A Brief Guide to New Testament Interpretation: History, Methods, and Practical Examples by Roy A. Harrisville

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Brief Guide to New Testament Interpretation: History, Methods, and Practical Examples by Roy A. Harrisville Charles B. Puskas A Brief Guide to New Testament Interpretation: History, Methods, and Practical Examples. By Roy A. Harrisville. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2022. 120 pp. The academic study of the New Testament encounters issues like the synoptic problem, the function of parables, the fulfillment of Israel's scriptures, apocalyptic language, and the ending of Mark's Gospel. Since early last century, various methods have been employed from the lower critical methods of textual criticism to the higher critical methods of source, form, and redaction criticisms. Recalling the heuristic figurations of Paul Ricoeur, New Testament study has also focused on the world of the text (such as synchronic narrative, structural, and rhetorical criticisms) and the lifeworld of the reader (reader-response and ideological criticisms), in addition to its attention on the world behind the text (diachronic textual and historical criticisms). This author, a preeminent Lutheran scholar of New Testament studies, has added to the array of books on exegetical methods. This volume is particularly important given his many decades as a professor at Luther Seminary. What sets this thirteen-chapter book apart is his concern for the seminary student and pastor, specifically, regarding kerygma, event, and witness in the initial chapters. Another unique feature is his thumbnail sketch of the history of New Testament interpretation from the ancient church to the present, which is basically a summary of his Pandora's Box Opened (Eerdmans, 2014). Also distinctive are his helpful New Testament illustrations of the method and limits of the interpretative approach found throughout the book. His concise discussions of lower and higher criticisms recall early developments such as the Gutenberg press (22) and some of the earliest pioneers in this field (28). Next, the chapters on source, form, [End Page 195] and redaction criticisms demonstrate the work of an experienced practitioner of the methodology. His illustrations are insightful (see on the textual variants of Rom 5:1, 24–25) as are his caveats of the shortcomings (see on redaction analysis, 45). Still, I had hoped that he would have mentioned how redaction criticism often ignores the storyline of Jesus in its efforts to recover the contextual clues of the post-resurrection community and its author. The final chapters include sections on lexicography, sociological criticism, rhetorical criticism, structural analysis, post-structuralist analysis, reader-response criticism, feminist analysis. More could have been included (for example, genre analysis, canonical criticism). In chapters ten through thirteen on synchronic and post-modern methods the author states, "Over the years, malaise increased over the viability of historical method … The result has been a flurry of methods" (62). Many of his caveats are noteworthy. For example, while acknowledging the marginalization of women in our society and in the patriarchal culture of the Bible, Harrisville points out that "to distinguish Israel's faith … from Canaanite worship in which the goddess Astarte vied for equal status with Baal, or from Greek and Roman religion with their plethora of gods and goddesses … the male pronoun Jahve or El … or 'I am' … was sorely needed." (79). His concluding chapter hearkens back to the first chapters on the historical context of the kerygma, the witness of faith, the living message of God embodied in the text. Unfortunately, I have found some typographical errors: "the gragment-hypothesis of F. D. E. Schleiermacher" (28), "Isaiah 9" should read Isaiah 6:9 (41), and "Rom 12:24" should read Rom 12:21. I also wish that more was written about Bultmann and Käsemann, but they are more fully discussed in his The Bible and Modern Culture with co-author Walter Sundberg. The book includes a short glossary of key terms, a bibliography of works cited, and author and scripture indexes. This brief guide by a seasoned scholar will make an excellent supplemental text to courses on the New Testament, the Four Gospels, New Testament Exegesis, and Homiletics. [End Page 196] Charles B. Puskas Lino Lakes, Minnesota Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.