Who Owns the Bible?: Toward the Recovery of a Christian Hermeneutic

Biblical scholar Karl Donfried has given the Church a great gift with this latest book. It should be on the syllabus of every Biblical Hermeneutics course, and it should be required reading for every seminarian. I certainly wish it had been available to me when I was a seminary student! In this book, Donfried argues that Biblical scholarship, once the discipline of Christian believers, is now done principally in the secular academy which does not have a commitment to the faith of the Church. Thus, many 'alien hermeneutics' have been introduced by the academy and these have crept into the Church causing much confusion and corruption. While remaining loyal to the historical critical method in which he was trained, Donfried makes the strong case for a recovery of Biblical interpretation within the context of the Trinitarian faith of the Church Catholic. As a pastor, my fervent hope is that this remarkable book will serve to re-anchor Protestant preaching and teaching in the classical Nicene faith of the Church

One of the questions fomenting the Church at the moment in regard to Scripture is whether everyone - pastor and layperson alike - is evoking the spirit of post-modernism, so that the meaning and application of the Bible is ultimately whatever each individual decides it is. In his new book, Karl Donfried (recently retired professor of religion at Smith College) frames the current interpretation problem in terms of various "alien" hermeneutics that both conservatives and liberals are prone to bring in to the text. He compellingly argues that these alien hermeneutics exert influence when Scripture is separated from an interpretive context and becomes subservient to the latest political ideologies. The most powerful section of the book begins with chapter 4, in which the author shows the contrast between alien hermeneutics that lead to a theology of acceptance "which reduces the mystery of God to one who simply wants us to love one another with an emphasis on the affirmation of the other," and a Trinitarian hermeneutic that leads to a theology of redemption and robustly engages with the ethical implications of Scripture - both personally and corporately. The strength of the book continues in chapter 5, in which the author focuses a specific application of a Trinitarian hermeneutic on probably the most pressing ethical issue currently at play in the Church - sexuality and the moral life. Donfried's book is highly readable and accessible for minister and lay person alike. From my own context as a layperson, I found the book an extremely helpful resource for addressing some challenging questions that the people of the Church need to keep wrestling with - particularly how does the Bible influence the ethical decisions that we make both individually and within churches, families, communities, and even broader structures?

This book is both a survey of how the Bible is being used in church life and a prescription for ways in which it should be used. Prof. Donfried shows how the Christian far right and far left both misuse the Bible, and how moderate Christians frequently forget about the Bible in church decision-making. This is a provocative book which is very well put together for a readership of lay persons and clergy alike. The very reason Prof. Donfried needed to write this book is the fact that biblical studies and the mainstream church in the USA have moved so far away from each other. This causes biblical studies for some to become more and more narrowly academic, and it causes the church to move its decision-making farther and farther away from biblical exegesis. Prof. Donfried, both a top New Testament scholar and a devoted churchman, is calling the church back to its roots in reasonable biblical exegesis and interpretation. Likewise he is calling academic biblical studies to reconsider its roots in the church and church life. No scholar I know is more qualified to do both. I strongly recommend this important book

Who owns the Bible? Who determines what it means? In an age where biblical authority is claimed by many across the political and theological spectrum, this book is a timely and relevant treatment of how the church can interpret the Bible with faithfulness to its tradition and confessions. Donfried evaluates both the religious right and religious left with a critical eye in his latest book. He handles with integrity the current major issues in the debate over biblical interpretation, including ethics, morality, sexuality, divorce, and women's ordination. The work is both erudite and accessible, combining insights from rigorous scholarship and revealing a solid grounding in the church's confession of faith in the triune God. Who Owns the Bible? is highly recommended for all of those interested in how to interpret the Bible faithfully in our complex modern age. Faithful scholars, clergy, and laity alike will benefit from Who Owns the Bible?

In a society that has a knack of reading scripture in a way that serves only their own purposes, it is great to read a work that approaches the scriptures on a solid theological basis. Pastor Donfried uses a hermeneutic that draws together solidly the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Holy Bible, demonstrating that they are inseparable. The new did not replace the old. He really makes it the "word" of God and not the "words" of God. I find it easy to read, well-organized, and well thought out. It is a "must read" for anyone wishing to understand the Holy Bible.