Papers by Derek Suderman
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Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 2009
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Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 2017
In God in the Dock, Carleen Mandolfo argues that the move from second person speech to God to thi... more In God in the Dock, Carleen Mandolfo argues that the move from second person speech to God to third person description of the divine within “dialogic psalms” reflects the “interjection” of a secondary voice. While her focus on speech to a human audience is significant, the criteria she employs prove problematic. Rather than multiple voices, the psalms Mandolfo discusses are better understood as reflecting shifts in address between multiple audiences spoken by a single supplicant.
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Aportes Bíblicos: Revista de la Escuela de Ciencias Bíblicas, no. 24. San José, Costa Rica: Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana, 2017. , 2017
This article is an expanded version of an invited lecture given to the UBL focused on the theolog... more This article is an expanded version of an invited lecture given to the UBL focused on the theological implications of recognizing speech to a social audience in Individual lament psalms (particularly Pss 6, 55, and 51). Employing both rhetorical and canonical approaches to explore tension between psalms, it emphasizes the crucial role of the church in attending to and discerning its response to contemporary laments.
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Vetus Testamentum 65.2 (2015): 297-312.
In light of recent attention to shifting address within the Psalms, Dahood’s proposal that lyhwh,... more In light of recent attention to shifting address within the Psalms, Dahood’s proposal that lyhwh, l’lhym, and similar elements sometimes reflect a vocative lamed addressing God or gods directly rather than speaking about the divine in third person should be reconsidered. While Dahood’s proposal seeks to eliminate “jarring” shifts in address within these psalms based on Ugaritic parallels, a close reading of the examples Dahood provides within their broader literary contexts confirms that his proposal should be rejected. In fact, what Dahood treats as an anomaly to be corrected prove common within and even characteristic of individual laments. Rather than reflecting direct speech to God, lyhwh and similar elements mark speech about the divine, presumably to a social audience.
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Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology 16:1 (2015): 79-88.
The Sabbath controversies provide a microcosm of extended debates between Jesus and Jewish leader... more The Sabbath controversies provide a microcosm of extended debates between Jesus and Jewish leaders. While Christians often read these passages presupposing the self-evident truth of Jesus’s position(s) and the foolishness of the Pharisees, revisiting these debates as contentious sites of biblical interpretation and ethical discernment holds great potential. Not only does this shift in perspective uncover underlying dynamics at play between Jesus and the Pharisees, it also prompts readers to consider the ongoing complexity of holding together a commitment to interpret the Bible on one hand and live a life of faithful discipleship on the other.
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Conrad Grebel Review 32.1 (2014): 44-66
"While some have appealed to a "Christocentric approach" and the call to "seek the welfare of the... more "While some have appealed to a "Christocentric approach" and the call to "seek the welfare of the city" in Jer. 29 (and JH Yoder) to argue for a nonviolent God, Jeremiah’s letter to the Babylonian exiles reflects the same logic and assumptions that undergird Isaiah, where God can use human empires as instruments to discipline Israel (and others) by violent means...
Placing Jesus at the centre of “christocentrism” challenges those committed to such an approach to a life of discipleship that forms and habitually participates in reading communities committed to wrestle with biblical documents. Such a “christrocentric approach” follows Jesus’ lead in arriving at a nonviolent ethical stance through a fundamentally HERMENEUTICAL commitment rather than adopting a nonviolent view of God as an epistemological centre.
