Top-notch biblical scholars from around the world and from various Christian traditions offer a fulsome yet readable introduction to the Bible and its interpretation. The book concisely introduces the Old and New Testaments and related topics and examines a wide variety of historical and contemporary interpretive approaches, including African, African-American, Asian, and Latino streams. Contributors include N. T. Wright, M. Daniel Carroll R., Stephen Fowl, Joel Green, Michael Holmes, Edith Humphrey, Christopher Rowland, and K. K. Yeo, among others. Questions for reflection and discussion, an annotated bibliography, and a glossary are included.

Most Bible introductions are the product of a single person or present only one perspective. Written by and for people from a variety of faith traditions, this distinctive introduction represents the work of fifteen Protestant and Catholic scholars--all members of the same theological faculty, but representing a diversity of backgrounds and approaches. Part I introduces the Bible itself: its library-like character; its geography, history, and archaeology; the books of each Testament; important noncanonical books; the Bible's various Jewish and Christian forms; and its transmission and translation. Part II covers the interpretation of the Bible at various times, in various traditions, and for various reasons: in the premodern period and in the modern and postmodern eras, including recent critical, theological, and ideological approaches; in Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and African-American churches; and for spiritual growth, social justice, and Christian unity. Offering helpful insight into how Christians (and others) have agreed and disagreed in their approaches to the Bible, it provides students with a clear, succinct introduction to Scripture as divine and human word.

Christianity believes in a God who acts in history. The Bible tells us the story of God’s actions in Israel, culminating in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and the spreading of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. The issue of history is thus unavoidable when it comes to reading the Bible. Volume 4 of the Scripture and Hermeneutics Series looks at how history has dominated biblical studies under the guise of historical criticism. This book explores ways in which different views of history influence interpretation. It considers the implications of a theology of history for biblical exegesis, and in several case studies it relates these insights to particular texts. “Few topics are more central to the task of biblical interpretation than history, and few books open up the subject in so illuminating and thought-provoking a manner as this splendid collection of essays and responses.” Hugh Williamson, Regius Professor of Hebrew, University of Oxford, England “. . . breaks new ground in its interdisciplinary examination of the methodology, presuppositions, practices and purposes of biblical hermeneutics, with a special emphasis on the relation of faith and history.” Eleonore Stump, Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy, Saint Louis University, United States “This volume holds great promise for the full-fledged academic recovery of the Bible as Scripture. It embodies an unusual combination of world-class scholarship, historic Christian orthodoxy, bold challenges to conventional wisdom, and the launching of fresh new ideas.” Al Wolters, Professor of Religion and Theology, Redeemer University College, Ontario, Canada “The essays presented here respect the need and fruitfulness of a critical historiography while beginning the much-needed process of correcting the philosophical tenets underlying much modern and postmodern biblical research. The result is a book that mediates a faith understanding, both theoretical and practical, of how to read the Bible authentically as a Christian today.” Francis Martin, Chair, Catholic-Jewish Theological Studies, John Paul II Cultural Center, Washington, D.C. Not only is history central to the biblical story, but from a Christian perspective history revolves around Jesus Christ. All roads of human activity before Christ lead up to him, and all roads after Christ connect with him. A concern with history and God’s action in it is a central characteristic of the Bible. The Bible furnishes us with an account of God's interactions with people and with the nation of Israel that stretches down the timeline from creation to the early church. It tells us of real men, women, and children, real circumstances and events, real cultures, places, languages, and worldviews. And it shows us God at work in human affairs, revealing his character and heart through his activities. “Behind” the Text examines the correlation between history and the Bible. For the scholar, student, and informed reader of the Bible, this volume highlights the importance of history for biblical interpretation, and looks at how history has and should influence interpretation.

A rich display of the Christian tradition’s reading of Scripture Though well-known and oft-repeated, the advice to read the Bible “like any other book” fails to acknowledge that different books call for different kinds of reading. The voice of Scripture summons readers to hear and respond to its words as divine address. Not everyone chooses to read the Bible on those terms, but in Reading Sacred Scripture Stephen and Martin Westerholm (father and son) invite their readers to engage seriously with a dozen major Bible interpreters — ranging from the second century to the twentieth — who have been attentive to Scripture’s voice. After expertly setting forth pertinent background context in two initial chapters, the Westerholms devote a separate chapter to each interpreter, exploring how these key Christian thinkers each understood Scripture and how it should be read. Though differing widely in their approaches to the text and its interpretation, these twelve select interpreters all insisted that the Bible is like no other book and should be read accordingly.

