Evangelical Hermeneutics: The New Versus the Old

by Robert L. Thomas (Editor)

Hermeneutical theory has been extensively expanded, refined, and rethought over the last three decades—leading to both confusion and conflict over how contemporary evangelicals should read, interpret, and apply Scripture. Dr. Thomas compares, contrasts, and clarifies the basic characteristics of and developing conflicts between traditional evangelical hermeneutics and newer theories that place one's "preunderstanding" at the beginning of the interpretive process. This accomplished and acclaimed scholar evaluates how some newer methods may open the door to unorthodox—and potentially spurious—interpretations of Scripture's core teachings.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2003

Reviews

[Tori Samar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I wish I had formal training in hermeneutics beyond just a one-semester hermeneutics class my sophomore year of college. Hermeneutics is both a fascinating and an important topic. After all, who are we as God's people if we cannot interpret His Word correctly? What Robert Thomas emphasizes in this book is nothing less than the postmodern problem: Truth and meaning are subjective determinations. Considering postmodernism is the predominant philosophy of today's culture, it shouldn't surprise us that it's crept into evangelical hermeneutics. Thomas explains the issue succintly: "With the new hermeneutics, biblical interpretation degenerates into a contest of my preunderstanding versus your preunderstanding. Whoever argues the loudest and longest will probably win the day."

As I approached this book's final pages, a memorable C.S. Lewis quote from An Experiment in Criticism came to mind: "The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way." What he means is that to read literature correctly, we must set aside our own prejudices and preconceptions from the outset. After reading this book, I think it appropriate to say that a similar mindset is required for biblical interpretation. Get yourself out of the way and search the Word for what its Author has actually said.

As Thomas so clearly states, "we approach Scripture to hear from Him."

(Read for the 2017 Tim Challies Christian Reading Challenge: A book used as a seminary textbook)

[Kiya · Rating 2 out of 5]

yikes

[Chris Armer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated Thomas' commentary on Revelation, but this book was a huge disappointment. This is a rant against those who disagree with his hermeneutical approach. Thomas comes across as a theologian who realizes that less and less people are listening to his perspective and so he screams a little louder. This is not to say that the book lacks in content. He does bring out some good points that are worth noting. But what good is the right position without charity?

[Charlie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A painfully ill-researched, sloppy tirade. Disparate hermeneutical concepts and movements are grouped into a vague, nefarious "new" that threatens the virginal orthodox "old," which is really just the author's idiosyncratic form of dispensationalism.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This overall is the best book on hermeneutics I've read, and I highly recommend it. The author is now with the Lord, but was for many years a NT professor at The Master's Seminary.

Chapter 1 is an excellent introduction to his subject, and has some excellent quotes from David Wells and Iain Murray. He goes on to define some important words in hermeneutics, a necessary step because if the liberals define the words or use them in some ambiguous fashion to make an argument, they have won at least half the battle. BTW, Thomas adheres closely to traditional grammatical-historical hermeneutics, as defined by Milton Terry and Bernard Ramm, and is highly critical of any aberrations or deviations from it.

Part 1 of the book has 10 chapters and comprises the bulk of the book, and is titled "The Role of Revisionist Hermeneutics in Altering Interpretive Principles." Part 2 has 6 more chapters and is titled "The Role of Revisionist Hermeneuutics in Fostering New Doctrines."

When I read books, I don't typically mark them up very much, but this one is heavily underlined. It's that good.

[Mark Ackeret · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thomas is the "grumpy old man" of biblical hermeneutics. In my opinion, Thomas thoroughly presents the guiding principles of hermeneutics, but in a way that attacks the other writers and scholars of the field, especially those authors within evangelicalism. Though I see Thomas's points, at some level, he cannot be the only correct on these issues. In reality, the differences in opinions and definitions are so minute, they do not have any impact on the overall process of biblical interpretation.

Thomas's caustic attitude towards other theologians, though originally entertaining for this reader, becomes increasingly evident in his work. Though it is necessary to correct or address poor theology, He writes with such attitude that it reads like a personal attack rather than an academic refute.

Thomas’s attacks on the authors are also light logically. He presents each opposing viewpoint as an invention of terms but includes little to convince the reader of the error or the correct method of interpretation of the passages cited. As a structural/grammatical note, Thomas switches frequently (sometimes within the same paragraph) between first and third person when referring to himself.