Appealing to Yoder and Jer. 29 to construct a nonviolent God proves ironic, since neither conforms to such a view; rather both emphasize the basic prophetic conviction that God is sovereign over creation, history, and the nations. "
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Journal of Theological Interpretation, 2012
In “The Costly Loss of Lament,” Walter Brueggemann argues
that the contemporary tendency to drop... more In “The Costly Loss of Lament,” Walter Brueggemann argues
that the contemporary tendency to drop lament language ensures that victims remain voiceless and the status quo unchallenged. In doing so, however, Brueggemann describes lament as involving two parties—God and the psalmist—and does not adequately acknowledge its social element. This article pays increased attention to this third party of lament in order both to address Brueggemann’s main theological concern and to reveal the crucial function of this form of speech at an ecclesial level. Social address to this broader community moves lament from an individual encounter with the divine into a profoundly social context that highlights the significance of a listening community committed to hear such cries and discern a faithful response. Heightened awareness of its social element reveals yet another significant cost of losing lament. By suppressing this form of speech, the faith community becomes increasingly deaf to
cries for justice and loses its ability to discern the complex ambiguities they reflect. Eliminating the scriptural means of being confronted by lament fosters a deaf, dumb, and immobilized faith community in the face of injustice, which may be the most costly loss of all.
Key Words — Walter Brueggemann, lament, prayer, ecclesiology, church, psalms,
Job, Scripture, form criticism, social context, Gerald Sheppard
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Direction, 2011
Initially presented at the "Mennonites and Friends" forum held at the Society of Biblical Literat... more Initially presented at the "Mennonites and Friends" forum held at the Society of Biblical Literature meetings in November, 2010,this appreciative response questions Seibert's central thesis re: the need to distinguish between the "textual God" and the "actual God," and then to prioritize the latter. Through a brief case study of Jonah in the book of the twelve/Minor Prophets I argue that such an approach does not adequately recognize the significance and function of the diversity of perspectives on God within Scripture. I suggest that Seibert also gives too much weight to historical reference and point to the nature of Scripture as a theological witness as an improved alternative. In doing so I also provide a more pragmatic, contextual and pedagogical critique of the implications of his approach for studying the Bible with lay people and briefly point to an alternative approach.
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Conrad Grebel Review, 2011
Rather than a decision between two incompatible options, wisdom and particularity coexist in a dy... more Rather than a decision between two incompatible options, wisdom and particularity coexist in a dynamic relationship that moves in both directions: lived particularity embodies wisdom and embodied wisdom testifies to particularity.
This paper discusses three key aspects of OT wisdom. First, wisdom can be recognized beyond cultural, ethnic, national, and religious boundaries. Second, OT wisdom reflects a "wisdom mode" that participates in an inter-national, inter-cultural, and inter-religious pursuit of wise living, where its theological particularity lies implicit. Third, Deuteronomy describes the essential link between particularity and wisdom and places the locus for this wisdom in a committed, obedient people.
As a result, Old Testament wisdom provides a particularly helpful perspective for understanding the relationship between the church and church-related NGOs, as well as seeing the potential for cooperation between religious traditions on issues of mutual significance (restorative justice, environment, etc.).
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Written at a popular level, this article provides a brief overview of the concept of "witness" in... more Written at a popular level, this article provides a brief overview of the concept of "witness" in the Old Testament, including the function of Scripture as a theological witness that addresses each successive generation.
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While scholars identify God, the psalmist, and others as key subjects within individual complaint... more While scholars identify God, the psalmist, and others as key subjects within individual complaint psalms, they do not consistently differentiate between words spoken to and third person descriptions about them. Through a number of case studies, this work shows that paying increased attention to shifts of address from one audience to another moves these psalms from being seen as “prayers to God” to speech addressing both a divine and human audience.
In doing so, this work challenges the commonly assumed compatibility of critical approaches to emphasize the profound divergence among them. It demonstrates that various approaches scholars employ affect the external limits, internal divisions, and overall understanding of the psalms being studied. Rather than steps in a unified biblical exegetical method, different criticisms create significantly different texts, place them within divergent contexts, and interpret them in light of diverse understandings of authorship.
In effect, biblical criticisms represent divergent methodological matrices that precede rather than proceed from the text.
Despite this variety, different approaches may be employed cooperatively towards a specific goal; indeed, this work demonstrates the potential synergy involved in methodological cross-pollination.
