Title:
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A theological interpretation of the Book of Proverbs: the 'secular' and 'self-interested' nature of Proverbs in the light of a canonical approach
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The dissertation seeks to offer a theological interpretation of Proverbs which simultaneously
does justice to the results of historical and philological research; to the Christian theological
tradition; and to the context of contemporary secular society.
The opening chapter will investigate the history of Proverbs’ theological interpretation in the
last two hundred years. For 19th century interpretation a major theological and ethical
challenge was that Proverbs bases its motivational system on the reader’s self-interest. The
same phenomenon has not been considered problematic in more recent scholarship because,
it has been claimed, if Proverbs is understood in the context of ‘creation theology’ then this
explains its apparent selfishness and also helps to clarify its relationship to other biblical texts.
However, it will be argued that ‘creation theology’ in itself does not solve all theological
problems in Proverbs’ interpretation. It will be also argued that Proverbs offers a plurality of
themes among which creation is only one, and from which the interpreter can choose
according to his or her interests and aims.
The second chapter will describe the methodology of the dissertation. Most theological
interpretations in the last two hundred years have reconstructed Proverbs’ theology in view to
its historical setting. However, little attention has been paid to the hermeneutical questions
concerning Proverbs’ recontextualisation and to the wider theological tradition of the religious
communities that consider it as their Scripture. A canonical approach can incorporate these
concerns, too.
The third chapter will discuss the problem of self-interest. This will be investigated in the
framework of Thomas Aquinas’s eudaemonistic theological ethics.
The fourth chapter will discuss Proverb’s secular appearance. Besides sociological descriptions
of the ‘secular,’ several strands of the wider Christian theological tradition will be utilized to
handle this phenomenon theologically.
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