New Testament, Theology, and Ethics or New Tesament Theological Ethics

  

In a chapter Entitled "New Testament, Theology, and Ethics," Stephen Fowl provides a breath of fresh air in taking issue with the simple commas. Fowl writes, "I begin, therefore, by arguing about commas. In particular I want to take issue with the commas and the separations they imply, in the title of this chapter. First, I should note that the commas are not simply the result of editorial idiosyncrasy. Within most of the academy, an all too often within the church, the NT, theology, and ethics are taken to be three separate disciplines. For anyone who wants to read the NT as a Christian theologian, however, this separation must be challenged" Stephen E. Fowl, The New Testament, Theology, and Ethics," in Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation, ed. Joel B. Green, 2nd ed. [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010], 397).

I whole heatedly agree. The compartmentalization of Scripture, theology, and ethics is contrary to the purpose and intent of Scripture itself. An interpreter of the New Testament who is disinterested in the inherent theology and ethics of the text is doing something, but they are not interpreting the New Testament (or the Old Testament for that matter).