Patristic Biblical Interpretation and Postmodern Baptist Identity

Abstract

This article explores the benefits that the study of biblical interpretation in the early church can provide for the construction of Baptist and evangelical identity in a postmodern context. Few Baptists have engaged in the serious investigation of patristic biblical exegesis, but such study would help Baptists distinguish between Scripture and its subsequent interpretation while re-connecting Baptist biblical interpretation with the life and thought of the church. Baptist theology might be helped beyond its current conservative-liberal dichotomy through an appreciation for the early church's theological exegesis of Scripture in light of the “rule of faith” and the role of biblical interpretation in patristic theological controversies, and Baptist spirituality and worship may benefit from an effort to read Scripture as it was read in the context of early Christian worship.