Interpreting the New Testament as a Sacred Text

Abstract

While a convincing case can be made about the sacredness of the New Testament through its proclamation of Jesus Christ and its guidance on the nature of Christian life, this does not mean that over time, or at any particular time, all Christians understand the message of the Scriptures in the same way. This brings us to the question of “interpretation” of the New Testament. How do we accurately understand the message of a particular New Testament book? How would we describe the meaning of the New Testament for Christian life today? How do we understand, from a doctrinal point of view, the identity of Jesus portrayed in the ensemble of the New Testament writings? What do we understand to be the defining characteristics and structures of the Christian community derived from the diverse books of the New Testament? Additionally, who has the authority to determine what is an authentic or valid answer to such questions? And what are the proper methods of extracting contemporary meaning from these ancient texts? This chapter traces in broad strokes the diverse ways the Christian community has approached the meaning of the New Testament over the centuries, with particular attention to the impact of modern methods of interpreting the biblical text.