The Interpretation of Scripture

DR SMART, Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Union Theological Seminary, New York, brings into the open large questions about the truth of the Biblical material. These questions have, he thinks, been passed over too lightly by many who write or preach the synthesis often referred to as 'Biblical theology'. In criticizing current theological trends he is not, however, urging a return to fundamentalism or to modernism. On the contrary, he is seeking a fresh approach, in which the work of interpretation through theology and preaching may do more justice to the real nature of the Bible. Among the subjects dealt with are: the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and the use of typology, allegory and analogy in exposition; the image of God in man as a representative problem of exegesis; the original inspiration of Scripture, and its present status in the Church; the methods of interpretation employed by the leading theologians of the Continent, Britain and America since the rise of critical scholarship. This far-ranging survey of recent scholarly discussion does not assume that the reader is an expert-only that he is seriously concerned.