I have been reading through Doug Yoder’s dissertation entitled ‘Tanakh Epistemology’. It is a mammoth dissertation and covers much ground. He emailed a copy after discovering my ‘cry for help’ post. I cannot believe that I asked for help finding someone and they actually found me. Thank you internet!
However, he did tell me that he is currently working to get it published, so I will only tantalize you epistemology dorks with scant details. Essentially, Dr. Yoder spends a lot of time getting us to see that the importation of Hellenistic epistemology lenses is not necessarily fair to what he calls the ‘native epistemology’ of the Tanakh. I like that term ‘native epistemology’.
His method for pursuing this ‘native epistemology’ is to look at concentrations of the Hebrew root yada. Using Daniel 2 and Quohelet as his primary epistemological texts, he shows how these text must be read to demonstrate an internal epistemology that is, “…cohesive, nuanced, far-ranging, and bold. Its deepest conceptual commitments voice
noncontradictory positions regarding skepticism, perception, physical and nonphysical reality, epistemic limits, and the relation of knowledge to power, desire, and life.” And that’s just from the abstract.
I looked forward to having more conversation with him as I digest more of the thesis, but for now, I am very excited to find someone else who takes the the Tanakh’s purview this seriously AND takes the anachronistic superiority complex of Western Philosophy to task. I am very interested in his view of Biblical Theology and I will report more hear as I talk with him and continue to read on.
Very interesting, Dru. I’d love to hear more.