Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics

 

It is hard to overestimate the importance of having a proper hermeneutic in studying the Bible. In fact, I contend that one's hermeneutic will have a greater impact on one's interpretations of Scripture than almost anything else. So I am always interested in reading books on hermeneutics and was delighted to receive a copy of Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation (which is now available in paperback)  from the kind folks at InterVarsity Press. I plan to provide further interaction with the book, but here is the publisher's description and table of contents.

Description:

While there are many books on hermeneutics, Graeme Goldsworthy's perception is that evangelical contributions often do not give sufficient attention to the vital relationship between hermeneutics and theology, both systematic and biblical.

In this new paperback edition of Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, Goldsworthy moves beyond a reiteration of the usual arguments to concentrate on the theological questions of presuppositions, and the implications of the Christian gospel for hermeneutics. In doing so, he brings fresh perspectives on some well-worn pathways.

Part I examines the foundations and presuppositions of evangelical belief, particularly with regard to biblical interpretation.

Part II offers a selective overview of important hermeneutical developments from the sub-apostolic age to the present, as a means of identifying some significant influences that have been alien to the gospel.

Part III evaluates ways and means of reconstructing truly gospel-centered hermeneutics.

Goldsworthy's aim throughout is to commend the much-neglected role of biblical theology in hermeneutical practice, with pastoral concern for the people of God as they read, interpret and seek to live by his written Word.

Table of Contents:

Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction: Can hermeneutics be saved?

Part I - Evangelical Prolegomena to Hermeneutics

Introduction to Part I

1. The necessity for hermeneutics
2. Presuppositions in reading and understanding
3. Gospel-centred hermeneutics
4. Towards a biblical theology of interpretation

Part II - Challenges to Evangelical Hermeneutics

Introduction to Part II

5. The eclipse of the gospel in the early church
6. The eclipse of the gospel in the mediaeval church
7. The eclipse of the gospel in Roman Catholicism
8. The eclipse of the gospel in Liberalism
9. The eclipse of the gospel in philosophical hermeneutics
10. The eclipse of the gospel in historical criticism
11. The eclipse of the gospel in literary criticism
12. The eclipse of the gospel in Evangelicalism

Part III - Reconstructing Evangelical Hermeneutics

Introduction to Part III

13. Pre- and post-Enlightenment evangelical interpretation
14. The gospel and the literary dimension
15. The gospel and the historical dimension
16. The gospel and the theological dimension, I: the two Testaments and Typology
17. The gospel and the theological dimension, II: biblical and systematic theology
18. The gospel and contextualization
19. The hermeneutics of Christ

Epilogue

Bibliography

 

Digitized Manuscripts

  
The British Library has digitized 284 Greek manuscripts and made them available online. I could not access the site to provide more information, but here is the link.
  

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

  

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Pierre Bordreuil and Dennis Pardee
A Manual of Ugaritic
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7347
Reviewed by Jeremy Hutton
 
Paul Borgman
David, Saul, and God: Rediscovering an Ancient Story
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6985
Reviewed by Peter S. Hawkins
 
Curtiss Paul DeYoung
Coming Together in the 21st Century: The Bible's Message in an Age of Diversity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7359
Reviewed by Celucien L. Joseph
 
Hubertus Drobner, ed.
Opera exegetica In Genesim: Volume 1: Gregorii Nysseni In Hexaemeron
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7288
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow
 
Michel Gourgues
Les deux lettres à Timothée, La lettre à Tite
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7329
Reviewed by Sylvie Raquel
 
Samuel Jackson
A Comparison of Ancient Near Eastern Law Collections Prior to the First Millennium BC
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7242
Reviewed by Anselm Hagedorn
 
Corin Mihaila
The Paul-Apollos Relationship and Paul's Stance toward Greco-Roman Rhetoric: An Exegetical and Socio-historical Study of 1 Corinthians 1-4
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7567
Reviewed by Keith A. Reich
 
Roberta Sabbath, ed.
Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an as Literature and Culture
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7335
Reviewed by Maire Byrne
 
Minna Shkul
Reading Ephesians: Exploring Social Entrepreneurship in the Text
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7487
Reviewed by Daniel Darko
 
Shera Aranoff Tuchman and Sandra E. Rapoport
Moses' Women
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6411
Reviewed by Claudia Bergmann

 

Books on Inerrancy

  
Louis McBride has a good discussion on some of the better books to read on inerrancy. Check it out here.
 

