John Barton et al. on Biblical Interpretation

John Barton (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), xvi + 338pp., ISBN 521485932.

[A version of the review below was first published on the London School of Theology website in August 1998.]

The publication of the truly excellent Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine (edited by Colin Gunton) whetted appetites for the release of the next volume in the series – on various aspects of biblical interpretation. It’s a good work, overall, but is not likely to earn the reputation its elder sibling rightly deserves.

The volume offers a collection of twenty essays, divided into two parts: (1) lines of approach, and (2) biblical books in modern interpretation. The first part covers historical-critical approaches, literary readings, the social world of the Bible, poststructuralist approaches, political readings of Scripture, feminist interpretation, biblical studies and theoretical hermeneutics, the Bible and Christian theology, biblical study and linguistics, Jewish contribution to biblical interpretation, and the Bible in literature and art. The second part contains individual chapters on the main biblical corpora: the Pentateuch, historical books, prophetic books, poetic and wisdom books, Synoptic Gospels and Acts, John, Paul’s letters, the non-Pauline letters, and apocalyptic literature.

The essays are relatively short, easy to read in a single sitting, and most deal concisely and well with the task of overviewing their allotted area. And the volume as a whole offers a generous scope of material from significant writers.

My main complaint would be the standard one students make in classes on biblical hermeneutics: ‘Don’t give us just the theory; show us how it works out on particular texts.’ Indeed, it can be frustrating to read pages on ‘biblical interpretation’ with little earthing of the discussion in specific passages from the Bible. David Jasper (on literary readings), Tim Gorringe (on political readings), and Ann Loades (on feminist interpretation) provide notable and memorable exceptions.

Disappointment with the general lack of close interaction with biblical texts in the first part of the book generates hope for the second part, when contributors discuss ‘biblical books in modern interpretation’. But here, the boot is on the other foot. The essays frequently provide clear and helpful surveys of the particular section of Scripture under discussion – but this time with little or no engagement with specific issues of ‘interpretation’! Once again there are notable exceptions: John Ashton’s discussion of John 4 is excellent, as is Iain Provan’s on the Old Testament historical books, with Robert Alter (on poetry and wisdom) coming in close behind for the bronze. These three essays manage both to introduce areas of interpretation to be explored, and then demonstrate what difference they make to understanding texts.

Overall, while there are some excellent individual contributions, there is little coherence to the volume as a whole. Rather than be bewildered at differences in emphasis (e.g., one thinks historical criticism is vital, another thinks it’s a ‘blip’ in the history of interpretation), readers will hopefully come away with a sense of the rich variety of approaches on offer in the current marketplace of biblical interpretation.