NOTES ABOUT THIS GUIDE
- Many of the resources on this page are comprehensive in scope and contain content relevant to several of the specialized tabs in this guide. Particular History/Methods/Approaches content can be found on each of the Postmodern pages (Africa-Native/Indigenous tabs) as well. Some resources on this page do not fit neatly into or are broader than one method/approach or time but merit inclusion and so are included on this page.
- See the "Specialized Lens" boxes on pages of the Commentaries/Works by Book of the Bible to see commentaries employing the application and practice of recent and emerging theories and approaches in Postmodern and Global biblical hermeneutics.
- Many of the modern commentaries which are featured prominently on each page on that guide outside of the Special Lens box demonstrate the historical-critical method (and/or in combination with some of its subdisciplines), while some employ that traditional method to interpret from new, particularized approaches (ie, employing the discipline of historical or an early form of literary criticism with a feminist hermeneutic), and then some commentaries use newer methods or models (sometimes in combination) to interpret from a postmodern stance in interpreting the text (such as a "hermeneutic of suspicion" through a feminist lens). In this complex area of understanding practices of postmodern biblical interpretation, some scholars conflate approach and stance into one kind of biblical criticism/hermeneutic and term it as an approach.
- Modern biblical criticisms "attempt to get to the world behind or in the text" and lay claim to obtainable objectivity in understanding it. Postmodern (feminist, postcolonial et al.) and other theories of biblical interpretation such as reader-response and reception history criticisms look to find the meaning of the text through the lens and experiences of the reader, ie "in front of" or "before the text." (Richard N. Soulen and R. Kendall Soulen, Handbook of Biblical Criticism, 4th ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011),
Reference Works
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Handbook of Biblical Criticism, Fourth Edition by
The fourth edition of this best-selling textbook continues to be a valuable resource for the beginning student in the critical study of the Bible. Thoroughly revised to include the newest methods, recent discoveries, and developments in the field of biblical criticism over the past decade, the Handbook of Biblical Criticism is designed to be a starting point for understanding the vast array of methods, approaches and technical terms employed in this field. Updates in this edition also include an expanded dictionary of terms, phrases, names, and frequently used abbreviations, as well as a bibliography that includes the most up-to-date date publications. The Handbook of Biblical Criticism is a valuable introductory textbook and a reliable guide for pastors, laypersons, and scholars whose expertise lies in other fields.
Call Number: Stamps Reference Floor BS511.2 .S68 2001 (3rd ed.)ISBN: 9780664235345Publication Date: 2011-11-23
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation by
The two-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation (OEBI) will fill a crucial need in the field of biblical studies by providing detailed, comprehensive treatments of the latest approaches to and methods for interpretation of the Bible written by expert practitioners. It will provide a single source for authoritative reference overviews of scholarship on some of the most important topics of study in the field of biblical studies. As with all high quality reference works, it provides a solid foundation that students and scholars can use to orientate themselves before venturing into original research. The Encyclopedia will contain nearly 120 entries, ranging in length from 3,000 to 5,000 words. It will be organized in an A-to-Z format. Each entry will be signed, contain a bibliography for further reading, and will be cross-referenced to other useful points of interest within the Encyclopedia. It will also feature a topical outline of contents and an extensive index.
Call Number: Stamps Reference Floor BS511.3 .O88 2013 v.1-v.2ISBN: 9780199832262Publication Date: 2013-10-15
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (online title is EBR Online) by
The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements. The EBR is also available online. Further information on ,,The Bible and Its Reception".
Call Number: Stamps Reference Floor BS440 .E539 2009 v.1-v.4 onlyISBN: 9783110199048Publication Date: 2007-07-06-2024
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Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters by
ECPA 2009 Christian Book Award finalist!From Abelard to Zwingli, the history of Christian biblical interpretation has been shaped by great thinkers who delved deeply into the structure and meaning of Christianity's sacred texts. With over two hundred in-depth articles, theDictionary of Major Biblical Interpretersintroduces readers to the principal players in that history: their historical and intellectual contexts, their primary works, their interpretive principles and their broader historical significance. In addition, six major essays offer an overview of the history of biblical interpretation from the second century to the present. This one-volume reference by Donald K. McKim, a revised and vastly expanded edition of IVP Academic'sHistorical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters,will serve as an invaluable tool for any serious student of the Bible and the history of biblical interpretation.