The Death of Jesus in Hebrews

"Attempts to locate the heart and core of the Epistle to the Hebrews elsewhere than in the death of Jesus fly in the face of all but unanimous scholarly opinion. There is wide agreement regarding Jesus’ death as basic to the theology of the author of this Epistle. The evidence is everywhere. Having made ‘purification for sins’ by his death, Jesus achieves session at God’s right hand (Heb. 1:3–4). The certainty of Christ’s sympathy toward his own rests in his assuming a humanity culminating in passion and death (2:17-–18; 4:15–16). Jesus’ death, followed by his exaltation, is the assurance that God will bring his people to the glory for which he created them (3:3; 5:4–5). By his death Jesus becomes fully Son of God and High Priest forever (5:8–10; 6:20; 7:11–17, 20–22, 24–28). His crucifixion guarantees the superiority of the new covenant (8:6, 9:11–14)."

Roy A. Harrisville, Fracture: The Cross as Irreconcilable in the Language and Thought of the Biblical Writers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 235.

Interview with Wayne Meeks

    
Some readers might be interested in this brief interview with Wayne Meeks.
   

History in the Book of Acts

New Testament interpreters have long debated the historical reliability of Acts. Opinions are all across the spectrum from extreme historical unreliability to undeniable historical reliability. I happen to hold that Acts is historically reliable, but I think that what is meant by historically reliable is a question worth asking and answering. In asking and answering this question, it may be more profitable to first ask and answer the question “what kind of history do we have in Acts” before asking and answering “is that history reliable.” Daniel Marguerat attempts to answer the first question by applying Paul Ricœur’s historical taxonomy to Acts which I have attempted to represent in the table below. Thoughts?

Marguerat’s Application of Paul Ricœur’s Historical Taxonomy to Acts
Documentary History	Explicative History	Poetic History
Seeks to establish verifiable facts	Seeks to evaluate events from a social, economic, and/or political perspective	Seeks to interpret the past and the possibility it offers to a community to understand itself in the present
Question: How did Titus take Jerusalem in AD 70?	Question: What were the consequences of Titus’ conquest of Jerusalem for Jews and Christians?	Question: Why did God allow Titus to conquer Jerusalem?
Acts contains this kind of history (e.g., Paul’s travel itinerary in 20:13–15)		Acts contains this kind of history (e.g., God’s intervention in 5:19; 7:55; 9:10)
Modified from Daniel Marguerat, The First Christian Historian: Writing The "Acts of the Apostles," Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 121, ed. Richard Bauckham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 8–11.

Challenges in Preaching Numbers

Readers of this blog know that I am deeply committed to preaching and teaching both Testaments. But preaching the Old Testament in general and certain books in particular is not without its challenges. Part of the challenge is not the book or the sermon, but the hearers. I think that Bechtel's remark is pretty accurate observation.

“For many people in the pew, hearing a passage from Numbers read is a little like tuning in on the fourth night of a two-week television mini-series. A few might listen patiently for a while, trying to keep the characters straight and straining to get a sense of the plot. Most, however, will abandon the effort, making a mental trip to the kitchen for a snack, figuring that they will be back in time for the New Testament lesson. For those who do stay glued to their set, the content may strike them as being unsuitable for twentieth century Christian viewers. What could a loose conglomeration of laws, census reports, and travelogues have to do with us, after all?”

Carol Bechtel Reynolds, “Life After Grace: Preaching from the book of Numbers,” Interpretation 51:1: 269.

