(Re)telling the Old, Old Story

Abstract

I wish to conclude my exercise of looking at the ethical dimen-sions of particular narratives through exploring texts that, though not written recently, have tremendous influence on contemporary Western culture and, in turn, contemporary Western narratives. The Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament are two texts (actually many texts) whose contribution to Western culture’s literary canon are obvious and undeniable, in particular in relation to character, plot, theme, and religious/theological ideology. I have heard since my early years in school that a person cannot understand the ‘classic’ literature of Western culture if s/he does not know the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.

I love to tell the story, Because I know ’tis true; It satisfies my longings As nothing else can do. Katherine Hankey, ‘I Love to Tell the Story,’ Christian Hymn

There are writings entitled, for example, Entete [Genesis], the Gospels, Revelation [Apocalypse], and so forth. I would like to speak of them here, to attempt to read them, to move to them from, for example, The Triumph of Life, La folie du jour, L’arrêf de mort ... and the story, the narrative, of ‘Living On’ as differance, with an a, between archeology and eschatology, as difference in apocalypse. That will be a while in coming. Jacques Derrida, ‘Living On’

There is no such thing as generic homo religiousus. Caroline Walker Bynum, ‘Complexity of Symbols’