The Bible and Sociological Contours

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Preface

MARIANNE BJELLAND KARTZOW

Professor of New Testament Studies University of Oslo

Some people get older as the years pass by. Others get wiser! It was not a given that Halvor Moxnes’ groundbreaking interest in social history and the New Testament should lead to an engagement between African liberation discourse and Bible reading in HIV and AIDS affected communities. However, as Moxnes became involved in student exchange programmes with different African countries, he opened up his home and heart, and he was willing to learn from and to be challenged by other people’s experiences. His strong advocacy for the outsider and those marginalised on economic or gender grounds has helped him to see certain connections between social issues in the ancient texts and social issues today.

In this book, Moxnes’ former students and colleagues honour him for broadening the perspectives of what is relevant knowledge. His creative and critical search for meaning in the Bible has involved and inspired several scholars that have been viewed traditionally as representing the margins in the field.

Turning 70 could be a moment to look back. In this book, we are invited to look to the future. Building on earlier works in which the Bible has been used as a source of morality and ethics, new questions are asked—in the spirit of Halvor Moxnes. The ongoing and challenging process of finding relevant methodologies, epistemologies and hermeneutical spaces in biblical studies is addressed in this volume. Is the Bible a canonical text, a cultural text, a text of terror, a historical text? Who has the power to decide that anyway? And what theoretical tools do we need to discuss such complex issues?

The political context(s) of the Bible, historically as well as in our global society, are scrutinized from a variety of angles. How should the academy ← vii | viii → relate to the scene of political activists? While gender issues and the challenge of patriarchy are also addressed, it is shown that the biblical texts and their interpretations can be both liberating and oppressive. Other social factors are always interconnected with gender. These presumptions construct interesting dialogues and dynamics among the different essays.

And what about Jesus? Was he primarily a unique liberator or part of a complex social group structure? If we all have to put Jesus in his place and at the same time make him relevant today, biblical meaning indeed becomes fluid and contextual. Engaged with issues at the centre of the ongoing discussion, the margins in this book represent voices worth listening to. Halvor Moxnes used his access to privileged space to encourage new scholars with their own set of different experiences and perspective to be involved in the field. This book shows that he did a very wise thing.

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Acknowledgements

When we started to brainstorm the initial ideas about writing a Festschrift in Honour of Professor Halvor Moxnes, several hurdles stood on our way and one of them being the funding towards the publication of the book. This book would not have seen the light of day without the generous funding from the Faculty of Theology (University of Oslo). Importantly, we would like to thank the then Dean of the Faculty, Professor Trygve E. Wyller, who, when we emailed to him about the idea, embraced it and heartily encouraged us to continue with the project.

This book is edited by Professor Moxnes’ former students, the African students who got scholarships from the Norwegian Quota Scholarship and completed their Masters and Doctoral studies in Norway. It is important therefore to thank the Norwegian Quota Programme for allowing us such a rare opportunity to study and receive quality education under internationally rated professors, such as Professor Halvor Moxnes.

Since the book is dedicated to Professor Moxnes, a few words of gratitude to him are appropriate. We would like to thank him for taking the time and energy to direct and mentor us into biblical scholarship. We also extend similar gratitude to all professors of theology at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Theology, especially those who were directly involved in the “Inter-contextual Theology Programme” such as Professor Kjetil Hafstad, Helge Kvanvig, Notto Thelle, Obbjorn Leirvik, and Jone Salomonsen to mention a few of them. Their contribution towards our academic careers was invaluable.

We also extend a word of gratitude to Professor Knut Holter, from the Norwegian School of Mission and Theology in Stavanger, who is the Peter Lang editor of the Bible and Theology in Africa series, for reading the ← ix | x → manuscript for consistency. His comments and suggestions were important to bring the book into this present form. Of course, as editors, we are responsible for any other editorial errors.

During our time as students, we made friends with fellow students and some of them are now employed as professors at the faculty—they constantly encouraged and provided helpful ideas during the process of writing and compiling the various papers. We would like to thank Professor Marianne Bjelland Kartzow for writing the Foreword, Anders Martinsen, Professor Marius Timmann Mjaaland, Rebecca Solevåg and Eivor Oftestad for their words of encouragement.

We would like to particularly thank Rebecca Solevåg who became our easy target person each time we required practical advice. She was instrumental in drafting our application letter for funding and in advising us about the publisher. Last, but not least, we would like to thank the contributors who patiently worked tirelessly even during situations when essays required several revisions. May the Lord God grant a peace of mind upon each person involved in this work in one way or another!

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