I. Development of sacred scripture as a natural human impulse
A. Rational human beings use abstracted experience to come to terms with that experience
B. How human beings reason toward a thinkable universe
C. The Western tradition of spiritual rationalization
II. Theological and mythical structures
A. Targumim and controversy over community
B. Ancient and rabbinical approaches
C. Theme of suffering and resolution of faith
A. The nuance of the Passion and Resurrection
B. Christological transformations of traditional Jewish doctrine
C. The Problem of evil and morality
D. The role of Paul as commentator and organizer
2. Superiority of Christian fulfillment to Jewish tradition
1. Literalists, fundamentalists, premillennialists
2. Progressives, demythologizers, metaphoricists
3. Dante's poetic elaboration of the experience of grace
V. Conclusion: What interpretative methods imply about the role of scripture
The purpose of this research is to examine suffering as a foundation of scriptural genesis. The plan of the research will be to set forth source material and commentary on the Old Testament and New Testament that illustrates the hypothesis that the development of sacred scripture in the Western tradition was derived out of human pain and suffering by those who had an abiding and enduring faith in God.
In this regard, the principal focus will be on the historiography and text of the bible as an elaboration of (1) the human pain and suffering of the nation of Israel, including Israel's trials, humiliations, and transgressions, as against the enduring faith of its prophets in the promises of God, and (2) the trials, suffering, and martyrdom of the Christians as well as the Pauline and Christian theological literature, which was self-consciously spiritual and which had the effect of codifying and institutionalizing the early Christian tradition of long-suffering f...