Commendable Actions of Job’s Friends

Much is often made of the failures of Job's friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) in the Book of Job. This criticism is valid. But I think it is also worth noting that these same friends acted commendably at the beginning (2:11-13).

They came (they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him)
They mourned (they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven)
They stayed (“they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights”)
They stayed quiet (“no one spoke a word to him”)
They were sensitive (“they saw that his grief was very great”)

I think that Job's friends can provide helpful ministerial principles, both good (as seen in 2:11-13) and bad (as seen primarily in chapters 4-26). Job's friends also remind us that ministry is often a process and therefore, there is always the danger of starting well and finishing poorly.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33:1

Here are the articles to the latest issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament.

David G. Horrell, “A New Perspective on Paul? Rereading Paul in a Time of Ecological Crisis,” pp. 3–30
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/3

Mark Finney, “Honour, Head-coverings and Headship: 1 Corinthians 11.2–16 in its Social Context,” pp. 31–58
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/31

Ben Cooper, “Adaptive Eschatological Inference from the Gospel of Matthew,” pp. 59–80
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/59

J. R. Daniel Kirk, “Why Does the Deliverer Come (Romans 11.26)?” pp. 81–99
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/81

Daniel Johansson, “Kyrios in the Gospel of Mark,” 101–24
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/101

Science and the Bible

I am not anti-science. In fact, one of my earliest ambitions was to be a scientist and the field in general still fascinates me. But, I am not comfortable with the way the science card is sometimes played in biblical studies. An example would be how science (e.g., the theories of evolution, age of the earth, etc.) is sometimes used in the debate about Creation (e.g., Gen 1-2). While I agree with those who state that the Bible is not a scientific text book per se, I would also suggest that science is not an infallible evaluator of what is found in Scripture. One reason for my skepticism is simply that the assured results of the scientific enterprise is not as assured as many think it is. Read this.

Universal Consensus

Trevin Wax has a good word of caution concerning "universal consensus" in scholarship here.

Free David Gooding Books

You can download free pdf copies of David Gooding's books. I have not read all of his books, but I can commend According to Luke to you. You can access the books here.

HT: Nicholas Batzig

The Sacrificial Lamb

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Here is a video produced by SourceFlix. Watch and reflect.

The Sacrificial Lamb from SourceFlix on Vimeo.

HT: Todd Bolen

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Luísa Maria Varela Almendra
Um debate sobre o conhecimento de Deus: Composição e interpretação de Jb 32-37
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6493
Reviewed by Gilbert Lozano

Gary A. Anderson
Sin: A History
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7556
Reviewed by Joseph Lam

Ruth A. Clements and Daniel R. Schwartz, eds.
Text, Thought, and Practice in Qumran and Early Christianity: Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Jointly Sponsored by the Hebrew University Center for the Study of Christianity, 11-13 January, 2004
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7282
Reviewed by John Kampen

Thomas B. Dozeman
Exodus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7348
Reviewed by Frank H. Polak

Marlis Gielen
Paulus im Gespräch-Themen paulinischer Theologie
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7290
Reviewed by Günter Röhser

Philip A. Harland
Dynamics of Identity in the World of the Early Christians: Associations, Judeans, and Cultural Minorities
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7566
Reviewed by Eric Rowe

Avaren Ipsen
Sex Working and the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7458
Reviewed by Ronald Clark

Magnar Kartveit
The Origin of the Samaritans
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7391
Reviewed by Thomas Hieke

Ernst Axel Knauf
Josua: Zürcher Bibelkommentare AT, Band 6
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7081
Reviewed by Marvin A. Sweeney

John R. Levison
Filled with the Spirit
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7399
Reviewed by Randall J. Pannell

Laura Nasrallah and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, eds.
Prejudice and Christian Beginnings: Investigating Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Early Christianity
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7341
Reviewed by Christopher Zeichmann

Wolfgang Oswald
Staatstheorie im Alten Israel: Der politische Diskurs im Pentateuch und in den Geschichtsbüchern des Alten Testaments
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7475
Reviewed by Klaus-Peter Adam

Andrzej S. Turkanik
Of Kings and Reigns: A Study of Translation Technique in the Gamma/Gamma Section of 3 Reigns (1 Kings)
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7370
Reviewed by Johann Cook

Vernon Grounds 1914-2010

See this announcement from Denver Seminary on the death of Vernon Grounds.

Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop and Hebrews: An Interview With David Allen

David Allen, Professor of Preaching, Director of the Southwestern Center for Expository Preaching, George W. Truett Chair of Ministry, and Dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary recently agreed to answer five question about the upcoming Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop featuring the book of Hebrews and his recent commentary on Hebrews.

What is an Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop?

The Center for Expository Preaching at Southwestern Baptist theological Seminary offers two expository preaching workshops every year. The first workshop (Expository Preaching Workshop) is held in the spring. This workshop consists of two days of instruction on the philosophy, theory, and methodology of expository preaching. The presenters are well-known expositors drawn from all over the United States. The second workshop (Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop) is held in the fall. This workshop will take a book of the Bible (in this case Hebrews) and seek to apply the philosophy, theory, and methodology of exposition to that book. The advanced workshop will have presentations on the book (e.g., its structure, theology) and how to preach the book (e.g., preaching plans, example sermon). The advanced workshop is presented by expositors selected from Southwestern’s faculty.

Who should attend the Advanced Expository Preaching workshop?

The Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop is designed for pastors and preachers who want to review, retool, or refresh their expository preaching skills. While the workshop is designed for pastors and preachers, Bible college or seminary students interested in expository preaching and/or the book of Hebrews will also benefit. In fact, Sunday school teachers and other laypersons have attended previous workshops to become better equipped to serve in their churches.

What can pastors and preachers hope to take away from this workshop?

They can expect to receive very practical insights into the book of Hebrews and how to preach the book expositionally. Each attendee will receive notes from the sessions and even lunch is included with registration. Book tables containing some of the better resources on Hebrews will also be available for purchase as well.

Why the book of Hebrews?

The Advanced Expository Preaching Workshop is committed to teaching the whole counsel of Scripture. So we alternate our book selections between the Old and New Testaments. Last year the workshop tackled Psalms (see here for free audio) and so this year we were looking at a book from the New Testament. Since I had recently published two books on Hebrews (a monograph on the authorship of Hebrews and a commentary on Hebrews), the preaching faculty felt that Hebrews would be a logical choice for this year’s workshop.

I know that you recently published a commentary on Hebrews. Can you tell us a little about that commentary?

My commentary on Hebrews is in New American Commentary series, an exegetical and theological exposition of Scripture published by Broadman & Holman. The commentary itself is 671 pages. While it is not the first commentary on Hebrews to utilize linguistic principles and discourse analysis, it does seek to apply these exegetical approaches, especially as it relates to the structure of the book. This commentary contains the most extensive treatment, in a published commentary, of the crux interpretum 6:1–8 (54 pp.) that I am aware of. Another distinctive feature of the commentary is my belief that Luke is the author of Hebrews. Finally, as a preacher and teacher myself, I have tried to produce a commentary that will truly help preachers and teachers to preach and teach this book.

Preaching the Book of Numbers

The Old Testament in general, and the Book of Numbers in particular are often neglected in the pulpit. One explanation for this unfortunate neglect may be that,

“Fledgling preachers often tend to regard the Old Testament as someone else’s story. If this were rooted in genuine respect for Judaism's history and traditions, it would be one thing. But more often than not, it springs from a sense that Christians ‘have gotten beyond all that.’ Fledgling pastors are the products of their Christian upbringing, so it is probably safe to assume that their attitude reflects a fundamental confusion in the church as to how to appropriate not just the book of Numbers but the entire Old Testament.”

