Canons in Conflict Negotiating Texts in True and False Prophecy [Hardcover]

In this new study, James Brenneman confronts the issue of conflicting canons with full force, incorporating insights gained from both literary and biblical disciplines on the question of canon. He begins with an illuminating tour through contemporary literary theory from Hans Robert Jauss to Stanley Fish, and current discussions in theology about the canon. He goes on to a consideration of true and false prophesy, with a detailed examination of the three apparently conflicting versions of the Old Testament swords into plowshares prophesy, as found in Isaiah 2:2-4,5; Joel 4:9-12 (Eng. 3:9-12); and Micah 4:1-5. Suggesting that the dynamics controlling the process for negotiating between contradictory readings of prophetic texts are the same as those at work in adjudicating between canons in conflict, Brenneman concludes by pointing the way towards an integrative approach appropriate to the question of canon and authority in a post-modern pluralistic context.

An extremely well-done piece of work....He makes a real contribution through his clarity about the relationship between literary theory and canon criticism, as well as how those issues are related to true and false prophecy. Moreover, his willingness to take on what might be one of the hardest cases--that of the plowshare text--is exemplary for its candor as well as how he provides an example of such readings. --Stanley Hauerwas,Duke University