The Bible in Person: Physiological Interpretations

Dear Colleagues,

Over 20 years ago Lakoff and Johnson’s Philosophy in the Flesh (1999) exposed a false assumption in Western thinking, i.e., the human mind knows itself primarily through introspection since human reasoning is disembodied. In contradistinction these authors argued for an embodied self; our thoughts are always informed by our bodies and their experiences. More recently, Irish philosopher Richard Kearney has promoted a similar line via his richly nuanced ‘carnal hermeneutics’, applying matters to interpretation, commending advances in modern Western philosophy, while also critiquing them: “when the explicit ‘hermeneutical turn’ occurred in the 1960s… we witnessed an embrace of language at the expense of body. The journey from flesh to text often forgot a return ticket” (“Wager”, 16). Scholars have only sporadically taken his ideas to heart in interpreting biblical texts and Christian theology. But to pick one quick example of prospects, could ancient physiology help interpret Romans 7-8, as the conflicted “I” is seen as related to a physiologically disconnected body and mind, setting the table for Romans 8? Commonly breath/wind/spirit was believed by Ancients to go from lungs to brain, distributed to bring reasoned life to the body. Romans 7 models an unhinged person, mind distressed by body, spirit absent, preparing for Romans 8 and the necessity of God’s Spirit.

Dale B. Martin and Troels Engberg-Pedersen have contributed greatly to New Testament discussion in this field, and their contributions are acknowledged. But due to strong links with Stoicism and debate over the materiality of spirit, their discussion has not expanded as might be hoped, narrowed mostly to Paul. The hope of this Special Issue of Religions is to broaden discussion via Kearney as a launch-point.

We are pleased to invite you to submit articles for this Special Issue of Religions, which aims to promote a critical, hermeneutical, and constructive conversation focused on embodiment and biblical interpretation. We invite papers across a range of areas, from specific textual interpretations to analysis of larger themes, to broader hermeneutics and therefore to theological issues, and also to the history of interpretation: from Patristics to German phenomenology to modern and postmodern analyses.  

This Special Issue aims to dig down on specific texts but also to open new vistas for discussion. The aim is to contribute specifically to biblical interpretation, but also to open fields further by bringing Kearney’s discussion to the fore.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: 

• Church Fathers and Embodied Awareness;
• Orthodox/Roman Catholic/Protestant/Pentecostal Interpretations and Physiology;
• Discussion of the material spirit debate in light of Kearney;
• Buddhist/Muslim/Hindu Responses to Kearney and Embodied Biblical Interpretation;
• Biblical Exegesis with physiology (ancient and modern) centrally in mind.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 150-200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Dr. Bruce A. Lowe ([email protected]), Dr. Luke Irwin ([email protected]), and CC the Assistant Editor, Ms. Joyce Xi ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Bruce A. Lowe
Dr. Luke Irwin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• hermeneutics
• physiology
• embodiment
• Bible interpretation
• theology