Carol Bechtel Reynolds, “Life After Grace: Preaching from the Book of Numbers,” Interpretation 51:1: 268.

BiblePlaces

Readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of Todd Bolen's work, especially his picture CD's. If you don't already get his e-mail newsletter you really should subscribe. The newsletter is both informative and free. You can subscribe here.

In his most recent newsletter Todd noted that "in conjunction with a complete overhaul of the BiblePlaces webstore, we were offering a big discount for a brief time. Today and tomorrow only you can purchase the complete four-volume electronic edition of Picturesque Palestine for $20, including free shipping in the US. Picturesque Palestine was published in four large volumes in 1881 and it was an immediate success. But there were many travel type books published in the 19th century that are no longer of much interest. What makes Picturesque Palestine still valuable is that it was written by the best scholars of the day. If you’ve done much research about the Holy Land, you’ll be familiar with names like Charles Wilson, Henry B. Tristram, Claude Conder, Mary Eliza Rogers, Charles Warren, Edward Palmer, and others."

To get the discounted price, use this link. The collection will be in your cart with the discount applied when you are ready to checkout. The offer ends on Thursday, 9/16 at 11:59 pm.

More Advice from Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung listed some good advice to theological students and young pastors yesterday. He adds to that list today. Read it here.

Job's Response to His Trials

In Job 1-2, Job’s godly response to his trials is affirmed positively by the narrator (1:22; 2:10), by God 2:3, by Satan (implicitly in 2:4), and by Job’s wife (2:9). Job’s trials did not make him a godly man. Rather, Job's response to his trials confirmed that he was a godly man.

Advice for Theological Students and Young Pastors

Kevin DeYoung has some good advice for theological students and young pastors here.

Paul, Christology, and Soteriology

"Since the Christian message is one of salvation, it is not surprising that Saint Paul's christology begins as a soteriology. Here we have a great intervention of God in the world of men, a drama of which God is the author and in which Christ is the central figure. The action begins with Christ's death, and continues through his resurrection, the preaching of his gospel, the concerted resistance of powers inimical to Christ, and the persecution of the gospel preachers. It comes to a climax in Christ's final victory and second coming. It would be wrong to suppose that the whole drama was played out on the cross, once and for all, and thereafter reproduced as a mystery, or shared in by the faith of believers participating in the fruits of Christ's victory. The power of God is the same throughout the whole action of Christ's death and resurrection, and in the preaching of the gospel and the salvation of believers (Rom. 1:16). At the parousia, this same power will receive its full manifestation. God is always at work, saving men through Christ, from Good Friday until the last day."

Lucien Cerfaux, Christ in the Theology of Paul (New York: Herder & Herder, 1959), 11.

The Relationship Between Galatians and Acts

Phillip J. Long has a nice post summarizing the work of Talbert on the various options regarding the relationship of Galatians and Acts. I also happen to agree with Long that Galatians 2 is not a reference to Acts 15 and the Jerusalem Council.

Gomer in Hosea

Any student of the Book of Hosea knows that there is a lot of discussion about Gomer's "activities" before and after God tells Hosea to marry her. While such discussions are necessary and helpful, J. Andrew Dearman gives a helpful reminder in his brand new commentary on Hosea

"In summary, Gomer's form(s) of sexual infidelity could include one or more acts of commercial prostitution, adultery, ritual copulation to enhance fertility, and possible sex to play a sacred vow. Her sexual practices may have been influenced by syncretistic forms of Yahwism or some of the Canaanite cults. Her harlotry, however, is primarily not about her but about Israel. This is the important matter for understanding the claims of the book. Once this issue is acknowledged, it is better also to acknowledge the difficulty of moving behind the metaphorical use of sexual terms and to remain reticent, rather than to define more specifically Gomer's sexual practices. To concentrate on the person of Gomer rather than the people of Israel is to miss the forest because of attention to a symbolic tree."

J. Andrew Dearman, The Book of Hosea, NICOT, ed. Robert L. Hubbard Jr (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 367.