Discussion 9: Theological Interpretation of Scripture

BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION SERIES: PART 9

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Theological Interpretation of Scripture refers to the recent academic trend of combining the multi-sense interpretive approach of the early church theologians with historical-critical methods. Unlike pure historical-critical methods, the Theological Interpretation of Scripture makes theological assumptions in the interpretive process. One way to think about it is that pure historical-critical methods try to find out what the author is trying to say through the text, whereas the Theological Interpretation of Scripture tries to find out what God is trying to say through the text. Our two readings come from the books Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture, by Daniel Treier, and A Manifesto for Theological Interpretation, by Craig Bartholomew and Heath Thomas.

Daniel Treier is a professor of theology at Wheaton College and author of many acclaimed books. He is also the co-editor of the award-winning Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, which I highly recommend all serious Christians to have on their bookshelf. The following reading is from Treier’s book Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture. He lists the nine theses of theological interpretation as developed by the “Scripture Project,” a four-year effort hosted by the Center of Theological Inquiry:

Reading [p.200]:

1. Scripture truthfully tells the story of God’s action of creating, judging, and saving the world.
2. Scripture is rightly understood in light of the church’s Rule of Faith as a coherent dramatic narrative.
3. Faithful interpretation of Scripture requires an engagement with the entire narrative: the New Testament cannot be rightly understood apart for the Old, nor can the Old be rightly understood apart from the New.
4. Texts of Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent of the original author. In accord with Jewish and Christian tradition, we affirm that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God, the author of the whole drama.
5. The four canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus.
6. Faithful interpretation of Scripture invites and presupposes participation in the community brought into being by God’s redemptive action – the church.
7. The saints of the church provide guidance in how to interpret and perform Scripture.
8. Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside the church.
9. We live in the tension between the “already” and the “not yet” of the kingdom of God; consequently, Scripture calls the church to ongoing discernment, to continually fresh re-readings of the text in light of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in the world.

The following reading is from the book A Manifesto for Theological Interpretation, by Craig Bartholomew and Heath Thomas. Bartholomew is a professor of philosophy at Redeemer University and Heath Thomas is a dean at Hobbs College of Theology. This book was the result of meetings by the Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar from 2012 to 2014. Bartholomew was its founder and Thomas served as its chair when the book was written.

Reading [p.5]: If the nature and purpose of Scripture is to witness to Christ and His all-encompassing salvation, then authority, inspiration, and infallibility must be defined in terms of its very nature and purpose. Scripture’s authority is in its purpose to lead us to Christ; the God-breathed, or inspired, content of Scripture is a story of salvation centered in Christ; infallibility refers to the fact that it does not err in its purpose to lead us to Christ. What Scripture is cannot be separated from what Scripture does. Scripture is the authoritative, inspired, and infallible Word of God since it is the Spirit’s witness to lead us to Christ and his salvation. Asking the Bible to do something else exhibits misunderstanding of the very nature and authority of Scripture. Defining authority or infallibility in terms other than its purpose imposes alien categories on Scripture.