The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (Cambridge Companions to Religion) - Softcover

Barton, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521485932 ISBN 13: 9780521485937

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

This book provides the first complete guide for students to the present state of biblical studies. The twenty-one specially commissioned chapters are written by established scholars from North America and Britain, and represent both traditional and contemporary points of view. The chapters in Part One cover all the methods and approaches currently practised in the academic study of the Bible, while those in Part Two examine the major categories of books in the Bible from the perspective of recent scholarship - e.g. historical books of the Old Testament, Gospels, prophetic literature. Major issues raised are: the relation of modern 'critical' study of the Bible to 'pre-critical' and 'post-critical' approaches; the place of history in the study of the Bible; feminist, liberationist and new historicist concerns; the relation of Christian and Jewish scholarship; and recent interest in the Bible as literature.

About this title

Review:

The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation, despite its dry-as-dust title, is a feast of answers to the extremely juicy question, "What does the Bible mean?" Editor John Barton shaped this book of essays as a "progress report on biblical interpretation in the 1990s." He invited leading scholars to provide 10-to-20 page definitions and summaries of recent developments in fields such as feminist interpretation, literary criticism, political reading, and sociological criticism. As Barton notes, there emerges from this book "a perception among many biblical scholars that the newest approaches are also a restoration of something very old." In other words, abstract hyphenates like "historical-critical" are helping scholars, pastors, and tuned-in laypeople learn to read like the fathers and mothers of faith. The fresh perspectives presented here make it possible to return to the Scriptures with renewed openness to the many shades of revelation. --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description:

This book is the first complete guide to the present state of biblical studies. Intended for students and non specialist readers, i t covers all the methods and approaches currently practised in the academic study of the Bible, as well as examining the major categories of books in the Bible from the perspective of recent scholarship. The twenty-one specially commissioned chapters are written by established scholars from North America and Britain, and represent both traditional and contemporary points of view.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0521485932
• ISBN 13: 9780521485937
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 356