Book Review: Sacred Hermeneutics and Biblical Interpretation
This paper offers a critical review of Sacred Hermeneutics, an introductory text organized into eight lessons covering the foundational principles of biblical interpretation. The review summarizes the text's core arguments—including its treatment of literal, cultural, and critical approaches to Scripture; the role of figurative language and parables; and the relationship between doctrine and devotion—before evaluating the text's strengths and limitations. The reviewer praises the text's clarity and accessibility while critiquing its narrow focus on the Protestant hermeneutical tradition, its neglect of 1,500 years of pre-Reformation church history, and its underdeveloped treatment of hermeneutics as both a science and an art. The paper concludes that the text functions adequately as an introduction but falls short as a comprehensive guide to the broader hermeneutical tradition.
- Overview of Sacred Hermeneutics: Eight-lesson structure and scope of the text
- Core Themes and Main Arguments: Scripture, faithful interpretation, and Protestant method
- Critical Interpretation and Historical Limitations: Critique of Protestant focus and omitted church history
- Hermeneutics as Science and Art: Tension between scientific rules and artistic application
- Conclusion and Assessment: Text's value as introduction and its scholarly shortcomings
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What makes this paper effective
- The review balances summary and critique effectively, first laying out the text's eight core lessons in accessible terms before pivoting to substantive analytical objections.
- The historical critique is well-grounded: the reviewer uses specific time periods and examples (the growth of Christendom, cathedral building, pre-Reformation devotion) to demonstrate what the text omits rather than simply asserting the omission.
- Secondary sources are integrated purposefully, with Goldsworthy, Thomas, Hayes, and Holladay each brought in to support a specific evaluative point rather than as padding.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates contextual critique: rather than disputing the text's internal logic, the reviewer tests it against the broader historical and scholarly context it claims to inhabit. The argument that hermeneutics cannot responsibly limit itself to the Protestant era—because context is one of its own stated principles—is a strong example of turning a text's own methodology against its selective application.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a classic book-review structure: a Summary section cataloguing the text's eight lessons and overall purpose; an Interpretation section raising critical objections around historical scope, the doctrine-devotion relationship, and the science-vs.-art distinction; and a Conclusion that renders a measured final verdict, acknowledging the text's suitability as an introduction while identifying its limitations for more advanced readers.
Overview of Sacred Hermeneutics
Sacred Hermeneutics consists of eight lessons that move the reader from a basic introduction to what hermeneutics is—the practice of interpreting the Bible—to a sense of how to use Scripture for devotional and doctrinal purposes. The main points that the text makes include: (1) Scripture contains the Word of God and should be studied carefully for that reason, since what God has said contains information of great significance for mankind; (2) approaches to the interpretation of the Bible have changed over the years, encompassing the allegorical, literal, devotional, liberal, and neo-orthodoxy approaches; (3) the need to understand the Protestant approach to hermeneutics, which includes adopting (4) a literal, cultural, and critical perspective, with special focus on the original languages of Scripture, historical context, the context of Revelation, and a sense of the overall unity of Scripture; (5) textual principles such as etymology, grammar, and context are important to keep in mind when analyzing a text; (6) figurative language does not diminish the meaningful truths contained in Scripture but rather helps to convey them; (7) parables in Scripture teach important lessons and, as with prophecies, contain both spiritual and literal components that must be discerned; and (8) when it comes to doctrine, Scripture should serve as the source of all evidence, while when it comes to devotion, Scripture should guide the development of the interior life rather than the artifice of an exterior presentation.
Core Themes and Main Arguments
These eight points each receive their own lesson within the text, broken down and explained in simple, coherent, and precise terms. No single point is given more emphasis than another, and all are recognized as meaningful in the overall application of hermeneutics. Each point plays a pivotal role in developing the reader's understanding of how to study the Bible, communicating some aspect of the hermeneutical approach and thereby contributing to the formulation of the science as a whole.
The most important points of the text, beyond the eight distinct lessons, are that the Bible contains the Word of God and that interpretation of the Word of God must be rooted in faithful adherence to the overall message that God is giving. To interpret the Bible in any other way would be to demonstrate unfaithfulness to the teachings of God. Innovation is therefore not the aim of hermeneutics; rather, the aim is a deeper understanding of what is at stake in the Scriptures—what the Word of God is revealing, how it is being revealed, why it is being revealed, and what the combination of those factors should mean for the student of the Bible. Substantial support is given to each main point so that it can be understood and appreciated, and each is further developed through sub-points that expand on the central ideas. The text does not lack depth or exploratory range, though it does adopt the Protestant system as the focus of its hermeneutical investigation. That investigation is adequately defined over the course of the eight lessons and provides an appropriate introductory understanding of what hermeneutics is.