Call Number: Stamps Reference Floor BS501.A1 H57 2007ISBN: 9780830829279Publication Date: 2007-11-12
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The New Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation by
This Cambridge Companion offers an up-to-date and accessible guide to the fast-changing discipline of biblical studies. Written by scholars from diverse backgrounds and religious commitments - many of whom are pioneers in their respective fields - the volume covers a range of contemporary scholarly methods and interpretive frameworks. The volume reflects the diversity and globalized character of biblical interpretation in which neat boundaries between author-focused, text-focused, and reader-focused approaches are blurred. The significant space devoted to the reception of the Bible - in art, literature, liturgy, and religious practice - also blurs the distinction between professional and popular biblical interpretation. The volume provides an ideal introduction to the various ways that scholars are currently interpreting the Bible. It offers both beginning and advanced students an understanding of the state of biblical interpretation, and how to explore each topic in greater depth.
ISBN: 9781108796675Publication Date: 2022-12-22
Monographs
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Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender by
"The editors have performed a great service in making widely available a documentary history of the interpretation of the Eve and Adam story." --Publishers Weekly "This fascinating volume examines Genesis 1-3 and the different ways that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpreters have used these passages to define and enforce gender roles. . . . a 'must' . . . " --Choice "Wonderful! A marvelous introduction to the ways in which the three major Western religious traditions are both like, and unlike one another." --Ellen Umansky, Fairfield University No other text has affected women in the western world as much as the story of Eve and Adam. This remarkable anthology surveys more than 2,000 years of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim commentary and debate on the biblical story that continues to raise fundamental questions about what it means to be a man or to be a woman. The selections range widely from early postbiblical interpretations in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha to the Qur'an, from Thomas Aquinas to medieval Jewish commentaries, from Christian texts to 19th-century antebellum slavery writings, and on to pieces written especially for this volume.
Call Number: Stamps Stacks BS1235.3 .E87 1999ISBN: 9780253109033Publication Date: 1999-05-15
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History of Biblical Interpretation by
William Yarchin gives us an excellent introduction to the history of biblical interpretation that starts at 150 B.C.E. and moves to the present. This reader provides original texts as examples of the major developments and principal approaches to interpreting the Bible. It also introduces these methods and the authors who exemplify them. Bibliographic references direct students to further resources. Book jacket.
Call Number: Stamps Stacks BS500 .Y37 2004ISBN: 9781565637207Publication Date: 2004-03-01
New Horizons in Hermeneutics by
Dr. Anthony Thiselton's thorough approach to the growing discipline of hermeneutics takes account of a comprehensive range of theoretical models of reading and interpretation. He evaluates both the foundations on which they rest and their practical implications for Old and New Testament reading. Building on his earlier influential work, The Two Horizons, Dr. Thiselton examines theories of texts, semiotics and literature, the legacy of Patristic and Reformation hermeneutics, and the use of socio-critical theory, liberation theology, and Marxist, feminist, and black hermeneutics, and discusses every major hermeneutical theorist. This exhaustive and rigorous critique will prove valuable to anyone undertaking advanced research in hermeneutics, including teachers and students of theology and language or literary theory.
Call Number: Stamps Stacks BD241 .T46 1992ISBN: 9780310217626Publication Date: 1997-01-28
What Is Narrative Criticism? by
The first nontechnical description of the principles and procedures of narrative criticism. Written for students' and pastors' use in their own exegesis. With great clarity Powell outlines the principles and procedures that narrative critics follow in exegesis of gospel texts and explains concepts such as "point of view," "narration," "irony," and "symbolism." Chapters are devoted to each of the three principal elements of narrative: events, characters, and settings; and case studies are provided to illustrate how the method is applied in each instance. The book concludes with an honest appraisal of the contribution that narrative criticism makes, a consideration of objections that have been raised against the use of this method, and a discussion of the hermeneutical implications this method raises for the church.
Call Number: Stamps Stacks BS521.7 .P68 1990ISBN: 9780800604738Publication Date: 1991-01-01
Interpreting Hebrew Poetry by
Here is a convenient introduction to the unique aspects of interpreting the one-third of the Hebrew Bible that is in poetic form. Numerous are the occasions when a failure to distinguish poetry from prose in the Old Testament has resulted in flawed interpretation. Robert Lowth's Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews(1753, 1787), marked a turning point of major proportions by focusing on the importance of parallelism of lines. But new studies of the past decade now require significant adjustments to Lowth's analyses. Interpreting Hebrew Poetryoffers an authoritative introduction to this discussion of parallelism, meter and rhythm, and poetic style. It also provides by way of example a poetic analysis of Deuteronomy 32, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Psalm 1.
