Seeking to train readers to hear all that is being said within a written text, Peter Leithart advocates a hermeneutics of the letter that is not rigidly literalist and looks to learn to read not just the Bible, but everything--from Jesus and Paul. Thus Deep Exegesis explores the nature of reading itself taking clues from Jesus and Paul on the meaning of meaning, the functions of language, and proper modes of interpretation. By looking (and listening) closely, and by including passages from the Bible and other literary sources, Leithart aims to do for the text what Jesus did for the blind man in John 9: to make new by opening eyes. The book is a powerful invitation to enter the depths of a text.
Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Displaying his extraordinary ability to make interpretation exciting, Leithart demonstrates that the meanings of biblical texts cannot be adequately known outside their literary and historical resonances. A magnificent book."
--Matthew Levering, Associate Professor of Theology, Ave Maria University
"Deep Exegesis is a clear, optimistic, and well-written book, with wide-spanning and interdisciplinary implications."
--The Christian Scholar's Review (Spring 2010)
"Everyone interested in understanding the Bible (and what Christian isn't!) should read this book."
--Greg Peters, Assistant Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology, Biola University (reviewed in The Scriptorium, 4/6/10)
"... a sustained, often playful, and sometimes brilliantly provocative attempt to undo the dichotomy between the Scripture's formal husk and its material kernel.... Deep Exegesis is a treasure trove of hermeneutical reflection by a master craftsman. It will repay careful reading, by scholars as well as students."
--Wesley Hill, Books and Culture, July/August 2011
"Leithart is a very fine reader of the biblical text as is evident from his ever-deeper reading and re-reading of Jn 9.... Leithart's project has significant value and potential for his intended audience."
--Seamus O'Connell, Journal for the Study of the New Testament (2011, 33:5)
Everyone interested in understanding the Bible (and what Christian isn t!) should read this book .... --Greg Peters, Assistant Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology, Biola University (reviewed in The Scriptorium, 4/6/10)
--Matthew Levering, Associate Professor of Theology, Ave Maria University
"Deep Exegesis is a clear, optimistic, and well-written book, with wide-spanning and interdisciplinary implications."
--The Christian Scholar's Review (Spring 2010)
"Everyone interested in understanding the Bible (and what Christian isn't!) should read this book."
--Greg Peters, Assistant Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology, Biola University (reviewed in The Scriptorium, 4/6/10)
"... a sustained, often playful, and sometimes brilliantly provocative attempt to undo the dichotomy between the Scripture's formal husk and its material kernel.... Deep Exegesis is a treasure trove of hermeneutical reflection by a master craftsman. It will repay careful reading, by scholars as well as students."
--Wesley Hill, Books and Culture, July/August 2011
"Leithart is a very fine reader of the biblical text as is evident from his ever-deeper reading and re-reading of Jn 9.... Leithart's project has significant value and potential for his intended audience."
--Seamus O'Connell, Journal for the Study of the New Testament (2011, 33:5)
Everyone interested in understanding the Bible (and what Christian isn t!) should read this book .... --Greg Peters, Assistant Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology, Biola University (reviewed in The Scriptorium, 4/6/10)
About the Author
Peter J. Leithart is Senior Fellow of Theology and Literature, New St. Andrews College. He is the author of twenty books, including, most recently Writer of Fancy: The Playful Piety of Jane Austen (forthcoming), The Baptized Body, and The Promise of His Appearing. He lives in Moscow, Idaho, where he serves as Pastor of Trinity Reformed Church.
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45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Peter Leithart's Deep Exegesis: The Mystery of Reading Scripture is the most helpful book I have ever read on how to interpret the Bible -- a topic of serious interest for me for almost 40 years. In my seminary days, I learned that historical grammatical exegesis is the only way to approach the Bible. The problem was that certain passages in the New Testament clearly interpreted the Old Testament in ways that did not conform to the literal mold. Could we follow the exegetical methods of Jesus and Paul, or were they operating on principles that are beyond our ken?
