Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency
When interpreting Scripture, do we take an academic or a spiritual approach? Do we emphasize the human or the divine agency? Do we focus on man's authorship or God's inspiration?

Mark Bowald argues that these are false dichotomies. We need to understand both the human qualities of Scripture and the divine, as an overemphasis on either will lead to distortions. In Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics, Bowald surveys various schools of thought, explaining where they lose the balance between the two. He analyzes the hermeneutical methods of George Lindbeck, Hans Frei, Kevin Vanhoozer, Francis Watson, Stephen Fowl, David Kelsey, Werner Jeanrond, Karl Barth, James K. A. Smith, and Nicholas Wolterstorff.

Bowald shows that we should view Scripture as equally human and divine in origin and character. And our reading of Scripture should involve both critical rigor and openness to the leading of God's Spirit.
1118935982
Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency
When interpreting Scripture, do we take an academic or a spiritual approach? Do we emphasize the human or the divine agency? Do we focus on man's authorship or God's inspiration?

Mark Bowald argues that these are false dichotomies. We need to understand both the human qualities of Scripture and the divine, as an overemphasis on either will lead to distortions. In Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics, Bowald surveys various schools of thought, explaining where they lose the balance between the two. He analyzes the hermeneutical methods of George Lindbeck, Hans Frei, Kevin Vanhoozer, Francis Watson, Stephen Fowl, David Kelsey, Werner Jeanrond, Karl Barth, James K. A. Smith, and Nicholas Wolterstorff.

Bowald shows that we should view Scripture as equally human and divine in origin and character. And our reading of Scripture should involve both critical rigor and openness to the leading of God's Spirit.
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Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency

Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency

by Mark Alan Bowald
Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency

Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics: Mapping Divine and Human Agency

by Mark Alan Bowald

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Overview

When interpreting Scripture, do we take an academic or a spiritual approach? Do we emphasize the human or the divine agency? Do we focus on man's authorship or God's inspiration?

Mark Bowald argues that these are false dichotomies. We need to understand both the human qualities of Scripture and the divine, as an overemphasis on either will lead to distortions. In Rendering the Word in Theological Hermeneutics, Bowald surveys various schools of thought, explaining where they lose the balance between the two. He analyzes the hermeneutical methods of George Lindbeck, Hans Frei, Kevin Vanhoozer, Francis Watson, Stephen Fowl, David Kelsey, Werner Jeanrond, Karl Barth, James K. A. Smith, and Nicholas Wolterstorff.

Bowald shows that we should view Scripture as equally human and divine in origin and character. And our reading of Scripture should involve both critical rigor and openness to the leading of God's Spirit.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781577996613
Publisher: Lexham Press
Publication date: 11/17/2015
Series: Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mark Alan Bowald (PhD, University of Toronto) is associate professor of religion and theology at Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. He is the general editor for Christian Scholar's Review, and in 2008 he received the Colin Gunton Memorial Prize from the Society for the Study of Theology.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

Preface 1

Acknowledgments 5

1 The Eclipsing and Usurping of Divine Agency in Enlightenment Epistemology and Their Influence on Scriptural Hermeneutics 7

Kant's Proscriptions to Reason's Activity: Defining the Ideal Knowing Act 11

Further Defining Kant's Critique of Antecedent Judgments with Special Attention to the Relationship of Human and Divine Agency 17

Clearing the Modern Ground: The Eclipse of God's Agency 23

The Hermeneutic Reversal: The Usurping of God's Agency 27

Summary 31

2 A Triangle Typology: Mapping Divine and Human Agency in Contemporary Theological Hermeneutics 38

The Triangle: Coordinating Divine and Human Action 39

Type One: Human Agency in/through the text of Scripture 44

Type Two: Human Agency in the reading and reception of Scripture 44

Type Three: Divine Agency in the Hermeneutics of Scripture 46

A Clarifying Conversation With Four Other Typologies 48

Summary: Looking Back and Looking Ahead 58

3 Type One: Human Agency in the Text 64

The Evangelical Tradition 65

The Early Hans Frei: The Eclipse of Modern Biblicism 68

Kevin Vanhoozer: From General Hermeneutics to General Christian Hermeneutics to Divine Canonical-Linguistics 81

Francis Watson: Negotiating Text, Church, and World 100

The Implications of Type 1: Benefits and Detriments 113

4 Type Two: Human Agency in the Reading 118

David Kelsey: Using Scripture 120

The Later Hans Frei: The Emergence of Meaning in the Tradition 129

Werner Jeanrond: Reviving the Critical Interpreter 145

Stephen Fowl: The Community's Underdetermined Engagement with Scripture 156

The Implications of Type Two: Benefits and Detriments 163

5 Type Three: Prioritizing Divine Agency: God's Agency In, With, and Under Scripture and Its Reading 167

Karl Barth: God's Word as God's Act 168

Nicholas Wolterstorff: Reading for Divine Discourse 184

James K. A. Smith: Post-Phenomenological Language of God 199

The Implications of Type Three: Benefits and Detriments 216

6 Implications of the Triangle Typology: A Modest Proposal for a Divine-Rhetorical Hermeneutics 219

Before, Beside, or Beyond the Bible: The Role of "Principles" in Theological Interpretation of Scripture 225

Interrogating Three Modern Myths of Reading and Interpreting the Bible: 228

The Heart of the Problem: Interrogating Hans Frei 231

Reading the Bible as Divine-Rhetorical Hermeneutics 234

Conclusion 243

Bibliography 247

Subject and Author Index 261

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