Hermeneutics Collection (12 Vols.)

Reading the Sacred Text: An Introduction in Biblical Studies

• V. George Shillington
• 352 pages | 01 Dec 2002

Reading the Sacred Text is a comprehensive manual for anyone wishing to become competent in reading and understanding the Scriptures of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The chapters of this book introduce the reader to all aspects of biblical studies. They guide the reader through the maze, from 'Venturing In' to 'Negotiated Reading'. For example, there are sections on considering the self-consciousness of the reader/interpreter, the interaction of the tradition with the text of Scripture through the ages, the various literary genres together with the principal forms within the larger Biblical documents, ways of reading the text in the modern and post-modern periods, how the academic reading of Scripture and the church reading interact, the relation between competent reading of the sacred text and the preparation and delivery of the sermon, and the place of dialogue in the interpretive process. The conclusion sums up the discussion throughout the book and focuses the issues for a competent reading of the Bible and related writings.

Student-friendly features include, at the end of each chapter: an Objective, summarizing the content and objective of the chapter; 12-14 Lead Questions which act as in-depth study exercises; full bibliography, and suggestions for further reading.

V. George Shillington is Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Canada.

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Biblical Semantic Logic: A Preliminary Analysis

• Arthur Gibson
• 280 pages | 01 Feb 2002

Biblical Semantic Logic seeks to show that the study of Biblical and ancient Near Eastern languages and literatures can be established on a logical basis. In the prologue, Gibson reviews some of the scholarly treatment of the issue. He addresses the topics of originality and infinity and also suggests that deep areas of literary creativity resemble cosmology and pure mathematics. Gibson then demonstrates how the central areas of Biblical usage (names, predicates expressions of quantity, idioms) can be mapped employing some contemporary philosophy, logic and linguistics. There is criticism of some previous scholarly interpretations, especially where these have led to the underestimation of the conceptual and logical sensitivity of Biblical narrative.

Arthur Gibson is a philosopher and a linguist of Near Eastern languages. After some years teaching, acting as a Director of Studies in Philosophy at Cambridge University and a University Proctor, he is currently with the University of Surrey Roehampton, London.

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Translating the Bible: Problems and Prospects

• Stanley E. Porter and Richard Hess, eds.
• 336 pages | 13 Dec 2004

The topics covered in this volume, embracing both Old and New Testaments, range from detailed studies, such as how a particular Biblical verse might be rendered from Hebrew or Greek, to larger philosophical and hermeneutical issues – the importance of tradition; how translations come to be canonized; and how a modern translation can and should be evaluated.

The value of this topical and highly informative volume lies not only in its insights into particular translational cruxes but in the questions raised and answers suggested regarding translation theory and practice in a range of scriptural texts.

Richard Hess is Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary, Colorado.

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Approaches to New Testament Study

• Stanley E. Porter and David Tombs, eds.
• Series: Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series
• 392 pages | 01 Dec 1995

This collection of essays attempts to display, through theoretical discussion and practical application, a number of the most prominent approaches to New Testament study being practiced in the guild today. The contributors and their topics include: C.A. Evans on source, form and redaction criticism; T.R. Hatina on Jewish religious backgrounds; S.E. Porter on literary approaches; D.L. Stamps on rhetorical criticism; K.D. Clarke on canonical scientific criticism; D. Tombs on the hermeneutics of liberation; and B. Clack on feminist hermeneutics. The goal of the volume is to provide workable models for those interested in expanding or deepening their knowledge of the various approaches to New Testament study.

Stanley E. Porter received his B.A. at Point Loma College, an M.A. from Claremont Graduate School, another M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield. He has taught for post-secondary institutions in Canada, the USA, and the UK.

David Tombs is Senior Lecturer in Theology at the University of Surrey Roehampton, London. He has contributed several books to the Studies in New Testament Greek and JSNTS Collection (16 volumes) and the Library of NT Studies: JSNTS on Paul (17 volumes). He is the coauthor of Christian-Jewish Relations through the Centuries.

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Rhetorics and Hermeneutics: Wilhelm Wuellner and His Influence

• J. David Hester and James D. Hester, eds.
• Series: Emory Studies in Early Christianity
• 264 pages | 01 Apr 2004

Wilhelm Wuellner is the father of rhetorical criticism of the New Testament and his work has focused on the ever-present relationship between hermeneutics and rhetorics. He has emphasized that at no time in the history of rhetoric was rhetoric a unified or monolithic field. He attributes the demise of rhetoric in the nineteenth century to the rise of Romanticism and its connection with irrationalism, as well as the profound technological shift in the media of communication with the advent of the print culture and the loss of the living word. He emphasizes the counter-cultural nature of Jewish and Christian rhetoric.

