Southern Baptist Theology in the Late Twentieth Century
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 54, No. 2 – Spring 2012
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Edited by Alan J. Hauser and Duane F. Watson, alongside Schuyler Kaufman. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009. 570 pages. Hardcover, $50.00.
Surveying the rich and varied traditions of biblical interpretation during the medieval and Reformation periods, this second volume to A History of Biblical Interpretation is a valuable contribution to the library of any pastor or scholar. Even while affirming the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura, a Bible student benefits by evaluating his own Scripture reading in light of past biblical interpretation, and this new collection of essays will greatly aid his task.
By drawing together essays on both medieval and Reformation exegesis into one volume, the editors of A History of Biblical Interpretationhave portrayed two important insights: First, the editors recognize that the Middle Ages were not as dark as often assumed. Medieval scholars, both among Christians and Jews, read and taught Scripture, probing it for answers to a wide span of questions. They also labored for centuries to defend, preserve, and translate the Bible. Second, the editors recognize the connection between the medieval and Reformation periods: “The Renaissance and Reformation eras, much as they often claimed to be going back to the learning of the ancient period, firmly based their interpretive analyses on the achievements of Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Middle Ages” (vii–viii).
This volume consists not only in a collection of astute essays on biblical exegesis during the Middle Ages and the Reformation. It also provides helpful bibliographies and charts that point the reader to both primary and secondary resources accessible in print and on the internet. The volume also opens with a summary essay, assessing biblical exegesis during this period as a whole. Throughout the remainder of the book, scholars introduce the reader to a variety of interpretive traditions: Christian exegesis in the medieval West; Eastern Orthodox interpretation; Jewish exegesis; scholasticism and humanism; and exegetical traditions among both Protestant and Catholic reformers. Three chapters also highlight the transmission and translation of the texts of Scripture throughout the medieval and early modern periods.
Especially significant in this volume is an essay devoted to an often overlooked group of biblical expositors: the Anabaptists, with whom Baptists share a fundamental conviction concerning believer’s baptism. In this essay, Stuart W. Murray, author of Biblical Interpretation in the Anabaptist Tradition (Pandora, 2000), outlines six characteristics of Anabaptist hermeneutics: “Scripture is Self-Interpreting”; “Christocentrism”; “The Two Testaments”; “Spirit and Word”; “Congregational Hermeneutics”; and the “Hermeneutics of Obedience” (408–23). The congregational approach to exegesis is especially interesting, for by it the Anabaptists avoided both “autonomous individualism,” on the one hand, and the papal or magisterial “tyranny” that threatened the common priesthood of believers, on the other hand (416).
Sincere interest and scholarly responsibility contribute to the success of Murray’s investigation. First, he shows a deep appreciation for Anabaptist hermeneutics and for its value to modern exegetes. At the same time, however, he willingly notes the flaws of the Anabaptist approach. Second, while he generalizes about the nature of Anabaptist hermeneutics, Murray never forgets that “Anabaptism was a diverse, complex, and fluid but coherent movement” (404).
The reader will also benefit greatly from the essays on John Calvin and Martin Luther. Barbara Pitkin’s essay on the hermeneutics of John Calvin will be especially helpful to the novice in this field of study, since she summarizes past and present trends in the research of Calvin’s hermeneutic (341–71). Examining Luther’s hermeneutic, Mark D. Thompson finds both consistency and change: “From his earliest lectures right through his death [Luther] insisted on the authority of Scripture, its God-given clarity when dealt with honestly and with faith, and its fundamental unity in its focus on Christ crucified” (306). He argues, contra Karl Barth and other scholars, that Luther conceived of Scripture as the Word of God, not as a vessel that merely contains God’s Word (300).
Thompson also tracks the change in Luther’s approach to Scripture. He insightfully summarizes the manner in which Luther cast aside the allegorizing, fourfold exegesis of Scripture and replaced it with his familiar Law-Gospel dichotomy. Thompson also provides helpful information on Luther’s emphasis upon the devotional character of biblical exegesis and upon the preaching of Scripture (306–314).
With insightful essays on the various traditions of biblical interpretation in the medieval and Reformation eras, this volume of A History of Biblical Interpretation is a helpful tool for any Bible student or church historian. Readers can only hope for the same in the anticipated third volume on the modern period.
