Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface ix Abbreviations xi Part 1 Approaching Biblical Interpretation 1. Biblical Interpretation Coram Deo 3 2. Listening and Biblical Interpretation 17 Part 2 Biblical Interpretation and Biblical Theology 3. The Story of Our World 51 4. The Development of Biblical Theology 85 Part 3 The Story of Biblical Interpretation 5. The Traditions within Which We Read 113 6. Early and Medieval Jewish Biblical Interpretation 158 7. Renaissance, Reformation, and Modernity 193 8. Canon 251 Part 4 Biblical Interpretation and the Academic Disciplines 9. Philosophy and Hermeneutics 281 10. History 335 11. Literature 376 12. Theology 431 13. Scripture and the University: The Ecology of Christian Scholarship 463 Part 5 The Goal of Biblical Interpretation 14. The “Epistle” to the Hebrews: But We Do See Jesus 487 15. Preaching the Bible for All It’s Worth: The Resurrection of the Sermon and the Incarnation of the Christ 523 Bibliography 547 Subject Index 592 Scripture Index 603 Author Index 608

Renowned scholar Craig Bartholomew, coauthor of the bestselling textbook The Drama of Scripture (more than 50,000 copies sold), writes in his main area of expertise - hermeneutics - to help seminarians pursue a lifetime of biblical interpretation. Integrating the latest research in theology, philosophy, and biblical studies, this substantive hermeneutics textbook is robustly theological in its approach, takes philosophical hermeneutics seriously, keeps the focus throughout on the actual process of interpreting Scripture, and argues that biblical interpretation should be centered in the context and service of the church - an approach that helps us hear God's address today.