Research InterestsFor several years I have been working on the problem of the relationship between historical criticism of the Bible and early modern political thought. The founders of both the historical-critical method, particularly Hobbes, Spinoza, and Locke, were also the founders of liberal democracy. The inherent connection between historical criticism of the Bible and the use of the Bible to promote what became known as liberal democracy has been the focus of most of my academic career.While much of my graduate training and my current teaching responsibilities are in the field of biblical studies, I have had an ongoing interest in the interdisciplinary study of political thought and the history of biblical interpretation. In 1982 I wrote my M A. thesis on Filmer's and Locke's use of the Bible (Parker 1982; a revised and edited version appears as "John Locke's Theologico-Political Teaching," Parker 1993). My PhD comprehensive exams concerned both the history of political theory and the history of biblical exegesis. My dissertation (subsequently revised and published as Wisdom and Law in the Reign of Solomon, [Parker 1992]) concerned a presentation of the Bible's only philosopher-king, Solomon (an article on this topic appears as "Solomon as Philosopher King? The Nexus of Law and Wisdom in I Kings 1-11," [Parker 1992]). In 1993 I edited a collection of essays which appeared as Liberal Democracy and the Bible, and the connection between political thought and the Bible appeared in the introduction to my volume, entitled "Reason, Revelation, and Liberal Democracy" (Parker 1993). In another article entitled "John Locke and the Enlightenment Metanarrative" (1996), I argued that the importance that some scholars have attached to Locke's view of "reason" needs to be tempered by his views of religion and revelation. Lately, I have been intrigued by the idea of Locke as a critic of the Enlightenment, and as one suspicious of the efficacy of reason. The culmination of this work appears in a volume published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press entitled, The Biblical Politics of John Locke (2004). Other articles have argued that the texts upon which Locke bases his political programme, namely, the first few chapters in the Book of Genesis, have a postmodern dimension to them, a dimension which is compatible with his liberalism (Parker 1996, 1999, 2004). Lately, I have been focussing on the way in which Locke (2008), and other Enlightenment figures such as Hobbes (2008), Newton (2009), and Spinoza (2010) have used the Bible to develop various aspects of their thought. I have also written an introductory textbook on the Old Testament entitled Text and Tradition, and several other articles on Old Testament themes. My current research concerns not only the relationship between political thought and the Bible in the Enlightenment, a relationship which changed the way in which one approached the Bible, but how that new way of reading the Bible lends itself to a variety of postmodern readings. PUBLICATIONS: Books:
|