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I. THEORY: Guidelines for the Series:
Three aims of the series which the editors are particularly keen
for authors to keep in mind.
1. that a wide variety of types of interpretation
be included: from theology, liturgy, politics, poetry, painting,
popular culture etc.
2. that there be a representative sampling of
material from different ages (e.g. patristic, medieval, reformation,
modern)--and not too much emphasis on any one period
3. that thought be given to how to give some
cohesion to the presentation, despite the diversity of the
material included. See Part II C below for some suggestions.
NOTE ALSO: We intend for the volumes
to be in a commentary, i.e. a chapter-by-chapter format.
II. PRAXIS: The BBC Revelation to
John (Christopher Rowland and Judith Kovacs): Some decisions
we have made about format etc (see draft of sample chapter on
Revelation 1)
A.Organization: We have decided on a 3-fold division
of each chapter:
(1) Outline: a concise summary of the plain
sense of the chapter from Revelation (we are not planning
to quote the Biblical chapter)
(2) Ancient Literary Context--a brief section
(a page or less) giving essential information about the ancient
literary context, e.g.the most important texts presupposed
from the Hebrew Bible and parallels in other ancient apocalypses
(3) Interpretations--this comprises most of
the chapter; subdivisions are indicated by headings.
B. Further NOTES on Organization of "Interpretations" section:
1.
1. Within the "Interpretations" section: we
organize partly by pericopae (with verse references in headings
where possible) and partly by themes (e.g. "artistic representations" or "visionary
appropriations")
2. We have found it works well to put more
general interpretations, e.g. artistic interpretations at
the end of the chaper
3. Heading and subheadings are used to orient
the reader.
*C. Some ways we have tried to provide COHESIVENESS
to the volume--to keep the reader from getting lost in the
great variety of interpretation:
1. Begin "interpretations" section of each
chapter with a paragraph summarizing the different types
of interpretations and the key issues
2. Begin the book with an introductory chapter
which surveys main currents of interpretation and introduces
some of the most important interpreters.
**3. One point that we hope others will follow
in their volumes: choose a dozen or so few key figures or
movements (or literary or other works) and, insofar as it
is possible, give their interpretations consistently throughout
the book [For Revelation, some currents/figures to which
we have referred throughout are Tyconius/Augustine (Patristic
period), Joachim of Fiore and Peter Olivi, debates during
Reformation, Milton and Bunyan. William Blake]
4 At end of the book we include a section labeled "Biographies" which
contains a very brief explanation of all figures or movements
that appear in the text, with dates. The point of this is
to give the reader at least a little clue to the context
of the interpreter, but also to avoid repeating things like
dates. We are thinking of using this list as an index as
well.
Note: we might change the name of this section
to something like "Glossary", since not all items are individuals
EXAMPLES:
Bicheno, James (d. 1831), non-conformist minister
in southern England who linked the Apocalypse with the events
surrounding the French revolution.
Blake, William (1757-1827), English artist, poet
and visionary whose illuminated books represent a distinctive
appropriation of the apocalyptic tradition. He was on the fringes
of radical movements in London at the time of the French Revolution.
B̀blia Sagrada, Sao Paulo 1990, in its pastoral
version its marginal notes reflect many of the ideas of Latin
American liberation theology.
III. SOME OTHER CHAPTERS/SECTIONS
to be included in the volume
1. Series introduction to be written by the series
editors and included in each volume
2. Brief preface including
--explanation of our methods of locating and
choosing material,
--mention of the most important secondary sources
on which we have been dependent
--We want to acknowledge that we have not done
all the work in the primary texts ourselves.
--explanation of sources of quotations from
primary texts --pointing the reader to standard collections
such as Ante-NiceneFathers, LNPF where they can find some
of the primary texts; and also to our bibliograpihes and "Biographies" (Glossary)
section.
--telling the reader which translation of the
Bible is used for most quotations (the default translation,
used unless otherwise indicated): we suggest the NRSV
3. Bibliography of primary texts quoted in the
book
4. Bibliography of secondary literature
IV.SOME TECHNICAL POINTS - things that should be
standarized for the different volumes
1. Note: Blackwell guidelines supplied to all
authors, on points such as spelling and abbreviations.
2. For points not included there, such as abbreviations
of titles of Biblical books, : follow SBL guidelines
**3. Method of crediting sources: Credit to both
primary and secondary sources should usually be given in a
parenthesis within the text itself. Blackwell wants footnotes
kept to a minimum.
4. illustrations: only black and white can be
included
5. We have followed the Blackwell guidelines
that prefer North American spellings, but at the SBL Rebecca
Harkin indicated that Blackwell was relaxing this guideline.
6. For quotations of verses or words or phrases
from the Bible, we suggest using NRSV as the default translation,
to be used unless another translation (e.g. King James) is
required to make sense of what the interpreter under discussion
is saying.
Judith L. Kovacs
Email Judith
with comments.
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