Call Number: Stamps Stacks BS1405.2 .P48 1992ISBN: 9780800626259Publication Date: 1992-06-01
Texts of Terror by
Professor Trible focuses on four variations upon the theme of terror in the Bible. By combining the discipline of literary criticism with the hermeneutics of feminism, she reinterprets the tragic stories of four women in ancient Israel: Hagar, Tamar, an unnamed concubine, and the daughter of Jephthah. In highlighting the silence, absence, and opposition of God, as well as human cruelty, Trible shows how these neglected stories interpreted in memoriam challenge both the misogyny of Scripture and its use in church, synagogue, and academy.
Call Number: Stamps Stakcks BS575 .T74 1984ISBN: 9780800615376Publication Date: 1984-03-01
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Scripture As Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics by
Jeannine Brown, a seasoned teacher of biblical interpretation, believes that communication is at the heart of what happens when we open the Bible. We are actively engaging God in a conversation that can be life changing. In this guide to the theory and practice of biblical hermeneutics, Brown emphasizes the communicative nature of Scripture, proposing a communication model as an effective approach to interpreting the Bible. The new edition of this successful textbook has been revised and updated to interact with recent advances in interpretive theory and practice.
ISBN: 9781493430659Publication Date: 2021-07-20 (2nd. ed.)
To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application by
This volume introduces the reader to the most important methods of biblical criticism. It serves as an indispensable handbook for the work of students approaching biblical studies for the first time and for the professional interpreter of scripture who wants to understand the latest currents in biblical scholarship.
ISBN: 9780585312019Publication Date: 1999-01-01 (rev. and exp. ed.)
Biblical Theology: The God of the Christian Scriptures by
Imagine someone who has spent a lifetime listening deeply and attentively to the full range of Scripture's testimony. Stepping back, they now describe what they have seen and heard. What emerges is a theological cathedral, laid out on the great vectors of Scripture and fitted with biblically sourced materials.This is what John Goldingay has done. Well known for his three-volume Old Testament Theology, he has now risen to the challenge of a biblical theology. While taking the New Testament as a portal into the biblical canon, he seeks to preserve the distinct voices of Israel's Scriptures, accepting even its irregular and sinewed pieces as features rather than problems. Goldingay does not search out a thematic core or overarching unity, but allows Scripture's diversity and tensions to remain as manifold witnesses to the ways of God. While many interpreters interrogate Scripture under the harsh lights of late-modern questions, Goldingay engages in a dialogue keen on letting Scripture speak to us in its own voice. Throughout he asks, "What understanding of God and the world and life emerges from these two testaments?"Goldingay's Biblical Theology is a landmark achievement--hermeneutically dexterous, biblically expansive, and nourishing to mind, soul and proclamation.
ISBN: 9780830873142Publication Date: 2016-11-01
Exegetical Guides
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Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers (rev. and exp. ed.) by Call Number: Stamps Stacks BS511.2 .G67 2001 (older ed.)ISBN: 9781441259820Publication Date: 2008-01-01
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Old Testament Exegesis: A Guide to the Methodology by Call Number: Stamps Stacks BS1174.2 .B37 1998ISBN: 9780788504655Publication Date: 1998-07-01 (2nd. ed.)
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Old Testament Exegesis, Fourth Edition: A Handbook for Students and Pastors by
For years, Douglas Stuart's Old Testament Exegesishas been one of the most popular ways to learn how to perform exegesis--the science and art of interpreting biblical texts properly for understanding as well as proclamation. Completely updated and substantially expanded, this new edition includes scores of newer resources, a new configuration of the format for the exegesis process, and an entirely new section explaining where to find and how to use the latest electronic and online resources for doing biblical research. Stuart provides guidance for full exegesis as well as for a quicker approach to provide information specifically tailored to the task of preaching. A glossary of terms explains the sometimes bewildering language of biblical scholarship, and a list of frequent errors guides the student in avoiding common mistakes. No exegetical guide for the Old Testament has been more widely used in training ministers and students to be faithful, careful interpreters of Scripture.
ISBN: 9780664233440Publication Date: 2009-03-19
