Befriending Scripture
Sidways Glances at a Theology of Reading

By (author) Dr Jonathan Rowlands

ISBN13: 9780567717351

Imprint: T.& T.Clark Ltd

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Hardback

Published: 30/10/2025

Availability: Not yet available

Description
What are the unspoken assumptions that animate and give rise to current discussions about theological hermeneutics? What cultures of reading are currently at play in the Church and the academy? What cultures of reading ought to be at play? In Befriending Scripture, Jonathan Rowlands suggests that much modern biblical hermeneutics has paid insufficient attention to the foundations of theological reading. For theological interpretation to make meaningful progress in both methodology and results, the very foundations of what it means to read, and to read theologically, must be examined and articulated afresh. In this detailed and wide-ranging work, Rowlands addresses various topics relating to the Scripture’s reading in the Church, including questions of Scripture’s ontology, biblical hermeneutics, literary theory, antisemitism, historiography, and spiritual formation, amongst others. By rethinking Theological Interpretation of Scripture from its very foundations, Rowlands mediates between historical and theological approaches. In doing so, he offers a vision for theological reading that bridges the continuing disciplinary divide between biblical studies and systematic theology.
Introduction i. A History of TIS ii. A Taxonomy of TIS iii. The Aims and Purposes of Reading Holy Scripture 1. Scripturely Ontology and Theological Reading i. John Webster on Scriptural Ontology ii. John Webster on Scriptural Hermeneutics iii. The Need for a Mediating Position 2. The Hermeneutics of Theological Reading i. Gadamer and Hirsch on Reading and Meaning ii. Different Games, Competing Doxae iii. Doxa in Practice: A Example 3. The Benefit of Theological Reading i. The Challenges Facing Biblical Scholarship ii. The Emergence of Reception History iii. Reading for Truth 4. The Mood of Theological Reading i. Heidegger, Dasein, and ‘Mood’ ii. Critical Reading as a Hermeneutics of Suspicion iii. A New Mood for Theological Reading 5. Formation and Theological Reading i. Reading Scripture on the Road to Emmaus ii. Prayer and Theological Speech 6. Reading the Old Testament Theologically i. Defining Terms ii. Finding the Trinity in Jewish Scripture 7. Historiography and Theological Reading i. Bultmann, History, and Theology ii. Re-integrating History and Theology 8. Sachkritik and Theological Reading i. Defining Sachkritik ii. Decrying Sachkritik iii. Defending Sachkritik Conclusion i. Summary of the Arguments Made ii. What Next for TIS?
  • Bibles
  • Christian theology
  • Professional & Vocational
Height:
Width:
Spine:
Weight:0.00
List Price: £85.00