
5.5.7 RELEVANT ASPECTS OF ETHNICITY THEORY FOR THE STUDY OFHEBREWS
5.5.7.1 Kinship
5.5.7.2 Homeland (city)
5.5.7.3 Religion/custom
5.5.7.4 Myth of common ancestry
5.5.7.5 Shared historical memories
5.5.7.6 Name
5.5.7.7 Multiple ethnic identity
5.5.7.8 Ethnicity and power
5.6 PERSONALITY
5.6.1 The collective self and social behaviour
5.6.2 Psychological versus personal causation
5.6.3 Control of peoples’ lives
5.6.4 Evaluating persons
5.6.5 Assessing Mediterranean selves and knowing each other
5.6.6 Obligation to return favour
5.6.7 Honour and personality
5.6.8 RELEVANT ASPECTS OF PERSONALITY THEORY FOR THE
STUDY OF HEBREWS
5.6.8.1 Group goals and personality
5.6.8.3 The self and ingroup demands
5.6.8.4 Control of people’s lives
5.6.8.5 Interpersonal obligation within the ingroup
5.6.8.6 Obligation to return favour
5.6.9 Concluding remarks
CHAPTER 6: HEBREWS: SOCIAL IDENTITY, ETHNICITY AND PERSONALITY
6.1 THE INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT: A SUPERIOR MEDIATOR OF GOD’S MESSAGE IN A CONTEST OF MEDIATORS (HEB 1:1-14
6.1.1 The Son’s mediation of God’s message – unique and divine
6.1.2 Seven declarations about the Son’s superior rank and dignity
6.1.3 The Son, the victorious companion
6.1.4 Social identity issues
6.2 THE WARNING PASSAGES
6.2.1 Warning passage 1: Warning against drifting away from a
superior message and such a great salvation (Heb 2:1-18)
6.2.1.1 The need to pay closer attention to what has been heard
6.2.1.2 The Son goes to the aid of his brothers and sisters
6.2.1.3 Christ’s victory over temptation as liberation for his brothers and sisters
6.2.1.4 A response of obedience and loyalty demanded
6.2.1.5 Social identity issues
6.2.2 Warning passage 2: Warning against missing the promised rest for a better group with greater honour and hope (Heb 3:1-5:10)
6.2.2.1 Social identity issues
6.2.2.1.1 A better assessment of the Son’s group
6.2.2.1.2 The Father’s provision for his house
6.2.2.1.3 A better response, after the son’s example, to the Father’s provisions
6.2.2.1.4 Implications for conduct within the household of God
6.2.2.1.5 Summary
6.2.3 Warning passage 3: Warning against a response that wastes God’s goodness and holds the son up to contempt (Heb 5:11-6:20)
6.2.3.1 The group’s experience of the Father’s provision
6.2.3.2 Discerning good and evil as beneficiaries of the Father’s goodness
6.2.3.3 The reliability of God and the love of the audience as basis for feeling better things
6.2.3.4 Social identity issues
6.2.3.4.1 Control of members’ behaviour
6.2.3.4.2 The call to right response for God’s investment
6.2.3.4.3 Living in line with the image of their social identity
6.2.3.4.4 Appeal to shared historical memory
6.2.3.4.5 Appeal to personality
6.2.3.5 Summary
6.2.4 Warning passage 4: Warning to enlightened members of God’s
house against falling into the hands of the living God (Heb 9:11-10:39)
6.2.4.1 Social identity issues
6.2.4.1.1 Redefinition: Ritually transformed into God’s people
6.2.4.1.2 Enlightenment as basis for appeal to right and honourable conduct
6.2.4.1.3 Shared historical memory
6.2.4.1.4 Evoking emotions of confidence, fear and shame
6.2.4.1.5 Sacrifice and investment
6.2.4.1.6 Drawing boundaries
6.2.4.1.7 Summary
6.2.5 Warning passage 5: Warning against rejecting him who warns from heaven (Heb 12:1-29)
6.2.5.1 Social identity issues
6.2.5.1.1 Legitimate children of God
6.2.5.1.2 Superior group
6.2.5.1.3 Group responsibility
6.2.5.1.4 Myth of common ancestry
6.2.5.1.5 Homeland
6.2.5.1.6 Social creativity: Athletic imagery – redefinition of group experience
6.2.5.1.7 Group boundaries/distinctiveness
6.2.6 Summary of findings
6.2.6.1 Ethnicity
6.2.6.2 Ingroup/intergroup behaviour
6.2.6.3 Personality
6.2.6.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER 7: ETHNICITY, SOCIAL IDENTITY, AND PERSONALITY IN THE AKAN SOCIETY OF GHANA
7.1 ETHNICITY IN THE AKAN SOCIETY
7.1.1 Kinship
7.1.2 Homeland
7.1.3 Religion/custom
7.1.4 Myth of common ancestry/Shared historical memory
7.1.5 Superordinate identity in the clan system
7.1.6 Name/Language
7.1.7 Multiple ethnic identity
7.1.8 Ethnicity and power
7.2 SOCIAL IDENTITY IN THE AKAN SOCIETY
7.2.1 Social mobility/drawing boundaries/stern warning
7.2.2 Ingroup prototype
7.2.3 Social creativity
7.3 PERSONALITY WITHIN THE AKAN SOCIETY
7.3.1 Group goals and personality
7.3.2 Shared group fate/Control of people’s lives
7.3.3 Interpersonal obligation within the ingroup/Obligation to return favour
7.3.4 Sunsum as a determinant of one’s personality
7.4 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 8: AN AKAN READING OF THE WARNING PASSAGES
8.1 AN AKAN PERSPECTIVE ON HEBREWS 1
8.1.1 Summary of Chapter 1 in the light of Akan social identity
8.2 AN AKAN READING OF HEBREW’S ETHNIC APPEAL
8.2.1 Summary on Akan reading of Hebrew’s ethnic appeal
8.3 AN AKAN READING OF HEBREWS’ APPEAL TO INGROUP/INTERGROUP BEHAVIOUR
8.3.1 Summary of Akan reading of Hebrews’ appeal to ingroup/intergroup behaviour
8.4 AN AKAN READING OF HEBREWS’ APPEAL TO PERSONALITY
8.4.1 Summary of Akan reading of Hebrews’ appeal to personality
8.5 CONCLUSION ON AKAN READING OF THE WARNING PASSAGES
CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
9.1 ETHNICITY
9.2 INGROUP BEHAVIOUR AND INTERGROUP COMPETITION
9.3 PERSONALITY
9.4 DIFFERENCES
9.5 CONCLUSION
WORKS CONSULTED