Critical Interpretation and Historical Limitations
The text's definition of hermeneutics is clear, and its use of the Protestant system as a framework for Bible study is evident. However, since Protestantism arose only roughly 500 years ago—while the science of hermeneutics extends back nearly a thousand years before the rise of the Protestant system—a fuller historical perspective would be beneficial. Entering directly into the Protestant system without that broader context leaves a noticeable gap.
There is also no clear explanation of how doctrine and devotion are intertwined or where they intersect. The text appears to hold that doctrine should come solely from Scripture, yet Scripture itself alludes to teachings of Christ not included within it (John 21:25). This creates some confusion when the text suggests that one of the main principles of the theologian engaged in hermeneutics is to limit doctrine to Scriptural evidence alone. Such a position appears to set aside 1,500 years of church history predating the Protestant system, as though those centuries are simply irrelevant to the theologian's aims.
Yet those 1,500 years were a period of devotion during which the Church expanded across Europe and into new parts of the world, pagans were converted, and Christendom took shape. They were years in which piety flourished and devotion led to the creation of some of the most magnificent cathedrals and artistic works known to humanity. These years do not seem like they should be discarded simply because they do not align with the Protestant system. A discussion of the differences, of how the Bible was studied throughout that period, and of why that era produced such widespread devotion could fruitfully be included. The near-total absence of any such discussion in this introductory text suggests that the authors are simply not interested in engaging with that discourse.
As it stands, the text aims to emphasize the unity of purpose in the hermeneutical approach, yet it lacks unity in terms of historical time and scope. Can hermeneutics really be separated from so much history? As Goldsworthy notes, the Bible is not just a "mass of unconnected stories,"1 and neither is the history of the Christian religion. If context is to play a part in the interpretation of Scripture, that context should not stop and start at certain dates but should be understood across the full sweep of history. A "big picture" approach to hermeneutics2 could be more effective in answering the questions that remain after reading this introduction. After all, hermeneutics has been described as an exercise in "leading" people to the Word of God.3 To lead well, one should be willing to engage with the past in a full and coherent way so that the reader is not left with unresolved questions.
Conclusion and Assessment
While the text does accomplish its main points and provide suitable support for them, it should be taken as precisely what it is: an introductory text. It leaves the door open for further inquiry, but for a reader seeking only a basic understanding of hermeneutics and how its principles are applied in the modern Protestant era, it suffices. For a reader seeking more advanced understanding, however, the lack of meaningful examples of hermeneutical scholarship from across the centuries is a real limitation. The Christian religion has existed for 2,000 years, and there are ample examples of the art and science of biblical study extending throughout that period. This text does not draw on them.
Instead, the text serves as a blueprint for the Protestant system of hermeneutics, outlining its ideas and principles—much more as a science than as an art. It is often said that building is more an art than a science, and that expression will resonate with anyone who has worked in construction or attempted renovation. It stands to reason that the same might be said of hermeneutics. The text's approach to this question is, however, unclear. It asserts at the outset that hermeneutics is a science and an art—"a science because it is guided by rules within a system" and an art "because of the application of the rules"6—but the second half of that definition is easy to find inadequate. How rules are applied would still seem to fall within the scientific domain of hermeneutics. A genuinely artful approach would, one might reasonably think, be more intuitive, more expressive, and more interpretively engaged with the overall teachings of the Christian Church. If context matters in one sense, it should matter in all senses, and so the art of hermeneutical scholarship should take into account the teachings passed down from generation to generation. To analyze the Bible as a source of faith entirely separate from the Church implies that it arrived complete and self-contained—but this was not the case.
Thus, this text is helpful for laying groundwork and providing a basis for understanding hermeneutics. It presents in a quick, succinct, and organized way the basic facts about hermeneutics in the modern era. For this reason, however, it has clear weaknesses: it is not a comprehensive explanation of hermeneutics, though to be fair it is not intended to be. It is clearly intended as an introduction, and insofar as that intention is met, the text is sufficient and adequate. Insofar as the reader would benefit from a more in-depth examination of hermeneutical traditions, the text comes up short. Nonetheless, it does prepare the way for future study. Students who aim to deepen their knowledge of the subject can use this introductory text as a springboard—generating questions for future exploration, or simply feeling that they have gained a sufficient introductory understanding and are ready to engage with whatever further knowledge the remaining texts in a course may provide.
Bibliography
Hayes, J., and Holladay, C. Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook. London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Goldsworthy, Graeme. Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles. IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
Thomas, Robert L. "Literary Genre and Hermeneutics of the Apocalypse." In Revelation in the Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary. IL: Moody Press, 1992.
Sacred Hermeneutics. www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Sacred%20Hermeneutics.pdf
Wellum, Stephen. "Book Review: Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles, by Graeme Goldsworthy." 9 Marks, 2012.
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