Biblical Interpretation

Occasionally, the internet yields good fruit, and one of those is the opportunity to meet different sorts of people we would never encounter otherwise, especially if they live overseas. The digital world introduced me to Rev. David Runcorn, a retired Anglican priest in the UK. We recently learned of each other’s work and connected via […]

I recently read Christian Smith’s book The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture (2012) published by Brazos Press. It critiques a form of biblical interpretation that too often treats the Bible in a wooden and rule book fashion, thereby diminishing the richness of Scripture. Having grown up in

How do we make sense of difficult passages in the Bible? What about the violence or apparent contradictions? Peter Enns addresses these concerns in his book The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It. Enns is concerned that instead of honest engagement with Scripture some Christian thinkers make

One of my research interests, and one I am currently writing on for publication for Eerdmans, is the origins, nature, and useful interpretation of Scripture. Well, I guess that is more like three research interests! But I like to contemplate them together, as they intertwine. Origins helps us to know what the Bible is and

John Webster provides a helpful contribution to the discussion on the inspiration of the Bible in Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. He provides a much needed look at the role of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) that is missing in some of the discussions on the nature of Scripture. Webster roots his views of Scripture in

In Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. Peter Enns proposes an incarnational model for understanding how the Bible was inspired by God. Just as Jesus is 100% divine and 100% human, so also the Bible is both divine and human (17). Jesus was “God with us.” Even though he is

In his book, Sacred Word Broken Word, Kenton Sparks proposes an “adoptionist” model for understanding how God speaks to us in Scripture. He writes, “Scripture is God’s Word because God providentially adopted ancient human beings, like Paul, as his spokespersons. In doing so God ‘set apart’ or ‘sanctified’ their words for use in his redemptive