[Lee W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed much of the book and agreed with what he said regarding the dangers facing modern evangelicalism in the realm of the interpretation of the Bible. But he seemed to have an underlying motive for writing the book---defending his own view of "one sense," namely that the classical understanding of typology is wrong because no passage has two meanings. I think this point is mistaken. A man is not two persons because he has a shadow and an OT passage does not have two clashing meanings because it casts a typological shadow.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic presentation and apology for the grammatico-historical hermeneutic. The book successfully defends the necessity for the grammatico-historical hermeneutic against other modern interpretive approaches, summarizes the differences between the approaches, and demonstrates how the others fall short. Highly recommended for those seeking to understand how and why one should interpret the Bible and why the grammatico-historical hermeneutic is the only viable solution for doing so.

[Glenn Krobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on hermeneutics for the beginner that I have read. Clear, consistent and bold. I appreciate the stance of the author on a grammatical- historical approach. The clear elucidation stand in marked contrast to the ever changing landscape of most contemporary hermeneutical books. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to treat the Bible in the highest regard and let the text speak clearly as the original author intended.

[Ben Spivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas is a well-known and well-respected biblical scholar who retired from Masters Seminary, and this book demonstrates his depth of knowledge in hermaneutics. Thomas defines terms like hermaneutics and exegesis consistently with the literal-grammatical-historical method as described by Terry and Ramm, and he defines these concepts consistently and distinctly. Throughout this book, Thomas teaches foundational hermaneutical principles combined with critiquing more modern hermaneutical methods that deviate from literal-grammatical-historical. He describes concepts like analogy of faith, single principle, interpretative center, and preunderstanding. This book explains why some professing Christians can come to very different views on biblical teaching. For instance, an egalitarian theologian may make Galatians 3:28 an interpretive center claiming there is no distinction "between male and female" to color all other verses on gender roles in marriage and the church. Overall, I gave this book 4 stars primarily because it was more heavy on critique and less on teaching the fundamentals of hermaneutics, but yet the book was very enlightening even as my first book on hermaneutics.

[Josue Guzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buena comparación de los sistemas modernos de hermenéutica.

[Nathan Wilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert L. Thomas and others interact with various hermeneutical approaches within evangelical Christianity, demonstrating sharp doctrinal differences as a result. Thomas and friends propose pre-1970's hermeneutical methods ("literal" historical-grammatical), with a goal of pursuing objectivity as superior to the broader range of post-1970's hermeneutical discussion among evangelical scholars. A key turning point for the authors of this book is their apparent disdain toward multi-disciplinary hermeneutical analysis, effectively rejecting any academic findings from linguistics, history, or psychology for interpretive consideration. Evangelical Feminism and Open Theism make easy targets for contrasting hermeneutical approaches.
What this book does not do is establish argumentation for why literal/historical-grammatical hermeneutics are to be preferred to any other hermeneutical system. The argument seems to assume that they are correct because they are old. Neither does this work establish any semblance of consistency in pre-1970's hermeneutics against which to compare the demonstrated differences of modern evangelical hermeneutics. However, this book does highlight the importance of grappling with heremeneutical methods, consistency in interpretation, appropriate consideration of preunderstandings, and regarding objectivity as a pursuit rather than a goal. Thomas clarifies the subjectivity of interpreters who allow their intent to displace that of the biblical author. I recommend this book to those who are mystified by the contradicting interpretations within evangelicalism, as Thomas navigates to the roots of these differences.

[Wesley Palla · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent work. Coming from the religious and ministry background that I do, I found this book fascinating, especially since it comes from a different perspective than my own. The author makes some powerful indictments against the subjective hermeneutics that are running rampant at this stage of church history and makes a biblical prognosis of their effects in shaping the theological minds of our day. This is not some angry "fundie" yelling at the kids to get off of his lawn, this is someone who has followed some of these new hermeneutical methods through to their logical conclusions, and can see the damaging results that await.

At the end of this work, the reader is left with a good understanding of WHY hermeneutic method matters, and with that in mind, I was genuinely helped and strengthened by the book.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

By and large this is a great book and the author is worthy of your time. I gave it three stars for his embrace of "inspired sensus plenior." While his position is far more palatable than a full embrace of sensus plenior, it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth! Other than that one issue, this is an excellent work on the topic of hermeneutics.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book discussing changes within evangelical hermeneutics. Here Thomas dissects the dominant principles that color the interpretive methods, which have strayed from grammatical-historical hermeneutics.

[J.A.A. Purves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of all the books on Hermeneutics that I've tried, this is the one that clearly and concisely sums up the opposing viewpoints and methods of Scriptural interpretation and traces each of them back historically through church history.

[Yoel Ben David]

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