What is it about?
Post-modern theological interpretation of scripture is not limited by respect for authorial intention and that freedom is legitimate in prayer and preaching. But in clarifying Christian identity by using scripture as a norm historical criticism has its place and its disciplined reading of texts remains a priority in theological education. It does not speak explicitly of God, so these theological interpreters describe the religious ideas of the texts without making explicit their own personal agreement with them about what they are about, namely the saving revelation of God in Christ.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
The recent popularity of theological interpretations of the New Testament which go beyond historical description in order to communicate the God dimension of these texts is justified by the needs of the church to express the gospel relevantly today, but it needs the controls of a more limited critical scholarship to avoid it becoming arbitrary and subjective. Its hostility to the New Testament scholarship of which New Testament theology is a part is therefore misplaced.
Perspectives
New Testament theology was 50 years ago a high point of biblical scholarship, dovetailing with systematic theology, informing and criticizing it. The rise of a more secular biblical studies on one side and a more conservative and explicitly theological interpretation of scripture on the other have squeezed this mediating discipline, but the truthfulness of theology requires it alongside those other approaches. I believe that the classics in the field have much to teach, including how current practice can be improved.
Robert Morgan
University of Oxford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: New Testament Theology as Implicit Theological Interpretation of Christian Scripture, Interpretation A Journal of Bible and Theology, September 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0020964316655106.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
