List of Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgments Part I. General Principles Section A: Introduction 1. One Quest 2. Two Caveats 3. Three Essential Commitments 4. Four Fundamental Concepts for Interpretation 5. Five Principles for Faithful Interpretation Section B. General Bible 6.
A Text Cannot Mean What It Never Meant 7. The Bible Is Written for Us but Not to Us 8. Reading the Bible Instinctively Is Not Reliable and Risks Imposing a Foreign Perspective on the Text 9. Literal Reading Means Being Accountable to the Ancient Author's Literary Intentions 10. We Are Accountable to the Author's Literary Intentions, Which Constitute the Affirmations of Scripture 11. A Genre Discussion Must Precede an Authority Conversation 12. All Translation Is Interpretation 13. Words That Are Roughly Comparable in Two Languages Often Carry Different Nuances 14.
In a Hearing Dominant Culture There Are No Books or Authors as We Know Them, and "Book" Is the Last Step, Not the First 15. The Old Testament is Not About Jesus, but It Drives Us to Jesus 16. The Holy Spirit Cannot Be Used as an Appeal to Authority 17. Not Everything Has a "Biblical View" Part II: Genre Guidelines Section A: Pentateuch 18. Creation Is More About Order Than Material 19. The Seventh Day Is the Most Important of the Creation Days 20. Covenant Is More About Yahweh's Presence and Kingship Than About Law, Promise, or Salvation 21. Torah Is More About Instruction That Cultivates Wisdom Than Legislation That Results in Law 22.
Torah Is Not Establishing an Ideal Social System but Is Speaking Wisdom into Israel's Social System Section B: Narrative 23. Reality Is Bigger Than History 24. We Have to Understand a Text Literarily Before We Can Understand It Historically 25. We Cannot Get Behind the Literary Veil 26. More Important Than What the Characters Do Is What the Narrator Does with the Characters and What God Is Doing Through the Characters Section C: Wisdom and Psalms 27. Wisdom Is the Pathway to Order 28. Proverbial Sayings Are Generalizations, Not Promises 29. Psalms Commends Prayer but Does Not Command Prayer Section D: Prophecy and Apocalyptic 30.
Prophecy Is More About Revealing God's Plans and Purposes Than Revealing the Future 31. Prophecy Is Not Prediction 32. Apocalyptic Is Not Prophecy 33. In Apocalyptic Literature, the Visions Are Not the Message, but the Occasion for the Message 34. Fulfillment Is Distinct from Message Part III: A Way Forward Section A: Characteristics of Faithful Reading 35. Reading Scripture Well 36. Five Tendencies to Avoid Section B: Living Life 37. Living Life in Light of Scripture Appendix FAQs Scripture Index.