TOC: 'Gospel-centred hermeneutics: Biblical-theological foundations and principles'

Contents

Preface
Introduction: Can hermeneutics be saved?

Part I – Evangelical Prolegomena to Hermeneutics
Introduction

1. The necessity for hermeneutics
Much ado about nothing?
What is/are hermeneutics
The necessity for hermeneutics
Communication and its principles
Divine communication
The dimensions of hermeneutics

2. Presuppositions in reading and understanding
The historical shift in presuppositions
Alternative presuppositional stances in theological study
The unavoidability of presuppositions
Basic evangelical presuppositions
Grace alone
Christ alone
Scripture alone
Faith alone
The four 'alones' and the Trinity
The function of evangelical doctrine
Ontology
Epistemology
Christology and hermeneutics

3. Gospel-centred hermeneutics
The presuppositions of the gospel
The gospel and noetic salvation
Christ as mediator means the gospel is the hermeneutic norm of Scripture
The resurrection and hermeneutics
Christocentricity is not Christomonism

4. Towards a biblical theology of interpretation
The method of biblical theology
Creation and fall
Torah (the Pentateuch)
Wisdom
Prophets
The Gospels
Acts
The epistles
Revelation
Conclusions

Part II – Challenges to Evangelical Hermeneutics
Introduction

5. The eclipse of the gospel in the early church
The context of hermeneutics
The sub-apostolic age
Allegory and the Alexandrines
Typology and the Antiochenes
Assessment

6. The eclipse of the gospel in the medieval church
Precursors to medieval interpretation
The later medieval period
The scholastic theologians
Assessment

7. The eclipse of the gospel in Roman Catholicism
The theological antecedents
Thomas Aquinas and Tridentine Catholicism
Modern Catholicism
Assessment

8. The eclipse of the gospel in liberalism
The Enlightenment
Liberal Protestantism of the Enlightenment
Schleiermacher's hermeneutics of understanding
Assessment

9. The eclipse of the gospel in philosophical hermeneutics
On being eclectic
The devolution of hermeneutics
Postmodernism: total eclipse?
Assessment

10. The eclipse of the gospel in historical criticism
The problem of the method
The growth of the historical-critical method
Ernst Troeltsch
The problem of history
Challenges to the historical nature of the gospel
The new hermeneutic and historical criticism
Postmodernism and history
Assessment

11. The eclipse of the gospel in literary criticism
The place of literary criticism
Modern literary hermeneutics
Author-centred approaches
Text-centred approaches: the New Criticism and structuralism
Postmodernism and reader-centred approaches
Assessment

12. The eclipse of the gospel in evangelicalism
Hermeneutical perfectionism
Quietism: evangelical Docetism
Literalism: evangelical Zionism
Legalism: evangelical Judaism
Decisionism: evangelical Bultmannism
Subjectivism: evangelical Schleiermacherism
'Jesus-in-my-heart-ism': evangelical Catholicism
Evangelical pluralism
Evangelical pragmatism
Assessment

Part III – Reconstructing Evangelical Hermeneutics
Introduction

13. Pre- and post-Enlightenment evangelical interpretation
The pre-Enlightenment background to evangelical belief
Post-Enlightenment evangelical scholarship
Contemporary re-evaluation of Reformation principles

14. The gospel and the literary dimension
Biblical literature
The biblical-theological context of the literature
The dogmatic-theological context of the literature
The nature of exegesis
Linguistics
Speech-act theory
Some conclusions

15. The gospel and the historical dimension
A Christian theological philosophy of history
The gospel and God's perspective on history
The gospel and the believer's perspective on history
History and biblical hermeneutics

16. The gospel and the theological dimension (I):
the two Testaments and typology
The relationship of Old Testament and New Testament
Unity and diversity in the history of interpretation
Unity and diversity in recent biblical theology
Thematic polarities between the Testaments
The typology debate: the basis and nature of typology
Jesus and reality
The dimensions of reality in the biblical revelation

17. The gospel and the theological dimension (II):
biblical and systematic theology
Foundations of evangelical biblical theology
The hermeneutical role of biblical theology
The hermeneutical role of systematic theology
The relationship of biblical and systematic theology

