Beyond the Bible [Paperback]

I. Howard Marshall (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842272780
• ISBN-13: 978-1842272787
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,662,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marshall blazes a trail, but it's not finished ..., June 2, 2005

By 

Tom Wadsworth "Tom Wadsworth" (Dixon, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology) (Paperback)

The reader should understand that this book is only 60% from Dr. Marshall. Of the book's five chapters, the first three are from Marshall. The other two are responses from two noted theologians.

On one hand, the format makes sense. Marshall means to offer a proposal of (badly needed) evangelical hermeneutical principles. Since Marshall knows it is merely a proposal, it begs a response. Thus, the responses of Vanhoozer and Porter are appropriate.

However, I bought the book to read more of Marshall's insight into this challenging task. He is today's venerable dean of evangelical New Testament scholars. Few others have his academic credentials, his longstanding reputation, and his voluminous reservoir of respected published works, all from an evangelical perspective. Thus, at this point near the end of his remarkable life, I wanted to hear Marshall, not others.

"The Marshall Plan," as Vanhoozer respectfully calls it, is a refreshing educational experience. I felt as if I were sitting at Marshall's feet, listening as he humbly shared his hard-earned conclusions about how to interpret the New Testament. The book is actually based on lectures where his thoughts were delivered just like that.

That is both the book's strength and weakness. As a speech, he seems to speak frankly, demonstrating little concern for any political fallout from his candid remarks. Yet, as a speech, his remarks tend to ramble a bit. And since speeches cannot be too long, his comments beg for more cohesive, organized, comprehensive conclusions.

I think Marshall knows that, and that's why the book contains responses from others. He knows his remarks are the beginning of a responsible hermeneutic, and he hopes that others will finish the work.

From my perspective, Vanhoozer offers a helpful extension to the Marshall Plan, but Porter does not. Porter openly admits (p. 101) that the majority of his comments do not respond to Marshall at all. To be direct, I didn't buy the book to hear the Porter Plan, I bought it to hear the Marshall Plan.

But all that aside ... If you are a serious student of the New Testament, you need to read this book (or certainly the first 3-4 chapters). Take advantage of Marshall's 40+ years of scholarly reflection on these historic Christian documents. Hopefully, someone will pick up the baton from here and stride ahead toward a more comprehensive evangelical hermeneutical method.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hermeneutics Played Out, December 12, 2008

By 

Mason Slater - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology) (Paperback)

Beyond the Bible is a short book on taking exegesis of the Scriptures and moving to theology and ethics, a clearly important step which far to ofton gets past over. Marshall, the dean of evangelical New Testament scholarship in recent decades, describes the history of evangelical hermeneutics and points to both some very promising proposals, and some dangerous paths we may tend to take.

After Marshall's section (the bulk of the book) there are two responses, including a brilliant one from VanHoozer which adds a lot to the book and both furthers and challenges some of Marshall's proposals.

This is a must read and a very manageable entry point into quite important hermeneutical issues.

[...]

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tough and Intriguing But..., April 13, 2007

By 

T.C. Robinson (CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology) (Paperback)

I find this reading helpful in that the exegete must always question the texts. However, Marshall is calling for too much in this book. I am of the impression that a reader can be swayed from traditional hermeneutics that has proven to be solid and according to the word. For example, sola scriptura is challenged in this volume.