For the Love of God’s word: An Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
By Andreas J. Köstenberger and Richard D. Patterson
Köstenberger was academically influenced by Grant Osborne
and D.A. Carson, two heavy-weights in the interpretation department; that fact
alone makes one expect a quality book. But Köstenberger is a scholar of the
first rank on his own merit and this book ably demonstrates that fact (I
apologize for not knowing enough about the co-author Richard Patterson).
Written to be used as a simple textbook on Biblical interpretation, the book
contains not only the essentials, but the
fundamentals on the art and science of interpretation.
The book is
an abridged version of their more academic Invitation
to Biblical Interpretation, but if you have never read the bigger tome, you
will not think anything is missing from the abridgment. The authors have
carefully distilled the fundamental content and made it more accessible. This
is good news for readers that do not have much time but do need to hone in
their hermeneutical skills.
Throughout
the book there are shaded boxes with a synthesis of the chapters contents and
these are very helpful. They will give you outlines of steps, definitions,
arguments, procedures, etc. that you can refer back to when you are done
reading the book. They will serve as an excellent refresher for years to come.
They also will test you on whether you understood and learned what the authors
intended for each chapter in question. The examples given throughout the book
are very useful and capably illustrate the hermeneutical principles being
studied. There is a useful glossary at the end of the book for the
technical/academic jargon used in case one is not familiar enough with it.
For my
taste, the layout of Scott and Hays’ Grasping God’s Word is more inviting for
first time students; but I would recommend the present text as a handy
reference to further explore certain types of hermeneutics or if in need of
exegetical examples of proper interpretation processes.
4/5 Stars
Disclaimer: The book was received for free from Kregel
Ministry books in exchange for an unbiased opinion.
