Psalm 22 and Good Friday
Is Psalm 22 a messianic psalm? Does it point forward toward a suffering messiah? A few years ago I wrote an article defending the position that Psalm 22 does indeed have a "fuller sense" (a sensus plenior) which does indeed prophesy a suffering savior. The New Testament was not wrong to see Jesus of Nazareth as fulfilling an ideal of servanthood exhibited in the psalm.
Well, here it is, Good Friday, so I am posting the final section of my article, which treats Psalm 22 in depth, here, online. Comments are welcome. To access the piece (a PDF file), click here.
posted by S and C at 9:43 AM
2 Comments:
I'm intrigued by your reference to Rene Girard and then the comment that you don't fully concur with his views. Now, I don't fully concur with anyone's views, including my own, but I do wonder what is behind your statement? Have you in another setting more fully explicated a critique of Girard's anthropology? I say this as someone who has been helped by Girard and others writing in that vein, but find that it also leads some to overread the text and to find a scapegoat in every text, or at least mimetic desire in every line. So I'm wondering what you have found.
peace,
Frank+
Frank, That is so cool that you have been helped by Girard! In writing this article, I found that Girard's was the only theory that helped me with Psalm 22. I must say, however, that I found other anthropological theories more helpful in understanding other "sacrificial" texts, such as Isaiah 53. In general, Girard's work seems to me to undervalue the Old Testament and its culture. Also, to me, it feels like "too much" to suppose that all of human culture is built up on scapegoating. However, I admit that I'm not an expert on Girard, so I welcome yours and others' comments.
Post a Comment
<< Home