Thinking God's Thoughts: The Hermeneutics of Humility

by Daniel P. Fuller, Douglas Knighton (Editor)

Thinking God’s Thoughts began as the syllabus for the course on hermeneutics that Daniel Fuller taught for forty years at Fuller Theological Seminary. It is a comprehensive and “valuable tool for biblical interpretation and understanding … [but] more than a tool, it is a way of thinking that marshals all the common-sense benefits of grammar, syntax, historical language conventions, and logic to discipline a reader’s focus on the message a writer is conveying in a text” (Prof. Don Westblade). Because it was designed to enhance our understanding of the Bible, it mandates and models humility before the text. Thinking God’s Thoughts presents a humble methodology that guides the practice of exegesis so that the resulting exposition of a text is valid. It provides the technology to build a bridge between us and writers of another time and place who had some very important ideas to communicate. It also presents profound philosophical considerations concerning whether such an enterprise is possible and why concerning ourselves with the Bible is reasonable.

227 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2020

About the author

Daniel P. Fuller is professor emeritus of hermeneutics at Fuller Theological Seminary where he taught from 1953 to 1993 and served as Dean of the School of Theology from 1963 to 1972. In addition, he served as president of the Gospel Broadcasting Association and the Fuller Evangelistic Association. Daniel is the son of Charles E. Fuller, co-founder with Harold Ockenga of Fuller Seminary.

Reviews

[Jonathan Ginn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a mixed bag.

First half of this book (chs 1-7, as well as appendices B-D) was fantastic. Fuller provides vital tools for doing proper grammatical-historical interpretation—including sentence diagramming, discourse analysis, narrative analysis, and identifying a text's main idea. Many of the concepts covered here have influenced the exegetical method of John Piper and Tom Schreiner, who, in turn, have influenced many others today. Had the book concluded here, I would have given it a 4.

Second half of this book (chs 8-10, appendix A) was a rough slog. While the entire book is written in a rather dense and noticeably dated style (many of Fuller's interlocutors are scholars from the mid-twentieth century), I especially felt that during these latter chapters, which veered more towards philosophical and epistemological discussions. Furthermore, I found Fuller's distinction between Scripture's "revelatory propositions" and "non-revelatory statements and implications" (see pp 170-77) to be deeply problematic. I also remain unconvinced by Fuller's arguments against the "analogy of faith" (see pp 179-84).

[Nick Roark · Rating 4 out of 5]

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