Together the essays provide not only a fitting tribute to the continuing influence of Wuellner and his work but also original studies of various New Testament texts read through the eyes of rhetorical criticism. Since Wuellner is well-known outside of New Testament circles, this collection will also appeal to classical rhetoricians.

James D. Hester is Professor Emeritus of Religion at the University of the Redlands, California.

J. David Hester is an Alexander von Humbolt Research Fellow at the Interfaukultäres Zentrum für Ethik in den Wissenschaften of the University of Tübingen. He is also the adjunct Instructor of Humanities at Santa Rosa Junior College, California.

Contemporary rhetorical approaches to the Biblical text are due in no small measure to the innovative and profound work of the late Professor Wilhelm Wuellner. In this volume of essays, students and colleagues of Wuellner pay tribute to Wuellner’s groundbreaking work through a series of stimulating essays exploring the sublime and spiritual healing power of rhetorics in New Testament texts. Following the model of Wuellner’s final essay, which is contained in this volume, these essays also reflect Wuellner’s own approach to the texts, an approach of both unfeigned humility and scholarly excellence.
—L. Gregory Bloomquist, Saint Paul University.

Rhetorics and Hermenutics is a fitting tribute to the vision of Wilhelm Wuellner. The essays respond admirably to Wuellner’s persistent urging that rhetorical criticism be interdisciplinary and take full advantage of modern rhetoric and related fields of study. The essays are a welcomed advance in our understanding of the interplay between rhetoric and hermeneutics.
—Duane F. Watson, Malone College

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New Paradigms for Bible Study: The Bible in the Third Millennium

• Robert M. Fowler, Edith Blumhofer and Fernando F. Segovia, eds.
• 304 pages | 01 Jun 2004

The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries provided a number of new paradigms for reading the Bible that challenged the then prevailing literal or allegorical model of reading the Bible. In the late twentieth century, the number of methods for reading the Bible multiplied to such an extent that by the end of the century there were almost as many models for reading Scripture as there were readers of Scripture.

The editors have gathered essays by a number of internationally recognized scholars, ranging from evangelical Biblical critics to postmodern Biblical critics, who explore a variety of models for reading the Bible in the Third Millennium. The collection includes an Afterword by distinguished church historian Martin Marty on the relation between the past and the future.

Robert M. Fowler is Professor of Religion and Chair of the Religion Department at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. He is the author of Let the Reader Understand: Reader-Response Criticism and The Gospel of Mark and Loaves and Fishes: The Function of the Feeding Stories in the Gospel of Mark.

Edith Blumhofer is Professor of History and Director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Fernando F. Segovia is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

A thoughtful collection of essays for anyone interested in reading interpreters of the Bible who are aware of the contemporary debates surrounding the impact of a) technology on understanding these sacred texts and b) listening to impatient voices wishing to share their perspectives.
—Kent Harold Richards, Executive Director, Society of Biblical Literature

The Bible is more than a text; it is an object to be honored and one to be taken apart and put back together, a tool of imperialism and anti-colonialism, something to explore and something to be marketed. All those interested in the future of the Scriptures – especially students and educators of all sorts – will find much in New Paradigms for Bible Study to spark their imaginations and enlarge their frame of reference.
—L. William Countryman, Sherman E. Johnson, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Graduate Theological Union

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Scripture, Tradition and Reason: A Study in the Criteria of Christian Doctrine

• Richard Bauckham and Benjamin Drewery, eds.
• 312 pages | 11 Nov 2004

According to the editors, scripture, tradition and reason are the three criteria by which the adequacy of all Christian teaching has to be tested. Not only in Anglicanism, which has always particularly stressed the ‘threefold cord,’ but in all the Christian churches the relationship and relative authority of scripture, tradition and reason are nowadays the subject of wide debate and disagreement. Has one of them a primary voice over the other two? Or a ‘veto’? How can their respective influences in the past be evaluated, and what should it be in this modern age?

These essays on scripture, tradition and reason will speak to the heart of nearly every major issue confronting the life and thought of Christian churches today.

Richard Bauckham is Professor of New Testament Studies, St Mary's College, University of St Andrews.

Benjamin Drewery was Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History, University of Manchester.

