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Mere Christian Hermeneutics

Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically

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Mere Christian Hermeneutics

By: Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Narrated by: Tom Parks
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Southwestern Journal of Theology 2024 Book of The Year • Christianity Today 2024 Theology Book Award • The Gospel Coalition 2024 Biblical Studies Book Award

Reading the Bible to the glory of God.

In 1952, C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity eloquently defined the essential tenets of the Christian faith. With the rise of fractured individualism that continues to split the church, this approach is more important now than ever before for biblical hermeneutics.

Many Christians wonder how to read the text of Scripture well, rightly, and faithfully. After all, developing a strong theory of interpretation has always been presented by two enormous challenges:

  1. A variety of actual interpretations of the Bible, even within the context of a single community of believers.
  2. The plurality of reading cultures—denominational, disciplinary, historical, and global interpretive communities—each with its own frame of reference.

In response, influential theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer puts forth a "mere" Christian hermeneutic—essential principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians.

To center his thought, Vanhoozer turns to the accounts of Jesus' transfiguration—a key moment in the broader economy of God's revelation—to suggest that spiritual or "figural" interpretation is not a denial or distortion of the literal sense but, rather, its glorification.

Irenic without resorting to bland ecumenical tolerance, Mere Christian Hermeneutics is a powerful and convincing call for both church and academy to develop reading cultures that enable and sustain the kind of unity and diversity that a "mere Christian hermeneutic" should call for and encourage

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Kevin J. Vanhoozer (P)2024 Zondervan Academic Bible Study Bibles & Bible Study Christianity Commentaries Theology
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Vanhoozer advances a 'merely Christian' way of discovering Jesus in the Old Testament that does not violate concerns over the intentions of the ancient writers; nor does he give free reign to fanciful, allegorical interpretations. He pays full homage to history and grammar, insisting that they are vital aspects of interpretation and the foundation of everything that follows; and yet he also avers that the 'literal sense' of the Bible is more than just the intentions of ancient human writers. The divine discourse of the Bible speaks to people throughout time, to people with various "frames of reference" to the effect that meaning is not so narrow and historically defined. Vanhoozer insists the spirit must always remain tethered to the letter of the text - the spiritual and Christocentric firmly rooted in the historical and the mundane - but by expanding the possible frames of reference we allow the divine voice to speak to us in the way he intends, in a way that molds us into readers who are answerable to God.

By taking the concerns of modern biblical scholarship seriously and taking into account the different ways Christians have read the Bible over time, Vanhoozer discovers a common denominator - the transfigured reading of Scripture. This fresh analysis and reformulation of ancient reading practice is an approach that Christians in every age and place can embrace, and in fact already have.

Biblical Scholarship and Theology Re-Unite

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He did a great job of explaining how the Holy Spirt works with the Bible to help people come to faith.

Great book

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There is so much to this book that I feel I would either undersell it or give to much away. The best way I can describe this book is that it is a academic, historical and biblical case for a hermeneutic that I think many Christians intuitively have(that is one which sees the text as transformative in the life of the believer and the text as pointing to Jesus) but have either never thought deeply about it or would have never seen the transfiguration as a representation of what a mere Christian hermeneutic is ultimately about(seeing Jesus in the text). I will say that I think it is important to note for those interested in this book to know that about half of the book is about understanding the literal sense, church history and different reading cultures and that the transfiguration really comes in the second half now that doesn't mean the first half isn't important but I think you should know that. I gave this book a 4 out of 5 because it is a great almost apologetic for a specifically Christian way of reading scripture I would just say that I don't know if I agree with every utilization of scripture in this book I would have to do more digging to know that. I think the best moment of the book was the exposition of 2 Corinthians 3 as I think it's the best text for understanding a Christian hermeneutic. Overall I think this is an important book for challenging much of modern academic hermeneutics while not reading church history with rose colored glasses and I think it's great for Christians who want to understand why we interpret scripture the way we do. Also important to note is that this book is not written at a lay level due to it's often philosophical tone and high level research

Transfiguring Bible interpretation

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