Practising pre-modern, modern and post-modern biblical science under one South African roof

Inaugural lecture--Rand Afrikaans University, 13 March 2002Three different paradigms of Bible interpretation are currently in use in South Africa, namely the pre-modern, the modern and the post-modern. In the pre-modern paradigm the Bible is seen as ‘Word of God’; modern scholars take the Bible as ‘God’s word in human language’; the post-modern point of departure is that the Bible is ‘words written about God’. Meaningful and honest dialogue between the biblical science and the church is necessary, not only to narrow the communication gap, but also to benefit our current torn apart society. This conversation already exists among biblical scholars, but is to a large extent lacking between biblical scholars and the church. Proposals are being made here to enhance this communication by taking the post-modern challenges seriously