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This study contributes to the new approach to the problem of the authority of the Bible and religious authority in general known as canon criticism, and will at the same time promote better understanding and cooperation between Christian and Jewish biblical scholars. The author considers the Hebrew canon, and especially the juxtaposition of law and prophecy within it, not as a component of Christian canon, as is usually done, but as a historical and theological problem focusing on the issue of religious and sociological implications of the claims that underlie the formation of the tripartite canon, particularly the claims staked by the authority of the Bible and how this bears on the self-understanding of Judaism—and Christianity. Joseph Blekinsopp has traveled and studied extensively in the Middle East and Europe. Among his many books are A Sketchbook of Biblical Theology, Sexuality and the Christian tradition, Gibeon and Israel, and Scripture Discussion Commentary: Pentateuch. He is presently professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Prophecy and Canon is the third publication based on research sponsored by the University of Notre Dame Center for the Study of Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity.
"An imaginative work, informed by the social sciences, which argues that the tripartite form of the Hebrew Bible mirrors tensions among rival claimants to interpret common religious tradition. The law (Pentateuch) developed in response to claims put forth by institutionally unattached prophets; in a counterdevelopment, the prophetic writings came to assert a balance between this free prophecy and the priestly-scribal order that lay behind the normative Pentateuch. Finally, the writings reflect various ways in which prophecy was absorbed, transformed, and contained within developing priestly-scribal theocracy. Blenkinsopp conludes with brief theological reflections based upon his argument. This is a major statement, reordering perspectives on the Hebrew Bible, and standing at the heart of modern attempts to recover the dynamic process by which tradition became scripture." —Choice
Joseph Blenkinsopp is the John A. O’Brien Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies in the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Abraham: The Story of a Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015. He received his B.A. in History from the University of London and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.