{"title":"Sacred Stories for Human Beings with Bodies and Brains","authors":"Bart B. Bruehler","doi":"10.1177/01461079221133109","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies on the dynamics and purposes of storytelling have highlighted the ways that stories employ embodied, affective, and conceptual elements in order to reinforce cultural values and prompt further ethical reflection. These aspects of storytelling are supported and enriched by insights from ancient rhetoricians and contemporary cognitive scientists who have shown how vivid description, mental simulation of embodied activity, and conceptual blending work through our bodies and brains to move us affectively and mentally. The sacred stories of the Bible, strengthened by their divine dimensions and existential issues, work with the same elements to move their audiences. Luke 5:27–39 (Jesus’s encounter with Levi) and Luke 7:11–17 (Jesus raising a widow’s son) are explored as test cases to illuminate the power that embodiment, emotion, simulation, and conceptualization can have in stories that touch upon the sacred, prompting their audiences to ethical reflection and action.","PeriodicalId":41921,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biblical Theology Bulletin","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01461079221133109","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"RELIGION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent studies on the dynamics and purposes of storytelling have highlighted the ways that stories employ embodied, affective, and conceptual elements in order to reinforce cultural values and prompt further ethical reflection. These aspects of storytelling are supported and enriched by insights from ancient rhetoricians and contemporary cognitive scientists who have shown how vivid description, mental simulation of embodied activity, and conceptual blending work through our bodies and brains to move us affectively and mentally. The sacred stories of the Bible, strengthened by their divine dimensions and existential issues, work with the same elements to move their audiences. Luke 5:27–39 (Jesus’s encounter with Levi) and Luke 7:11–17 (Jesus raising a widow’s son) are explored as test cases to illuminate the power that embodiment, emotion, simulation, and conceptualization can have in stories that touch upon the sacred, prompting their audiences to ethical reflection and action.
期刊介绍:
Biblical Theology Bulletin is a distinctive, peer-reviewed, quarterly journal containing articles and reviews written by experts in biblical and theological studies. The editors select articles that provide insights derived from critical biblical scholarship, culture-awareness, and thoughtful reflection on meanings of import for scholars of Bible and religion, religious educators, clergy, and those engaged with social studies in religion, inter-religious studies, and the praxis of biblical religion today. The journal began publication in 1971. It has been distinguished for its early and continuing publication of articles using the social sciences in addition to other critical methods for interpreting the Bible for contemporary readers, teachers, and preachers across cultural and denominational lines.