ABSTRACT
In this general section on Language and Interpretation we focus on three related interpretive issues: the nature of religious language, the correct interpretation of Scripture, and finally, the historiography of Jewish philosophy. The Bible and its memorable imagery seem to ill consort with the propositional structure of theological doctrine developed by medieval religious philosophers intent on squaring reason with revelation. Howard Wettstein presses the point, and draws a very strong contrast between biblical discourse (imagistic poetry) about God and theological doctrine that abstracts God from such imagery so as to iron out ‘poetic’ inconsistencies. The anthropomorphic descriptions of God that we find in the Bible and the rabbis of the Talmudic period are, according to Wettstein, not a misguided attempt to understand divinity, but rather a perfect vehicle to capture His disparate roles in history, as creator, lover, judge, etc., and to give meaning to the vibrancy of religious life. For Wettstein, it is the theologians who, in demanding consistency and uniformity, miss the point of the story and flatten out the contours of religious life and practice.
