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A Hermeneutic of Wisdom: Recovering the Formative Agency of Scripture
This book develops an integrated hermeneutic that connects the Bible to spiritual formation and the development of Christian virtues. The author shows how the whole Bible can be understood as a wisdom text that directs its readers morally, shapes them in their deepest affections and convictions, and impacts how they look at the world and live in it. Offering an innovative hermeneutical approach, it will serve as an ideal supplement to standard hermeneutics textbooks.
320 pages, Paperback
Published July 3, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 20, 2024
This is one of my top 10 books of all time. Unsurprisingly, it comes from a Covenant College professor. Kelly Kapic is also a powerhouse.
Dryden's position that the entire Bible is wisdom literature answers hunches I've had for a long time. He masterfully shows how the Bible is a book about spiritual formation through the medium of wisdom. He helpfully dispels the modernist/postmodernist - indicative/imperative - law/gospel - theology/ethics paradigm and shows how all of these bifurcations miss the point. The Bible is both about what to know and what we should do (WSC Q.3).
This is a great read and a key for hermeneutics.
Dryden's position that the entire Bible is wisdom literature answers hunches I've had for a long time. He masterfully shows how the Bible is a book about spiritual formation through the medium of wisdom. He helpfully dispels the modernist/postmodernist - indicative/imperative - law/gospel - theology/ethics paradigm and shows how all of these bifurcations miss the point. The Bible is both about what to know and what we should do (WSC Q.3).
This is a great read and a key for hermeneutics.
November 25, 2018
I get a bit annoyed with books in which the author acts like he has uncovered some incredible insight when in fact his work is mostly common sense. That was definitely the case here. Dryden argues that Scripture is meant to shape its readers into mature, wise believers? He rejects a hard and fast distinction with indicative and imperative sections of Scripture, as well as the overused Lutheran law-gospel distinction. These are just three examples of his "brilliant" work, to quote a blurb from the back. Good reminders, sure, but perhaps not cutting edge.
But the big problem--and I say this rarely about a book--is that this book is boring. Dryden is just not a compelling author. Perhaps English is not his first language, either, which probably doesn't help. Regardless, this book could safely be skipped by anyone who is not studying hermeneutics full time.
But the big problem--and I say this rarely about a book--is that this book is boring. Dryden is just not a compelling author. Perhaps English is not his first language, either, which probably doesn't help. Regardless, this book could safely be skipped by anyone who is not studying hermeneutics full time.
May 23, 2022
This is such a helpful book that I'd put it on a 'must-read' list for younger ministers and indeed all preachers (notwithstanding that his choice to engage only modern and post-modern approaches in chapter 1 unnecessarily screens-off more fruitful handling of the text between those two extremes). Gives much-needed weight to the formative role of scripture - for many this could be a real eye-opener. Along the way there are some profound and sensitive pastoral insights and an appendix on Wisdom and Wisdom Literature that is chock-full of potential. Yep, loved it.
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March 12, 2026Definitely an academic text (this book was dense, to say the least), but if you’re comfortable with that, then it’s 100% worth it.
Several of the reviews mention this is a “common sense” book, but his audience seems to largely be a Protestant tradition where the call to faith has been so prioritized from the pulpit to the point where the practical outpouring of said faith— the works of faith— have largely been left to the hearer’s discernment. This book provides and defends a workable framework, particularly across New Testament texts, for readers of the Bible to recognize Biblical wisdom when they see it.
It also breaks down our preconceived, western notion that “being” and “doing” are two wholly separate even if related activities. The front section alone where he points out all the ways we’re prone to reading the Bible like Greek philosophers rather than like 1rst century Israelites makes the book worth it alone.
Several of the reviews mention this is a “common sense” book, but his audience seems to largely be a Protestant tradition where the call to faith has been so prioritized from the pulpit to the point where the practical outpouring of said faith— the works of faith— have largely been left to the hearer’s discernment. This book provides and defends a workable framework, particularly across New Testament texts, for readers of the Bible to recognize Biblical wisdom when they see it.
It also breaks down our preconceived, western notion that “being” and “doing” are two wholly separate even if related activities. The front section alone where he points out all the ways we’re prone to reading the Bible like Greek philosophers rather than like 1rst century Israelites makes the book worth it alone.
December 22, 2020
This was a very academic read for me. I found the overall thesis—that the Bible should be read as formative wisdom—interesting to ponder. I appreciated many parts of his hermeneutical approach. In theory, it makes good sense. In practice, however, it is less clear. I found some of his concrete examples lacking and unconvincing. He seemed to read a lot more into the passages than it actually said in order to make it fit his approach. I do agree that modern hermeneutical methods are problematic. He offers an approach that feels like a step in the right direction but still leaves much to be desired.
September 1, 2023
Dryden's main argument is that all of Scripture is intended to foster wisdom, and that only a hermeneutic that recognizes this formative goal does justice to the nature of the Bible. I think he makes that point well, and it's a necessary point to make. The book was a bit off-putting, though, because Dryden regularly rejects false dichotomies (law/gospel, indicative/imperative) and then sets up his own set of false dichotomies: reading for theology instead of reading for wisdom, or reading for ethical principles instead of reading for wisdom. The main point is sound, but I don't think it's as radical as Dryden makes it appear through this repeated false contrasts.
September 2, 2022
Really thoughtful look at how Scripture is from the get go an ethical text and the division between right thinking and right action is a modern invention that is utterly foreign to the authors of Scripture.