…a useful chart for the church… I commend this volume to those who wish to familiarize themselves with the rich contours of Anglicanism… and also to those who care for the survival of an historical, rational, liberal, and pious approach to, and understanding of, the Christian faith…
—Anglican Theological Review

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Doing Things with Words in the First Christian Century

• Francis Gerald Downing
• Series: Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series
• 272 pages | 13 Dec 2004

Although its religious heritage was that of a variegated Judaism, the tiny early Christian movement was nevertheless much more complexly and richly linked with the Graeco-Roman world in which it came to birth than is usually allowed for. In particular, 'ordinary' people were capable of a sophisticated use of words that can be detected also in the New Testament writings. But the use of words in Graeco-Roman times was often very different from what we suppose, and this collection of studies attempts to identify some of the anachronisms that still pervade even the best of modern scholarship.

Francis Gerald Downing is an Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Religions and Theology, University of Manchester.

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Text, Church and World: Biblical Interpretation in Theological Perspective

• Francis Watson
• 392 pages | 01 May 1994

Should Biblical studies continue to exclude theological concerns from its agenda? What is the real significance of the new literary, canonical and feminist approaches that have established themselves as alternatives to the conventional historical-critical methodologies? These are question of crucial importance for contemporary Biblical studies.

Francis Watson contends that the new approaches make it possible to rethink the relationship of Biblical studies to Christian theology. If interpretation is determined in part by the perspective of the interpreter, then it no longer makes sense to insist that historical questions about the test’s origins must always be given priority over explorations of its theological potential.

Indeed, given that the primary location of the Biblical text is the Christian community, the object of investigations must be the Biblical text in its final, canonical form. Historical questions about its circumstances of origin are less significant than its role in furthering the process of theological and hermeneutical thought. Watson therefore engages critically with the work of, for example, Barth, Childs, Derrida, Frei, Lindbeck, McFadyen and Schussler Fiorenza. He also offers examples of a Biblical interpretation that gives precedence to theological concerns, drawing on texts from both Old and New Testaments. The outcome is a major challenge to the fundamental methodological assumptions of historical-critical Biblical scholarship.

Francis Watson is Professor of New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdeen and was formerly Reader in Biblical Theology, King's College London. Previous publications include Paul, Judaism and the Gentiles, Text, Church and World, Text and Truth and Agape, Eros, Gender.

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Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church: An Historical Introduction to Patristic Exegesis

• Manlio Simonetti
• 168 pages | 01 Mar 2002

A comprehensive historical survey of patristic exegesis. Simonetti examines the changing understanding of the word of God in the early Church, and describes the individual authors and "schools" which were active in this development.

First there is a study of the role of Scripture in the infant Church. Simonetti describes the use of Scripture in orthodox circles, drawing comparisons from the Gnostic world. There follows an examination of Eastern exegesis in the 4th and 5th centuries (Eusebius, the Antiochian School, the Cappadocians, and later developments in Alexandria), and an examination of Western exegesis in the same period (including detailed discussions of Jerome and Augustine). Simonetti concludes with a study of developments in the Eastern and Western Church in the later 5th and 6th centuries. A final section provides a theological perspective through a study of the theological interpretation of Scripture in the patristic era.

Manlio Simonetti teaches at the University of Rome and the ‘Augustinianum,’ the Patristic Institute in Rome.

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The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity: Studies in Language and Tradition

• Craig A. Evans, ed.
• 496 pages | 01 Jun 2000

This volume assembles several important studies that examine the role of language in meaning and interpretation. The various contributions investigate interpretation in the versions, in Intertestamental traditions, in the New Testament, and in the rabbis and the targumim. The authors, who include well-known veterans as well as younger scholars, explore the differing ways in which the language of Scripture stimulates the understanding of the sacred text in late antiquity and gives rise to important theological themes. This book is a significant resource for any scholar interested in the interpretation of Scripture in and just after the Biblical period.

Craig A. Evans (Ph.D., Claremont) is Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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Essays in Biblical Criticism and Exegesis

• William Sanday; Craig A. Evans and Stanley Porter, eds.
• Series: Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series; Classics in Biblical and Theological Studies Supplemental Series
• 248 pages | 01 Apr 2001

This volume gathers together in an accessible form a number of Sanday's important articles in the areas of method, language and exegesis. In the section on method, Sanday has articles on Biblical criticism and interpretation. His writings on language include his responses in his dispute with A. Roberts. The section on exegesis touches on interpretation of the parables, understanding the son of man, issues in Acts 15, and, perhaps most importantly, his dispute with W. Ramsay. This is an important collection of essays by an important but now unfortunately often overlooked scholar of a previous generation.

William Sanday (1843-1920) was a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford 1866-69, Principal of Bishop Hatfield's Hall in Durham, 1876-83, Dean Ireland Professor of Exegesis of Holy Scripture, Durham 1883-95 and Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church at the University of Oxford, 1895 – 1919

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