New Temporalities and a Temporal (Re)Turn in New Testament Studies? TheCullmann/Bultmann Debate Revisited

Journal article

Edsall, Benjamin Andrew. (2024). New Temporalities and a Temporal (Re)Turn in New Testament Studies? TheCullmann/Bultmann Debate Revisited. Harvard Theological Review. 117(3), pp. 631-654. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816024000257
AuthorsEdsall, Benjamin Andrew
Abstract

In light of a recent surge of interest in time across a range of disciplines, a case has been made that New Testament studies has experienced a “temporal turn.” This claim raises an important question about how one understands the relation of recent developments to earlier, long-held debates about time among New Testament scholars. This question is answered here by revisiting the “salvation history” debate between Oscar Cullmann and Rudolf Bultmann, with the help of Paul Ricoeur’s analysis in Time and Narrative and in the context of recent trends in work on “temporalities.” This article argues that, although in many respects recent work on time offers fresh language to describe the kinds of time at stake for New Testament scholarship, it is also true that attending to the earlier debates shows how parts of the temporal turn are in fact a return to questions long considered.

Keywordstemporality; time; history; salvation history; Oscar Cullmann; Rudolf Bultmann; Paul Ricoeur; New Testament studies
Year01 Jan 2024
JournalHarvard Theological Review
Journal citation117 (3), pp. 631-654
PublisherCambridge University Press
ISSN0017-8160
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816024000257
Web address (URL)https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/harvard-theological-review/article/new-temporalities-and-a-temporal-return-in-new-testament-studies-the-cullmannbultmann-debate-revisited/57E99422B403FA2B812096EC1E06BB32
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range631-654
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All rights reserved
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Publication dates
Online01 Oct 2024
Publication process dates
Deposited10 Oct 2024
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© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Place of publicationUnited States
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