• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.67
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• pp.45-75
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to explore a new paradigm for Bible didactics in the context of the contemporary times and it turns its gaze to the midrash, the old tradition of Hebrew Bible interpretation. In order for the current Bible study to be meaningful and effective in today's situation, it is an effort to connect the Bible and us well, more than educational contents or materials. The word "midrash" itself means "textual interpretation", or "study", derived from the root verb darash, which means "to seek," "to seek with care," "to enquire," "to require" forms of which appear frequently in the Hebrew Bible. Midrash means an exegesis and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible (Torah) as well as a group of works that are the result of specific interpretations of the rabbis. This rabbinical tradition provides specific interpretative guidelines dealing with the Bible. These interpretive guidelines were passed down and formed an attitude of interpreting the Bible that is still relevant today. The rabbinical interpretative guidelines in midrash lead to the discovery of the following biblical didactical meanings. First, the Bible requires an attitude of listening and learning. Second, an attitude of inquiry is needed. Third, an exploration through the empty space is essential. Fourth, it leads us to recognize the importance of mutual respect and communication. Fifth, through the Words that challenge me, the meaning of biblical teaching is discovered. These interpretation guidelines have much in common with Bibliodrama, which applies midrash to the didactic of Bible. Bibliodrama is a dramatic inquiry, where the effect of in-depth inquiry and consideration that midrash aimed at can be expected. In addition, bibliodrama is a process of communal interaction that leads to a new experience and a richer understanding of the Bible through different positions and viewpoints. Exploring the "white fire" of the Bible, we listen to what God says to us, which causes us to change and form an identity. The biblical didactical meaning found in midrash's interpretation guidelines and the biblical didactical application of midrash through the bibliodrama can be presented as a new alternative to Christian education for the past, the present and the future. This will be able to present a new paradigm for biblical didactics with the word of God living and working in the present, not the Bible of the past, which is far from our present life.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.62
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• pp.101-133
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• 2020

This study is an attempt to grasp the fundamental characteristics and core structures of Bibliodrama, which has recently received a lot of attention in various fields including Christian education. Bibliodrama is a guided form of process-oriented staging of biblical texts in groups with the aim of mutually opening up the text and the biography of the participants in the implementation of holistic encounters (H. Aldebert). In the background of the birth of Bibliodrama can be found the hermeneutical efforts of the biblical scholar Walter Wink who sentenced the bankruptcy of historical criticism. He laid the biblical interpretative foundation for Bibliodrama which combines Bible and body. German theologian Gerhard Marcel Martin had a new experience of seeing the Bible through body activity during his life in New York, and based on that experience he began to work on the Bibliodrama. And the New Testament scholar Tim Schramm, who focused on the TCI (themecentered interaction) movement, found the optimal methodology to embody the interaction of biblical studies in Bibliodrama. On the other hand, Peter Pitzele, who wanted to realize the Bibliodrama in the tradition of Midrash, has developed a new type of Bibliodrama (Bibliolog) that is different from the European Bibliodrama. When we put together the positions of the pioneers of Bibliodrama, it turns out that it has three fundamental characteristics: body, interaction, and the empty space of the Bible. The body refers to the personality of learners participating in the Bibliodrama. They are not passive participants, but voluntary and active participants. Interaction is realized through the dramatic way of Bibliodrama. Bibliodrama aims for a dynamic process in which hermeneutical interaction occurs. The empty space of the Bible, which Bibliodrama pays attention to, allows us to understand why the Bible is not a fixed word but a living word that is still heard today. In order to understand the Bible as the content of education, Bibliodrama liberates the text that is fixed in a literal way and gives life by paying attention to the empty space of the Bible and reading it slowly.