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Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Framework for Hearing God in Scripture PDF

638 Pages·2015·10.45 MB·English
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Preview Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Framework for Hearing God in Scripture

“A magisterial textbook, but much more than a textbook. Every aspect of bibli- cal hermeneutics is thoroughly explored in a readable, engaging, and stimulating manner. The real joy of the book, however, lies in the subtitle: ‘for hearing God in Scripture.’ This transforms the hermeneutical task from an exercise between a reader and an object (the Bible) to an encounter between a listener and a person (God). The former requires good and proper methods, tools, and wisdom, all of which matter greatly. The latter calls for response, faith, repentance, and obedience, all of which matter even more. Bartholomew not only explains both dimensions but also models them again and again. From the subtitle on the opening page, we move in a fitting way to the closing chapter on preaching the Bible. For if the ecclesial context of authentic biblical hermeneutics is crucial, then the church needs to know again the story we are in, which requires renewed commitment to preaching the whole counsel of God from the whole canon of Scripture. This book provides ample resources for just such a challenge.” —Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership “This book is a versatile tool for research. It could serve as a textbook in bibli- cal hermeneutics but equally well as a source for complementary readings on inspiration, canon, exegesis, revelation, the definition of theology, the historical and contemporary practice of biblical interpretation, the relationship between theology and biblical exegesis, and the role of the Bible in preaching, Christian spirituality, and missionary work. As a Catholic, I see and welcome in it a great openness to both the riches of patristic studies and the recent waves of what is often called ressourcement. Equally gratifying is Bartholomew’s personal example of listening to not only a large corpus of Protestant biblical research but also a large variety of voices promoting biblical theology in the Catholic Church, past and present.” —Denis Farkasfalvy, University of Dallas; abbot emeritus of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas “A book that stands out in a crowded catalog of hermeneutics texts, Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics deserves careful attention. With characteristic erudition and lucidity, Bartholomew provides a Trinitarian hermeneutic that carries the reader all the way from devotional reading of Scripture to the ecclesial reception of the preached Word. The reader learns to read Scripture humbly and prayer- fully, seeking not only information but also transformation by the living Christ. Along the way, Bartholomew masterfully relates biblical interpretation to biblical theology, systematic theology, philosophical hermeneutics, preaching, and the disciplines of the modern university. A unique and thought-provoking addition to the field of hermeneutics.” —Bruce Ashford, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 1 8/12/15 11:21 AM _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 2 8/12/15 11:21 AM I ntroducIng B IBlIcal H ermeneutIcs A Comprehensive Framework for Hearing God in Scripture Craig G. Bartholomew K _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 3 8/12/15 11:21 AM These websites are hyperlinked. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com www.bakeracademic.com www.brazospress.com www.chosenbooks.com www.revellbooks.com www.bethanyhouse.com © 2015 by Craig G. Bartholomew Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com Printed in the United States of America 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—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bartholomew, Craig G., 1961– Introducing biblical hermeneutics : a comprehensive framework for hearing God in Scripture / Craig G. Bartholomew. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-0-8010-3977-5 (cloth) 1. Bible—Hermeneutics. I. Title. BS476.B37 2015 220.601—dc23 2015014074 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Any italics in these quotations are added for emphasis. Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan .com 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 4 8/12/15 11:21 AM Dedicated to Cal and Inés Seerveld with gratitude and hope _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 5 8/12/15 11:21 AM _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 6 8/12/15 11:21 AM Contents Preface ix Abbreviations xi Part 1 Approaching Biblical Interpretation 1. Biblical Interpretation Coram Deo 3 2. Listening and Biblical Interpretation 17 Part 2 Biblical Interpretation and Biblical Theology 3. The Story of Our World 51 4. The Development of Biblical Theology 85 Part 3 The Story of Biblical Interpretation 5. The Traditions within Which We Read 113 6. Early and Medieval Jewish Biblical Interpretation 158 7. Renaissance, Reformation, and Modernity 193 8. Canon 251 Part 4 Biblical Interpretation and the Academic Disciplines 9. Philosophy and Hermeneutics 281 10. History 335 11. Literature 376 12. Theology 431 13. Scripture and the University: The Ecology of Christian Scholarship 463 vii _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 7 8/12/15 11:21 AM viii Contents Part 5 The Goal of Biblical Interpretation 14. The “Epistle” to the Hebrews: But We Do See Jesus 487 15. Preaching the Bible for All It’s Worth: The Resurrection of the Sermon and the Incarnation of the Christ 523 Bibliography 547 Subject Index 592 Scripture Index 603 Author Index 608 _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 8 8/12/15 11:21 AM Preface As I write the preface to this work, it is Lent in the church’s calendar, a time in which we prepare for the great feast of Easter. It is an appropriate time in which to finish a book on biblical hermeneutics and evocative of George Steiner’s description of Holy Saturday: “But ours is the long day’s journey of the Saturday. Between suffering, aloneness, unutterable waste on the one hand and the dream of liberation, of rebirth on the other.”1 Holy Saturday is, if you like, the Lent of Holy Week. We live in that interim between the coming of the King and the final consum- mation of the kingdom. Final liberation is assured, yet still, so often, “ours is the long day’s journey of the Saturday.” Scripture is given to us for this journey, and thus it feels appropriate to complete this work in the middle of Lent. In one sense this book has been years in the making. My work in herme- neutics goes back to my doctoral dissertation, “Reading Ecclesiastes,” super- vised by Gordon Wenham and Christopher Norris, to whom I remain deeply grateful. Some fourteen years ago I started, with generous funding and help from the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar (SAHS). In its initial nine-year phase it published eight volumes2 and provided me with an opportunity to meet and learn from many of the major biblical and theological—and other—scholars of our day. The Seminar has since published Hearing the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2012; coedited with David Beldman), and about the same time as this book is published, so too will be another SAHS volume: A Manifesto for Theological Interpretation, coedited with Heath Thomas. I have drawn on my years of work on biblical hermeneutics, but writing this volume has enabled me to consolidate my work, draw it all together, and develop it in many fresh and new ways. I owe a huge debt to the Bible Society; to all those who have partici- pated in the SAHS throughout the years; to Rosemary Hales, who faithfully 1. G. Steiner, Real Presences: Is There Anything in What We Say? (London: Faber & Faber, 1989), 232. 2. See www.stgeorgesonline.com/centre. ix _Bartholomew_Hermeneutics_BKB_djm.indd 9 8/12/15 11:21 AM

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Renowned scholar Craig Bartholomew, coauthor of the bestselling textbook The Drama of Scripture (75,000 copies sold), writes in his main area of expertise--hermeneutics--to help seminarians pursue a lifetime of biblical interpretation. Integrating the latest research in theology, philosophy, and bib
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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.