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The Catholic Biblical quarterly, Jan 1, 2005
This article traces the etymology of the Hebrew term often translated as "lily" in the Song of So... more This article traces the etymology of the Hebrew term often translated as "lily" in the Song of Songs (shoshan/shoshana) to "lotus." Reading the term in this way plays upon the prominence of this flower within Egyptian mythology, resolves various interpretive dilemmas in the Song of Songs, and transforms the portrayal of the female protagonist from modest to magnificent.
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Book Chapters by Derek Suderman
Quest for Respect: The Church and Indigenous Spirituality, 2017
A brief, reflective article on the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 'Call to Action... more A brief, reflective article on the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 'Call to Action #60' "to develop and teach curriculum... on the need to respect Indigenous spirituality in its own right." Lamenting the complicity of the Christian tradition in 500 years of colonization, the article proposes the biblical wisdom tradition as a potential resource for an improved stance for recognizing and approaching First Nations peoples and traditions.
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Many define prayer as "direct address to or conversation with God" and then claim that "psalms ar... more Many define prayer as "direct address to or conversation with God" and then claim that "psalms are prayers." This article challenges such a view by demonstrating the prominence of address to a social audience within individual complaint or lament psalms. In other words, these psalms address both a divine and human audience, and thus have the potential to be 'heard' and 'overheard' by both parties. However one defines prayer, social address should be recognized as characteristic of individual complaint (or lament) psalms.
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On Being Human: Essays from the Fifth Shi'i Muslim Mennonite Christian Dialogue (CMU Press), 2013
The beginning of Genesis represents one of the most significant sources for biblical anthropology... more The beginning of Genesis represents one of the most significant sources for biblical anthropology, including gender roles and relations, within the Western Christian theological tradition. A close reading of Genesis 1-5 challenges traditional readings of gender hierarchy, suggesting that the tendency to dominate (men over women, and humans over creation) is one that Christians should strive to overcome.
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Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry: Conversations on Creation, Land Justice, and Life Together (Herald Press), 2013
This chapter combines historical and biblical reflection on the complex intersection of land and... more This chapter combines historical and biblical reflection on the complex intersection of land and faith. As a descendant of Mennonite immigrants displaced from land in Europe who were invited to settle (and so displace others) in Canada, this paper looks to jubilee and biblical lament as resources for self-criticism, mutual understanding and solidarity.
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Book Reviews by Derek Suderman
in Mennonite Quarterly Review 88.1, 145-48, Jan 2014
"In his recent book, Ted Grimsrud challenges the common understanding of Jesus’ death as a sacrif... more "In his recent book, Ted Grimsrud challenges the common understanding of Jesus’ death as a sacrificial atonement, believing that this view provides ideological cover for a retributive orientation in the contemporary world. Instead, he describes the “Bible’s core salvation story” as based on God’s love and mercy rather than divine wrath or impersonal scales of justice....
While I strongly resonate with Grimsrud’s commitment to non-violence, insistence on the ongoing significance of Jesus’ life and teaching, and critique of the contemporary criminal justice system, his book reflects several persistent and inter-related difficulties."
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The main strength and weakness of Cottrill's book lies in its use of sociological models as an en... more The main strength and weakness of Cottrill's book lies in its use of sociological models as an entry point for reading Individual Laments (ILs). This provides an interesting lens through which to investigate the “world” these psalms construct but also prompts the same psalms to be treated piece-meal over several chapters. Increased attention to the rhetorical effects of speaking to a social audience and shifting back and forth between speech to God and to people would add greater precision to her description of laments as "dialogic prayer.\
Nonetheless, Cottrill provides a compelling description of how ILs construct both the identity of the psalmist and the roles other characters are invited to play within their “figured world.” Her work deserves significant engagement due to its intriguing topic, cogent argument, and explanatory significance."
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Papers by Derek Suderman
Placing Jesus at the centre of “christocentrism” challenges those committed to such an approach to a life of discipleship that forms and habitually participates in reading communities committed to wrestle with biblical documents. Such a “christrocentric approach” follows Jesus’ lead in arriving at a nonviolent ethical stance through a fundamentally HERMENEUTICAL commitment rather than adopting a nonviolent view of God as an epistemological centre.