18. The gospel and contextualization
Culture and understanding
The modern emergence of contextualization
Problems in contextualizing
Is there a biblical theology of contextualization?
Contextualization in translation

19. The hermeneutics of Christ
Summary
The hermeneutics of the person of Christ
The hermeneutics of the work of Christ
The hermeneutics of the glorification of Christ
The hermeneutics of the Spirit of Christ
Christians and their Bible: hands-on hermeneutics
Epilogue

Bibliography

[THIS IS VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS - please make any suggestions for corrections/improvements in the comments]

Books

• Gospel and Kingdom: A Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament, Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1981
• Bible Probe: Proverbs Scripture Union, 1981
• The Gospel in Revelation, Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1984. Published in the USA as The Lamb and the Lion, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985.
• Gospel and Wisdom: Israel's Wisdom Literature in The Christian Life, Exeter: Paternoster, 1987.
• According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible, Leicester: IVP, 1991.
• The Tree of Life: Reading Proverbs Today Aquila Press/Anglican Information, 1993
• Preaching the Whole Bible As Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching, Leicester: IVP, 2000.
• Prayer And The Knowledge Of God: What The Whole Bible Teaches, Leicester: IVP, 2003.
• Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation, Leicester: IVP, 2006.

Articles

• "'Thus Says the Lord' the Dogmatic Basis of Biblical Theology" in God Who Is Rich in Mercy: Essays Presented to Dr DB Knox edited by PT O'Brien and DG Peterson. Homebush West, Sydney: Lancer, 1986
• "Is Biblical Theology Viable?" in Interpreting God's Plan: Biblical Theology and the Pastor by R. J. Gibson (ed) Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1998
• "The Pastor as Biblical Theologian" in Interpreting God's Plan: Biblical Theology and the Pastor by R. J. Gibson (ed) Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1998
• "'With Flesh and Bones': A Biblical Theology of the Bodily Resurrection of Christ" Reformed Theological Review 57.3 (1998)
• "The Gospel" In The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, B Rosner and TD Alexander (ed.), Leicester: IVP, 2000
• "The Kingdom of God" In The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, B Rosner and TD Alexander (ed.), Leicester: IVP, 2000
• "The Relationship of the Old Testament and the New Testament" In The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, B Rosner and TD Alexander (ed.), Leicester: IVP, 2000.
• "Biblical Theology as the Heartbeat of Effective Ministry" In Biblical theology: Retrospect and prospect, C Bartholomew, SJ Hafemann (ed.), Leicester: IVP, 2002.
• "Evangelicalism and Biblical Theology" In The futures of evangelicalism: Issues and prospects, C Bartholomew, R Parry and A West (ed.), Leicester: IVP, 2003.

Unpublished Works

• "The problem of the accommodation of wisdom literature in the writing of Old Testament theologies" unpublished ThM dissertation, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1970.
• "Empirical wisdom in relation to salvation history in the Psalms" unpublished ThD thesis, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1973.

Online Writings

Debates

• The Blackham-Goldsworthy Debate
• Paul Blackham's presentation
• Graeme Goldsworthy's response
• Question Time
• The Trueman-Goldsworthy Debate
• 'A Revolutionary Balancing Act' by Carl Trueman
• A response to Carl Trueman's 'A Revolutionary Balancing Act' by Graeme Goldsworthy

Articles

• Is the Old Testament for Christians? (New Horizons, January 2001)
• Hermeneutics and Christ (The Briefing #209 / BeginningWithMoses.org)
• The Ontological and Systematic Roots of Biblical Theology (Reformed Theological Review, Vol. 62/3, Dec. 2003 / BeginningWithMoses.org)
• The Kingdom of God and the Old Testament (BeginningWithMoses.org)

Reviews

• The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen (BeginningWithMoses.org)
• The Ways of Our God: An Approach to Biblical Theology By Charles H. H. Scobie (The Reformed Theological Review 59:1 [April, 2000], 50-52 / BeginningWithMoses.org)

Foreward

• Foreward to The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made by Mark Dever, Crossway, 2006 (pdf)

Interview

• Interview with Justin Buzzard