The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament As Sacred Scripture

by Sandra M. Schneiders

In this new edition of her major study of the New Testament, Sandra Schneiders proposes a comprehensive hermeneutical theory for New Testament interpretation, which takes full account of the Bible as both sacred Scripture and as a historical-literary classic. Designed to spur reflection on the role of Scripture as revelatory text in the life of the Church and in the lives of individual believers, The Revelatory Text shows that an integral hermeneutical theory can ground a transformational hermeneutical praxis to make the biblical text available as a faith resource to the oppressed as well as to the privileged. Schneiders investigates the meaning of the theological claim that the Bible is the Word of God" and the "Church's book," along with the implications of these claims for biblical interpretation. She then examines the historical, literary, and religious-spiritual dimensions of the New Testament, highlighting the implications for interpretation theory and methodology, and concludes by putting her theory to the test in a feminist interpretation of John 4. The author argues that the comprehensive object of biblical interpretation is not merely information but transformation. She suggests that an adequate hermeneutical theory must include a wide range of exegetical and critical methods within a theologically and philosophically adequate understanding of Scripture as sacred text. She writes specifically to educated believers who wonder how sound biblical criticism can be incorporated into a faith- filled reading of the New Testament; biblical scholars who struggle with the question of whether or how faith can function legitimately in biblical scholarship; and those whose task it is to teach and preach the faith that looks to the New Testament as source and norm. Chapters are "The Problem and Project of New Testament Interpretation," "The New Testament as Word of God," "The New Testament as the Church's Book," "The World Behind the History, Imagination, and the Revelatory Text," "The World of the Witness, Language, and the Revelatory Text," "The World Before the Meaning, Appropriation, and the Revelatory Text," and "A Case Feminist Interpretation of John 4:1- 42." Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, is professor of New Testament studies and Christian spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. "

Genres: Religion, Theology, Christian

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1991

Reviews

[Jack Hayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book that I disagree with much in! Scheiders does a wonderful job applying the ideas of Ricouer to the process of biblical interpretation. It was a refreshing approach.

However, she tends to refer to the fundamentalists bogeyman a bit too often while offering no examples. Another issue is that she often will say the Bible is factually incorrect and then not give examples. I’m aware of the kind of inaccuracies she is describing but would like to see her work through how it fits in her hermeneutic. She kind of does this by locating history in different time but I feel like this can leads to problems of what I want to take as truthful no matter how one honest is with the text. It just falls into endlessly subjectivity which is fine in her model because that is what true interpretation should lead to. Another big issue is that her concepts of revelation don’t really engage with previous conceptualizations, it is just “they aren’t a self-gift of God” therefore they are incorrect. But this lacks nuance and theologians who both saw propositional, truth revealing and self giving in revelation. They are fundamentalistic or her conception but again there are theologians of nuance even back in 1961 see Ramm.

I’m also unsure of her conclusions that only a faithful person can read Scripture because of her own divisions between text and text and Scripture and Scripture. Unless we take a subjective approach of the necessity of change when reading a text then how can a text remain a text?

A more egregious error is her conflation that because God is infinite he cannot speak through language that is finite. God is incommensurable and cannot therefore speak, also that God cannot speak because he doesn’t have vocal cords I hate to say is laughable…

Also I’m unconvinced by Ricouer’s idea of a text creating a world when it could be describing the world.

[Rebecca Hilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite old now but still a very good read. Dense but worth the effort.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource on hermeneutics! Dense reading but a must for any bible scholar!