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Christian Scripture: An Evangelical Perspective on Inspiration, Authority and Interpretation
An overview of the current controversy over the nature of Scripture. What a Christian believes about everything turns on what he believes about the Bible. Interprets Jesus' view of Scripture and Scripture's teaching about itself.
257 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 5, 2019
Christian Scripture by David S. Dockery is a solid introductory book that helps outline a good bit of information about how we received the Bible, both in terms of views of inspiration and on how the final product was decided upon, and how we are to interpret it. It is more of an academic introduction to the topic, so it may lose some people who try to venture forward with the book, but it's a rather capable introduction to some more academic ideas.
While it is solid on a lot of things, I found some sections lacking a bit more than others. In particular I felt his approach to interpretation was a bit lacking. Part of this is because it felt a bit rushed. Dockery tries to provide a historical overview of the way various figures gave insight on how to interpret scripture, and it just winds up feeling a bit rushed especially once we get to era of the Reformation. It is also lacking because Dockery is coming at this from an academic standpoint, so more of a historical/theological interpretation is primary and largely ignores more mystical and contemplative practices of interacting with Scripture.
I also personally thought his attempt at trying to hold on to a concept like inerrancy was a stretch. It felt like he had to make a way too complex definition for a concept. This is especially true because I don't think most people use his definition when throwing around the concept. I'm all for establishing a trust in the reliability of Scripture, but I've found that inerrancy isn't language that I really prefer to use. It just isn't one I find helpful, because you have to nuance any definition of it to death and that's not usually helpful for clarity.
Despite these drawbacks, Dockery gives a good foundation on some fundamentals about the Bible. He does come at things from a bit of an academic perspective, but that's not all bad. He's definitely done his homework and while he can be a bit dismissive of some perspectives a bit too easily, he does try to present a number of different views and give readers a beginning foundation for approaching the Bible academically. That's not to say that you can't get use out of such a book for the daily life of the church, but I don't think a lot of these things are absolutely necessary for everyone to know thoroughly.
While it is solid on a lot of things, I found some sections lacking a bit more than others. In particular I felt his approach to interpretation was a bit lacking. Part of this is because it felt a bit rushed. Dockery tries to provide a historical overview of the way various figures gave insight on how to interpret scripture, and it just winds up feeling a bit rushed especially once we get to era of the Reformation. It is also lacking because Dockery is coming at this from an academic standpoint, so more of a historical/theological interpretation is primary and largely ignores more mystical and contemplative practices of interacting with Scripture.
I also personally thought his attempt at trying to hold on to a concept like inerrancy was a stretch. It felt like he had to make a way too complex definition for a concept. This is especially true because I don't think most people use his definition when throwing around the concept. I'm all for establishing a trust in the reliability of Scripture, but I've found that inerrancy isn't language that I really prefer to use. It just isn't one I find helpful, because you have to nuance any definition of it to death and that's not usually helpful for clarity.
Despite these drawbacks, Dockery gives a good foundation on some fundamentals about the Bible. He does come at things from a bit of an academic perspective, but that's not all bad. He's definitely done his homework and while he can be a bit dismissive of some perspectives a bit too easily, he does try to present a number of different views and give readers a beginning foundation for approaching the Bible academically. That's not to say that you can't get use out of such a book for the daily life of the church, but I don't think a lot of these things are absolutely necessary for everyone to know thoroughly.
July 11, 2008
Extremely difficult read, but good material.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews