Beyond the Obvious: Discover the Deeper Meaning of Scripture

421 Pages·1995·9.862 MB·English

by  James Deyoung, Sarah Hurty

Can there be a post-modern hermeneutic of the
Scriptures which does full justice to the text? Jim De Young
and Sarah Hurty say Yes. They center the hermeneutic spi­
ral on a renewed spirituality, giving emphasis to the Holy
Spirit as the interpreter of both the Word and history, vali­
dated by the community of faith. Bible students who have
felt that earlier methods of interpreting the Bible, while
orthodox and secure, result in rather unfaithful “abstract
meaning” will find exciting and challenging ideas in Beyond
the Obvious.
Stephen A. Hayner
President, InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship
If the Church is to “do” and “live” her theology as she
should, it must be based upon an accurate understanding of
the seed-bed from which that theology comes. While there
are many creative (and even questionable) ideas in their
book, De Young and Hurty have as their larger goal a sys­
tem that will aid us in our interpretive task. Not satisfied
with the status quo, they offer new insights that will chal­
lenge our thinking and hopefully make us more exacting in
our study of the Word of God. Read to your benefit; critique
them to their benefit; and the Church will be the stronger
as a result.
W. Robert Cook
Professor of Biblical Theology
Emeritus
Western Seminary
The authors offer a timely and vigorous challenge to the
hermeneutical status quo among Evangelicals. Their daring
proposal places the Bible in the center of the community of
faith under the power of the Holy Spirit. I hope Beyond the
Obvious receives a hearing. The book will
greatly clarify the issues in the current hermeneutical
debate.
David Fisher, Senior Minister
Park Street Church
Boston, Massachusetts
There is much food for thought in this use of the Old
Testament in the New Testament. What is said here could
be combined with discussions elsewhere to help form a solid
basis for a discussion of this issue by evangelicals.
Darrell Bock
Professor of New Testament Studies
Dallas Theological Seminary
This is a noteworthy and valuable effort for recognizing
the implications of culture in hermeneutics. By making the
Kingdom of God central, a whole-Bible view of mission
develops from this hermeneutic, deepening and broadening
our understanding of God at work in the world.
Donald K. Smith, Chairman, Division of
Intercultural Studies, Western Seminary
Founder ofDaystar University
Nairobi, Kenya
Beyond
The
Obvious
Discover the Deeper Meaning of Scripture
James DeYoung, Th.D.
Sarah Harty, Th.M.
V
isiqn
HQUSE
PUBLISHING. INC.
Gresham, Oregon
Beyond the Obvious
© 1995 by Vision House Publishing, Inc.
Published by James DeYoung, Th. D.
and Sarah Hurty, Th. M.
1217 NE Bumside, Suite 403
Gresham, Oregon 97030
Printed in the United States of America
International Standard Book Number: 1-885305-14-1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior
written permission. For information contact Vision
House Publishing, Inc.
95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 -10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedication
To Patricia
my companion on life’s journey
and
To our children
James David, Rebecca Ann, Rachel Inez, Ruth Ann
Joint Heirs All
To Wayne,
my brother'husband'friend.
I am delighted
that our God has made us life companions
on this pilgrimage of faith.

Contents
Acknowledgements —11
Forward —13
Introduction
Reading Scripture: What’s All the Fuss About? — 17
1. Interpretation:
The Biblical Writers Do It Differently — 29
2. Back to the Future:
Historical Search for Deeper Meaning — 49
3. The Future Is Here:
Contemporary Pursuit of Deeper Meaning — 65
4. Kingdom Center:
What in the World Is God Doing? — 81
5. Kingdom Reality:
Making the Best of Both Worlds — 99
6. The Holy Spirit:
Listening to the Divine Exegete — 123
7. Spirituality:
How Do We Get to Know the Author? — 153
8. Community:
Fellow Pilgrims on a Trek for Truth — 185
9. Kingdom History:
History Is His Story — 205
10. The Big Question:
Where Does Our Interpretation Take Us? — 221
Appendix A:
Postmodernism and the Paradigm of Reality — 241
Appendix B:
Reproducing the Hermeneutic of the Bible — 261
Appendix C:
The Kingdom Center as Rule and Relationship — 267
Appendix D:
Kingdom Light on Difficult Issues — 273
Appendix E:
Revelation Determines Our Hermeneutic — 289
Appendix F:
Deeper Meaning and
the ICBI Statement on Hermeneutics — 305
For The Curious and the Careful —311
Acknowledgements
No book can come into print without help from a
number of people—at least ours certainly didn’t!
While all the faults of this book our entirely ours,
we wish to express our thanks to a few of those who helped
us in some way to complete it or to make it better than it
would have been.
First, we thank Dr. Robert Cook. In spite of his disagree­
ment with us on several tenets of this book, he has been our
most enthusiastic encourager and willing and careful think­
ing partner over the last three years.
We are grateful to those who have seen something worth­
while in our book and have endorsed it. What an encour­
agement you have been.
We have benefitted from the input of various students,
and especially, Tom Hauff, graduate fellow in New
Testament. We also appreciate our publisher and long-time
friend, John Van Diest, and our patient editor, Steve
Halliday, for their encouragement, and faculty at
Multnomah College of the Bible and Biblical Seminary and
the faculty here at Western Seminary for vigorous and stim­
ulating discussion.
Writing a book is an all-consuming project that demands
the most from our families. The greatest debt I, Jim, owe is
to my wife, Patricia, and to my children, James, Rebecca,
Rachel, and Ruth. They sacrificed much to allow me to
write this book.
1, Sarah, am grateful to my husband, Wayne. Without