He also gave me some really useful interpretive heuristics that I can put into practice as a teacher immediately.
Oh and he kinda blew up me preconceptions about what an epistle is and now I get to fruitfully rethink all the NT letters. I'm so excited.
He also gave me some really useful interpretive heuristics that I can put into practice as a teacher immediately.
Oh and he kinda blew up me preconceptions about what an epistle is and now I get to fruitfully rethink all the NT letters. I'm so excited.
January 3, 2019
Excellent book. Review up soon. Read my fuller review at Spoiledmilks (12/10/18)
Dryden writes in his preface, "The central thesis of this book is at once commonsensical and controversial: the Bible is a wisdom text" (xvi). That includes more than the few OT wisdom books, but all of the Bible is wisdom. The Gospels, for instance, are written in a specific way (a certain genre) so that the ancient reader automatically knew that what they were reading was a wisdom text.
The NT Gospels and epistles reflect certain genres of their time, both which formed virtue over vice in their readers leading to wise and righteous living. We are not only to believe the right doctrine. Our lives are to be changed. In fact, the Parable of the Sower teaches that theology and ethics function together (37). Hearing the word = "hearing, accepting, and doing" (62).
In the first chapter of section one, Dryden looks at knowing and reading. He compares reading strategies of modernism (historical-critical approaches) with post-modernism (e.g., reader-response criticism). Wisdom engages the whole person, the mind and how one morally lives. Test case: John 3.
In his second and third chapters, Dryden compares theology with ethics and law with gospel. Wisdom seeks to shape both our knowledge and our affections for God. His formula: the Bible teaches us how to make the right actions, for the right reasons, with the right motivations. Test case: Philippians 2.
Dryden disregards the myth that since the gospel has come to us by God's grace, surely we can't expect people to do good works. The gospel reveals God's righteous character and his righteous actions, which we should aim to imitate by looking at Christ, our savior and exemplar. Dryden compares antinomianism with authenticity; legalism with moralism. Test case: John 15.
Section two has two chapters devoted to the theory and practice of reading the Gospels for wisdom, and two chapters for the epistles. These were by far the best chapters, with the practical chapter on the Gospels being my favorite. One important facet of fictional books that is true of the Bible is how "readers sympathize with their needs [that of the characters] and so, guided by the author's characterization, identify with the character as a vehicle" (123). This is important because "vast portions of biblical narratives teach us next to nothing explicitly about God" (122). (Think of the book of Esther.)
The Conclusion summarizes the whole book. The appendix draws differences between the books in the Wisdom literature and the whole Bible as wisdom.
Recommended?
This is a very good book. Albeit it much of the is very academic, with topics such as modernism, postmodernism, speech act theory, and epistemology being covered. Some places are easier to read, but not all of the cookies are on the bottom shelf. I would love to see a more user-friendly version of this. I very much enjoyed this book, and recommend it to teachers, professors, and pastors.
I received this book from Baker Academic with no requirement of a positive review.
Dryden writes in his preface, "The central thesis of this book is at once commonsensical and controversial: the Bible is a wisdom text" (xvi). That includes more than the few OT wisdom books, but all of the Bible is wisdom. The Gospels, for instance, are written in a specific way (a certain genre) so that the ancient reader automatically knew that what they were reading was a wisdom text.
The NT Gospels and epistles reflect certain genres of their time, both which formed virtue over vice in their readers leading to wise and righteous living. We are not only to believe the right doctrine. Our lives are to be changed. In fact, the Parable of the Sower teaches that theology and ethics function together (37). Hearing the word = "hearing, accepting, and doing" (62).
In the first chapter of section one, Dryden looks at knowing and reading. He compares reading strategies of modernism (historical-critical approaches) with post-modernism (e.g., reader-response criticism). Wisdom engages the whole person, the mind and how one morally lives. Test case: John 3.
In his second and third chapters, Dryden compares theology with ethics and law with gospel. Wisdom seeks to shape both our knowledge and our affections for God. His formula: the Bible teaches us how to make the right actions, for the right reasons, with the right motivations. Test case: Philippians 2.
Dryden disregards the myth that since the gospel has come to us by God's grace, surely we can't expect people to do good works. The gospel reveals God's righteous character and his righteous actions, which we should aim to imitate by looking at Christ, our savior and exemplar. Dryden compares antinomianism with authenticity; legalism with moralism. Test case: John 15.
Section two has two chapters devoted to the theory and practice of reading the Gospels for wisdom, and two chapters for the epistles. These were by far the best chapters, with the practical chapter on the Gospels being my favorite. One important facet of fictional books that is true of the Bible is how "readers sympathize with their needs [that of the characters] and so, guided by the author's characterization, identify with the character as a vehicle" (123). This is important because "vast portions of biblical narratives teach us next to nothing explicitly about God" (122). (Think of the book of Esther.)
The Conclusion summarizes the whole book. The appendix draws differences between the books in the Wisdom literature and the whole Bible as wisdom.
Recommended?
This is a very good book. Albeit it much of the is very academic, with topics such as modernism, postmodernism, speech act theory, and epistemology being covered. Some places are easier to read, but not all of the cookies are on the bottom shelf. I would love to see a more user-friendly version of this. I very much enjoyed this book, and recommend it to teachers, professors, and pastors.
I received this book from Baker Academic with no requirement of a positive review.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews