The Church's Book: Theology of Scripture in Ecclesial Context

by Brad East, Stephen E. Fowl (Foreword)

What role do varied understandings of the church play in the doctrine and interpretation of Scripture? In  The Church’s Book , Brad East explores recent accounts of the Bible and its exegesis in modern theology and traces the differences made by divergent, and sometimes opposed, theological accounts of the church. Surveying first the work of Karl Barth, then that of John Webster, Robert Jenson, and John Howard Yoder (following an excursus on interpreting Yoder’s work in light of his abuse), East delineates the distinct understandings of Scripture embedded in the different traditions that these notable scholars represent. In doing so, he offers new insight into the current impasse between Christians in their understandings of Scripture—one determined far less by hermeneutical approaches than by ecclesiological disagreements.  East’s study is especially significant amid the current prominence of the theological interpretation of Scripture, which broadly assumes that the Bible ought to be read in a way that foregrounds confessional convictions and interests. As East discusses in the introduction to his book, that approach to Scripture cannot be separated from questions of ecclesiology—in other words, how   we interpret the Bible theologically is dependent upon the context in which we interpret it.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies

408 pages, Hardcover

Published May 24, 2022

About the author

Brad East (PhD, Yale University) is assistant professor of theology in the College of Biblical Studies at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. He is the editor of Robert Jenson’s The Triune Story: Collected Essays on Scripture (Oxford University Press, 2019) and the author of The Doctrine of Scripture (Cascade, 2021) and The Church’s Book: Theology of Scripture in Ecclesial Context (Eerdmans, 2022). His articles have been published in Modern Theology, International Journal of Systematic Theology, Scottish Journal of Theology, Journal of Theological Interpretation, Anglican Theological Review, Pro Ecclesia, Political Theology, Restoration Quarterly, and The Other Journal; his essays and reviews have appeared in The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Comment, Commonweal, First Things, The Hedgehog Review, Living Church, Los Angeles Review of Books, Marginalia Review of Books, Mere Orthodoxy, The New Atlantis, Plough, and The Point.

Reviews

[Preston Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal.

[Matthew McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of modern theological books I’ve read, this work—as well as East’s “The Doctrine of Scripture”—may be one of the most theologically thought-provoking books I’ve ever read, particularly with regard to the ecclesiological assumptions shaping my bibliology. I will never again fail to see the deep interconnectedness between those two theological loci. This book surveys the work of three Barthian heirs—John Webster, Robert Jenson, and John Howard Yoder—and shows how their underlying ecclesiology determines their bibliology and the implications therein for the impasse often found in the movement(s) centered around theological interpretation of Scripture.

Before reading, I was familiar enough with Webster, and slightly with Yoder, but this was my first experience with the work of Jenson, which was challenging and illuminating in the best of ways. I look forward to reading more of Jenson, as well as the scholarship that East himself continues to publish over the rest of his theological career. I highly recommend this phenomenal work to anyone interested in conversations related to the nature or theological interpretation of Scripture and the doctrine of the church.

[Jacob Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense and well researched. Forced me to think about assumptions I didn’t know I was making. Much I disagreed with but I’ll be mulling over ideas from this book for years I think. One to reread down the road.

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reviewing this book for the Stone-Campbell Journal. My review will be available there.