Biblical Interpretation: (Oxford Bible Series)

Modern critical study of the Bible in the West has made a deep impact on the fabric on Christian belief. This book explains what interpretation is and what special issues arise in biblical interpretation. It analyses the development of literary and historical criticism and more recent social-scientific and literary approaches, by focusing on the key figures from Reimarus to Gerd Theissen, and exposes the underlying theological issues. There emerges a pattern in the relationship between religious interests in these texts and the rational methods used to interpret them, providing guidance for a theologically sensitive use of the Bible today. An annotated index provides detailed information on some 250 biblical scholars and other interpreters.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Interpretation and biblical interpretation: what is interpretation?; the aims of interpreters; biblical interpretation and biblical scholarship; the concordat in modern theology; prospects. Part 2 Criticism and the death of scripture: history, myth and theology - D.F. Strauss; rational criticism of Christianity - H.S. Reimarus; the English Church - Bishop Colenso. Part 3 History and the growth of knowledge: Strauss, Baur and beyond; historical scholarship and theological interpretation; Wellhausen and the Old Testament; liberal Protestantism and beyond. Part 4 History of religions and history of traditions: history and history of religion; history of traditions and Old Testament theology; from history of traditions to New Testament theology; Bultmann and beyond; for and against the "new quest"; history of religions research. Part 5 Theology and the social sciences: faith and reason; a new era; three examples; within and beyond the historical pale. Part 6 Theology, history and literature: biblical scholarship and theology; historical criticism and theological interpretation; history and hermeneutics; the necessity of theory; historical supports for theological proposals; the alliance weakens; alternative forms of theological interpretation. Part 7 Literary study of the Bible: different aims and methods; earlier literary interests; back to literature; the literary frame of reference; the breakthrough; the Gospels as literature and history; the teaching of Jesus; literary theory and theology; a parallel case. Part 8 Conclusion - interpretation and the life of scripture: texts, authors and readers; religious and non-religious aims; biblical criticism and Christian theology; theological interpretation; the necessity of theological interpretation; the character of theological interpretation; theory and theology; faith and reason; scholarship and faith; the uses of methods; theology today; theology tomorrow; loss and gain. Annotated index of names.

Review :
`Exactly the kind of volume which is needed as basic reading for our Biblical Scholarship course. The course is broadly based and needs a work like this to survey the issues of interpretation. ' Dr J. M. Court, University of Kent `This book is not only a reliable guide to the history of biblical interpretation and the methods employed but also a profound and sustained reflection on its significance in our culture and for Christian theology. It is marked too by proposals for its future development which are imaginative and far-reaching. ' Professor J. L. Holden, King's College, London `an excellent introduction to the most recent methods of biblical interpretation ... the whole of the descriptive part of the book is so well written that many readers are likey to turn to it for that if nothing else ... It is probably the best available description of the development of biblical criticism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. ' Joseph Robinson, Church Times `This is a book which should be made compulsory reading for all theological students. It tackles head on, and in a helpful selective way, the major problems surrounding the use of the Bible today. ' R. Davidson, Society for Old Testament Study `It is difficult to review a book from which the reviewer has learned so much and about which he feels so enthusiastic. It is the kind of book which well repays a second reading and which repeatedly provokes further thought on a wide range of issues. ' King's Theological Review `This book fills a long felt gap in English theological literature ... this book is an important British attempt to overcome the ugly ditch between biblical researchers and theological interpreters ' Werner G. Jeanrond, Trinity College, Dublin. Literature and Theology `Robert Morgan has given us something of an individual cri de coeur. This makes the book much more valuable. His thesis is compelling, and biblical scholarship is going to have to respond ... A brief review does not permit a proper engagement with an argument of this power and erudition ... We must not ignore this book - it sets an agenda for evangelical scholarship. ' Themelios `a welcome addition to the rapidly expanding collection of works of and on biblical hermeneutics ... the entire book is a joint effort insofar as each author has had the opportunity to review the other's work ... Thus the volume appears as a unified rather than as a collection of essays. Biblical Interpretation is a trove which any professor of biblical studies will gladly add to his or her own reading list. ' Raymond F. Collins, Louvrain Studies, Spring 1992