Appealing to Yoder and Jer. 29 to construct a nonviolent God proves ironic, since neither conforms to such a view; rather both emphasize the basic prophetic conviction that God is sovereign over creation, history, and the nations. "
that the contemporary tendency to drop lament language ensures that victims remain voiceless and the status quo unchallenged. In doing so, however, Brueggemann describes lament as involving two parties—God and the psalmist—and does not adequately acknowledge its social element. This article pays increased attention to this third party of lament in order both to address Brueggemann’s main theological concern and to reveal the crucial function of this form of speech at an ecclesial level. Social address to this broader community moves lament from an individual encounter with the divine into a profoundly social context that highlights the significance of a listening community committed to hear such cries and discern a faithful response. Heightened awareness of its social element reveals yet another significant cost of losing lament. By suppressing this form of speech, the faith community becomes increasingly deaf to
cries for justice and loses its ability to discern the complex ambiguities they reflect. Eliminating the scriptural means of being confronted by lament fosters a deaf, dumb, and immobilized faith community in the face of injustice, which may be the most costly loss of all.
Key Words — Walter Brueggemann, lament, prayer, ecclesiology, church, psalms,
Job, Scripture, form criticism, social context, Gerald Sheppard
This paper discusses three key aspects of OT wisdom. First, wisdom can be recognized beyond cultural, ethnic, national, and religious boundaries. Second, OT wisdom reflects a "wisdom mode" that participates in an inter-national, inter-cultural, and inter-religious pursuit of wise living, where its theological particularity lies implicit. Third, Deuteronomy describes the essential link between particularity and wisdom and places the locus for this wisdom in a committed, obedient people.
As a result, Old Testament wisdom provides a particularly helpful perspective for understanding the relationship between the church and church-related NGOs, as well as seeing the potential for cooperation between religious traditions on issues of mutual significance (restorative justice, environment, etc.).
In doing so, this work challenges the commonly assumed compatibility of critical approaches to emphasize the profound divergence among them. It demonstrates that various approaches scholars employ affect the external limits, internal divisions, and overall understanding of the psalms being studied. Rather than steps in a unified biblical exegetical method, different criticisms create significantly different texts, place them within divergent contexts, and interpret them in light of diverse understandings of authorship.
In effect, biblical criticisms represent divergent methodological matrices that precede rather than proceed from the text.
Despite this variety, different approaches may be employed cooperatively towards a specific goal; indeed, this work demonstrates the potential synergy involved in methodological cross-pollination.
.
Book Chapters by Derek Suderman
Book Reviews by Derek Suderman
While I strongly resonate with Grimsrud’s commitment to non-violence, insistence on the ongoing significance of Jesus’ life and teaching, and critique of the contemporary criminal justice system, his book reflects several persistent and inter-related difficulties."
Nonetheless, Cottrill provides a compelling description of how ILs construct both the identity of the psalmist and the roles other characters are invited to play within their “figured world.” Her work deserves significant engagement due to its intriguing topic, cogent argument, and explanatory significance."
Placing Jesus at the centre of “christocentrism” challenges those committed to such an approach to a life of discipleship that forms and habitually participates in reading communities committed to wrestle with biblical documents. Such a “christrocentric approach” follows Jesus’ lead in arriving at a nonviolent ethical stance through a fundamentally HERMENEUTICAL commitment rather than adopting a nonviolent view of God as an epistemological centre.
