Petri Merenlahti's Books

A Smaller God

On the Divinely Human Nature of Biblical Literature

By: Petri Merenlahti

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A Smaller God

On the Divinely Human Nature of Biblical Literature

By: Petri Merenlahti

The Bible is a perplexing book. It blends primitive beliefs with timeless truths, swings between compassionate love and ruthless violence, and forms a sympathetic heavenly father from the remains of a savage tribal god. What are we to make of it all? Petri Merenlahti takes an entertaining journey through biblical literature and returns with an original theology of imperfection. Looking at the Bible through the lenses of history, culture, literature, and psychology, he calls his readers to let go of an idealized image of the Christian Scriptures and embrace their limited human nature instead. This is vital, he argues, because false idealization and psychological splitting are major sources of religious fanaticism and violence. Merenlahti insists that we make a difference between the smaller God of human imagination and the transcendent God that should remain beyond it. We will then be rewarded with wisdom instead of fanaticism, mercy instead of moralism, and peace instead of hatred and guilt.

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Page Count

135

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1625644108

ISBN 13

9781625644107

Poetics for the Gospels?

Rethinking Narrative Criticism

By: Petri Merenlahti

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Poetics for the Gospels?

Rethinking Narrative Criticism

By: Petri Merenlahti

Poetics, the study of the making of literary works, regards the gospels as literature, in contrast to the historical-critical approach. Petri Merenlahti makes the case that poetics offers a vital critical tool to interpreting the gospels. But he argues that poetics must also be 'historical', as perceptions of literary form and value are not fixed, but evolve and develop from one time and culture to another. Merenlahti provides a comprehensive account of the development and the state of the art of poetics and narrative criticsm. Through scrupulous methodological discussion and detailed analysis of gospel narratives, he also offers a potentially highly productive future programme for historical poetics in gospel studies.

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