This is a valuable resource book for historical studies on biblical interpretation, comprising a variety of detailed essays, including documented examples of important stages in the history of biblical exegesis. It also contains a general introduction to the history of reading the Bible. Falling into three parts, from the New Testament to the Reformation, from the Reformation to the modern period, and readings of the Bible today and in the future, the book is designed to challenge some present-day assumptions of the uniformity of approaches to the Bible and of modes of exegesis. It illustrates that basic continuities do exist, and informs the student and non-specialist of the long tradition of reading the Bible to which we are heirs, with the aim of making us more competent interpreters ourselves.

"The Interpretation of Scripture is an outstanding collection of important essays on the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation, written by renowned biblical scholar Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., who has taught Scripture and biblical languages since 1958." "Pastors, preachers, students in biblical disciplines, and scholars will appreciate using the historical-critical method as the mode of ascertaining the sense of the written Word of God."--BOOK JACKET.

Christians have been interpreting Scripture with an aim of deepening their life with God and each other from the very beginning of the church. The past twenty years or so have witnessed an explosion of scholarly writing devoted to the theological interpretation of Scripture. Stephen Fowl, as an active participant in and contributor to the burgeoning literature, has written an ideal companion for guests at the large and somewhat chaotic party, introducing them to important people, texts, and issues. The companion explores some of the connections between the long-running and essential Christian practice of theological interpretation and the more recent body of scholarly literature. Ultimately, the companion hopes to encourage readers to join the party in their own right.

Man is notoriously a creature of extremes, and nowhere is that fact more evident than in the attitude taken by different ones to this subject. According some have affirmed the Bible is written in such simple language that it calls for no explaining, a far greater number have suffered the papists to persuade them that its contents are so far above the grasp of the natural intellect, its subjects so profound and exalted , its language so abstruse and ambiguous that the common man is quite incapable of understanding it by his own efforts, and therefore that it is the part of wisdom for him to submit his judgment to "holy mother church," who brazenly claims to be the only Divinely authorized and qualified interpreter of God's oracles. Thus does the Papacy withhold God's Word from the laity, and impose her own dogmas and superstitions upon them. For the most part the laity are quite content to have it so, for therefore they are relieved of searching the Scriptures for themselves. Nor is it much better with many Protestants, for in most cases they are too indolent to study the Bible for themselves, and believe only what they hear from the pulpits. The main passage appealed to by Romanists in an attempt to bolster up their pernicious contention that the Bible is a dangerous bookbecause of its alleged obscurityto place in the hands of the common people is Peter 3:15, 16. Therein the Holy Spirit has told us that the apostle Paul, according to the wisdom given him, spoke in his epistles of "some things hard to be understood, which they are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. " But as Calvin long ago pointed out, "We are not forbidden to read Paul's epistles because they contain some things difficult to be understood, but that, on the contrary, they are commended to us, providing we have a calm and teachable mind." It is also to be noted that this verse says "some things" and not "many," and that they are "hard" and not "incapable of being understood"! Moreover, the obscurity is not in them, but in the depravity of our nature which resists the holy requirements of God, and the pride of our hearts which disdains seeking enlightenment from Him. The "unlearned" here refers not to illiteracy, but to being untaught of God; and the "unstable" are those with no settled convictions, who, like weathervanes, turn according to whatever wind of doctrine blows upon them. This important book by Arthur Pink tells us about the importance of interpreting the scriptures and leads us to meditate on the Word of God. A text based entirely on the Holy Bible.

Whether we admit it or not everyone interprets the Bible. The sticky part is to interpret it properly. But where does one go for a viable method of interpretation? Currently three methods of interpretation predominate: author-centered, which looks to the world of the author for meaning; text-centered, which journeys to the world of the text in search of significance; and reader-centered, which focuses on the reader's role in shaping the meaning of a text. Each of these approaches has validity, but none has a monopoly on finding the correct meaning of a text. In Biblical Interpretation, W. Randolph Tate invites the reader to explore the potential of each of these methodologies, noting the tremendous contribution that each makes toward finding meaning. He then shows how the most viable meaning often emerges out of an intersection of these three worlds: The world of the author and the world of the reader intersect in the world of the text to produce meaning. Tate has not, however, resigned himself merely to describe sterile methodologies or abstract theories. Concerned that readers have a practical grasp of the interpretive process, he offers description, prescription, example, and application. The volume is especially tailored to allow the nonspecialist an entree into the world of biblical interpretation. Thus, each chapter includes a Review & Study section where a listing of Key Terms discussed and defined in the text helps manage the terminology; Study Questions prod the reader to wrestle with the interpretive issues; and suggested Further Reading directs the reader to additional resources for study. For those serious about interpreting the Bible, this volume becomes a passport to anexciting journey. Readers may find themselves challenged and stretched, but they will be grateful for having taken the venture.