Appealing to Yoder and Jer. 29 to construct a nonviolent God proves ironic, since neither conforms to such a view; rather both emphasize the basic prophetic conviction that God is sovereign over creation, history, and the nations. "
that the contemporary tendency to drop lament language ensures that victims remain voiceless and the status quo unchallenged. In doing so, however, Brueggemann describes lament as involving two parties—God and the psalmist—and does not adequately acknowledge its social element. This article pays increased attention to this third party of lament in order both to address Brueggemann’s main theological concern and to reveal the crucial function of this form of speech at an ecclesial level. Social address to this broader community moves lament from an individual encounter with the divine into a profoundly social context that highlights the significance of a listening community committed to hear such cries and discern a faithful response. Heightened awareness of its social element reveals yet another significant cost of losing lament. By suppressing this form of speech, the faith community becomes increasingly deaf to
cries for justice and loses its ability to discern the complex ambiguities they reflect. Eliminating the scriptural means of being confronted by lament fosters a deaf, dumb, and immobilized faith community in the face of injustice, which may be the most costly loss of all.
Key Words — Walter Brueggemann, lament, prayer, ecclesiology, church, psalms,
Job, Scripture, form criticism, social context, Gerald Sheppard
This paper discusses three key aspects of OT wisdom. First, wisdom can be recognized beyond cultural, ethnic, national, and religious boundaries. Second, OT wisdom reflects a "wisdom mode" that participates in an inter-national, inter-cultural, and inter-religious pursuit of wise living, where its theological particularity lies implicit. Third, Deuteronomy describes the essential link between particularity and wisdom and places the locus for this wisdom in a committed, obedient people.
As a result, Old Testament wisdom provides a particularly helpful perspective for understanding the relationship between the church and church-related NGOs, as well as seeing the potential for cooperation between religious traditions on issues of mutual significance (restorative justice, environment, etc.).
In doing so, this work challenges the commonly assumed compatibility of critical approaches to emphasize the profound divergence among them. It demonstrates that various approaches scholars employ affect the external limits, internal divisions, and overall understanding of the psalms being studied. Rather than steps in a unified biblical exegetical method, different criticisms create significantly different texts, place them within divergent contexts, and interpret them in light of diverse understandings of authorship.
In effect, biblical criticisms represent divergent methodological matrices that precede rather than proceed from the text.
Despite this variety, different approaches may be employed cooperatively towards a specific goal; indeed, this work demonstrates the potential synergy involved in methodological cross-pollination.
.
While I strongly resonate with Grimsrud’s commitment to non-violence, insistence on the ongoing significance of Jesus’ life and teaching, and critique of the contemporary criminal justice system, his book reflects several persistent and inter-related difficulties."
Nonetheless, Cottrill provides a compelling description of how ILs construct both the identity of the psalmist and the roles other characters are invited to play within their “figured world.” Her work deserves significant engagement due to its intriguing topic, cogent argument, and explanatory significance."
While the latter implies the perspective of a two-testament Scripture, most essays here seek to uncover the pre-NT use of Scripture (not OT!) by writers of what later became the NT. Thus, this volume serves an author-centered approach well, but it does not address discontinuity in the transformation from "authorial writings" to Christian Scripture.
Keynote at "Loving Life, Befriending Death," a national conference addressing 'Physician Assisted Death/Suicide,' held by the Canadian Mennonite Health Assembly (Waterloo ON, Oct. 22, 2015).
While the Christian Bible anticipates an end to crying, tears, and pain (Rev. 21), it is worth considering the “end of lament” in a different sense; ie: what is the “end”, as in purpose or goal, of lament? Rather than fostering a spirit of vindictiveness or vengeance, at its most basic lament claims that things “are not right in their present arrangement” (Brueggemann) and calls for, even demands, change; in effect, the end of lament is to seek peace in its broad sense of communal shalom. Far from a rejection of lament, the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus’ own life underscore its ongoing significance. In the end, lament psalms confront Christian communities with contemporary brokenness and pain, challenging them to attend to such cries as calls to seek shalom.
A menudo pensamos en los Salmos como oraciones de individuos o comunidades a Dios. A partir de Salmos 6 y 55, esta presentación se enfoca en el discurso dirigido a una audiencia humana y el aspecto social de la oración para nombrar algunas implicaciones para hoy.