Reading the Historical Books - Patricia Dutches-Walls

- refers to the “interests” of the text; i.e. the agenda/ intended audience which they were written with in mind (Jews/Gentiles/ educated people/common people/ Pharisee’s etc.)p.69

- repetition in the bible = the author being emphatic

- “authority argument” = citing someone powerful in order to endorse or strengthen a viewpoint (p.73)

- within biblical narratives you can see who has authority by whether or not what they say is listened to/ acted upon. Examples of this predictably include prophets and kings, but on occasion also women (think of Hagar and the Israelite spies) or Abigail Nabaal’s wife.

- Evaluative Judgement = where a portion of scripture is written with a specifically condemnatory tone; implying the authority of the writer, the Godliness of the person described, or to the contrary. E.G. 1Kings 14:21-22 (p.83)

- Regnal Formulas (p.85) = specific combinations of words/phrases which are used to introduce kings/key figures and which contain implicit judgements/ are indicative of the length of their reign and how Godly/ popular they are/were. There are 33 of these in total.

- “Modeling” (p.85) = a biblical device whereby one character is set apart either as a positive or negative role-model (think David, Nebuchadnezzar, Saul) and then their name is referenced and used interchangeably as their being a model of the attribute in question. E.g. “...of the house of David”.  This tool relies heavily on prior knowledge as those reading the modelled account need to know the original story/character of the person being used as a model in order to ascertain what is being implied by their usage.


  

The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics

- There can be no true virtue without grace, and by implication there is no place is Christian theology for a distinctively philosophical analysis of the virtues. (Lombard, P. Summarised in the above. P.93).

Laudato Si by Pope Francis

"Nature is usually seen as a system which can be studied, understood and controlled, whereas cre- ation can only be understood as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us to- gether into universal communion." (P.56)

Creation is of the order of love. God's love is the fundamental moving force in all created things... (p.57) 

A fragile world entrusted by God to human care, challenges us to devise intelligent ways of directing, developing, and limiting our power. (P.57)

Faith allows us to interpret the meaning and the the mysterious beauty of what is unfolding. (P.57)

"The holy spirit can be said to possess an infinite creativity, proper to the divine mind, which knows how to loosen the knots of human affairs, including the most complex and inscrutable." Pope John Paul II - Catechesis  (24 April, 1991)

When we fail to acknowledge as a part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities - to offer just a few examples-  it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected. (P.87)