Digital Logos Edition
Applying scriptural insight to contemporary issues is one of the most important, yet most difficult, tasks that the church faces. The Bible, though written long ago, can speak authoritatively to contemporary ethical, doctrinal, and practical issues. Respected author I. Howard Marshall offers guidance for this perennial task in Beyond the Bible.
Using a "principled approach," Marshall moves from Scripture itself to contemporary understanding and application of Scripture. He examines how principles can be established from Scripture, whether explicitly or implicitly, and explores how the continuing development of insight can provide us with guidelines for the ongoing task of developing and applying Christian theology. Responses from Kevin Vanhoozer and Stanley Porter are included. Students and scholars of the Bible and theology will be interested in this latest work from I. Howard Marshall, and it offers an accessible approach to a perennial topic of concern that pastors, church leaders, and interested laity will appreciate.
I. Howard Marshall is emeritus professor of New Testament exegesis and honorary research professor at the University of Aberdeen. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel, The Gospel of Luke in the New International Greek New Testament Commentary, The Epistles of John (NICNT), and A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles in the International Critical Commentary Series.
“I propose to use the term ‘interpretation’ to refer to the former activity of interpreting the biblical text and to use the term ‘hermeneutics’ to refer to the science or art of interpretation; so ‘interpretation’ is what we do when we are actually dealing with the text, and ‘hermeneutics’ is what we do when we discuss what is going on when we do interpretation.” (Pages 11–12)
“First, there has been a recognition that all the biblical books are, in different degrees, theological documents, and that one of the main aims, if not the main aim, of interpretation should be to elucidate their theology.” (Page 19)
“The closing of the canon is not incompatible with the nonclosing of the interpretation of that canon.” (Page 54)
“Third, there has also developed the discipline of canonical criticism, which insists that books be interpreted not only in their final form, but also as part of a canonical collection of Scripture, and this has led us back to something rather like the old principle of ‘interpreting Scripture by Scripture.’” (Pages 19–20)
“Second, at the same time there has been a recognition that texts should be studied in their own right as literary entities.” (Page 19)