I read Bible commentaries. This doesn't mean most commentaries are readable - it's just that I regard a commentary as a conversation partner, and reading it is a form of listening to another voice, a different take on the text, and often a far better informed one than me.
But this one is by Stanley Hauerwas, on Matthew. This is Hauerwas turning his assertive, perceptive, - at times infuriating and at times utterly convincing - take on things, to the Gospel - by commenting on a gospel. It is in a series which is unembarrassed by being a theological commentary. Which is why Hauerwas, who makes no claims to being an expert textual exegete,(see page 21), took on the task believing that this most theologically ethical of gospels might yield a different kind of treasure if cultivated by one asking different questions, or asking the same questions in a different way. Here's his apologia for assertiveness as a pre-requisite of the theological exegete!
I discovered that writing a commentary is an invitation to indulge in assertions. I have not tried to resist asserting what I know to be true. But assertions are not meant to end the conversation. Rather, assertions are intertwined in a manner that hopefully illumines why, faced with the reality of God, all we can do is proclaim the reality of what we have been given. Assertions are the grammar required by the story being told, but the story being told should illumine why the assertions are required if what we say is to be considered true. In short, assertions are reports on judgements that require further enquiry.
More on Hauerwas now and again, as our conversation continues.
Jim - I can't wait until I get a hold of this book. Being a big hauerwasian fan, i'm interested to see he handles a commentary
Posted by: andy goodliff | January 13, 2007 at 06:07 PM