In six chapters with titles like "Words are Players" and "Texts are Music," Leithart not only uncovers the exegetical methods of Jesus and Paul, but he shows his readers how to follow their path by ending each chapter with relevant insights on John 9. In the process, Leithart relates Biblical interpretation to the interpretation of literature outside the Bible, offers withering criticism of Biblical critics, discloses serious flaws in conventional hermeneutical wisdom, teaches us the music of the Biblical text, and, most importantly, shows how all Scripture is about Christ. Leithart does this all with penetrating theological insight, wry humor, and even more than his customary eloquence. I literary could not put the book down.
If there is only one book you read on Biblical interpretation, this should be the book. It is too well written and profound to be considered a "textbook," but it is so full of insight and such a delight to read that a kind professor might give his students a break and assign them a book that would be sheer pleasure. Anyone serious about reading the Bible and looking for guidance in reading not only deeply, but in a manner that is faithful to the Bible as Holy Scripture should read Leithart's Deep Exegesis.
In six chapters with titles like "Words are Players" and "Texts are Music," Leithart not only uncovers the exegetical methods of Jesus and Paul, but he shows his readers how to follow their path by ending each chapter with relevant insights on John 9. In the process, Leithart relates Biblical interpretation to the interpretation of literature outside the Bible, offers withering criticism of Biblical critics, discloses serious flaws in conventional hermeneutical wisdom, teaches us the music of the Biblical text, and, most importantly, shows how all Scripture is about Christ. Leithart does this all with penetrating theological insight, wry humor, and even more than his customary eloquence. I literary could not put the book down.
If there is only one book you read on Biblical interpretation, this should be the book. It is too well written and profound to be considered a "textbook," but it is so full of insight and such a delight to read that a kind professor might give his students a break and assign them a book that would be sheer pleasure. Anyone serious about reading the Bible and looking for guidance in reading not only deeply, but in a manner that is faithful to the Bible as Holy Scripture should read Leithart's Deep Exegesis.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It has been taken for granted in the last century that the venerable medieval exegesis of the quadriga, as well as any hermeneutical practice prior to the nineteenth century, was "pre-critical," and hence unscientific, unreliable, and fanciful. Rigorous grammatico-historical exegesis, it has been argued and accepted, is basically the only way to go, whether you're liberal or conservative. Ironically, conservatives have militantly defended this stifling limitation on the Bible's ability to speak to us, because they fear that opening up the meaning of the text at all will leave it victim to the interpreter's whim to twist the text however he wishes.
In Deep Exegesis, Peter Leithart comes out firing on all cylinders against this odd modernist myopia, showing that it destroys the integrity of the Biblical text, as surely as it would destroy any other work of literature on which such a method was used. He employs very recent discoveries in the philosophy of language, philosophy of history, and literature, to vindicate and enhance a very ancient understanding of how texts work, arguing that a "literal" conservative hermeneutic need not be minimalist but can be as deep and broad as the Scriptural narrative itself.
Leithart keeps our journey along this sophisticated path pleasant and easy by enlisting dozens of examples from literature, pop culture, and everyday life to illuminate his argument, and by his characteristically lighthearted (forgive the pun), readable style.
In Deep Exegesis, Peter Leithart comes out firing on all cylinders against this odd modernist myopia, showing that it destroys the integrity of the Biblical text, as surely as it would destroy any other work of literature on which such a method was used. He employs very recent discoveries in the philosophy of language, philosophy of history, and literature, to vindicate and enhance a very ancient understanding of how texts work, arguing that a "literal" conservative hermeneutic need not be minimalist but can be as deep and broad as the Scriptural narrative itself.
Leithart keeps our journey along this sophisticated path pleasant and easy by enlisting dozens of examples from literature, pop culture, and everyday life to illuminate his argument, and by his characteristically lighthearted (forgive the pun), readable style.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Deep Exegesis
I enjoy reading books relating to hermeneutics. This was a particularly interesting book to me.
Peter Leithart, Senior Fellow of Theology and Literature at St. Andrews College, has added to my library a book that has opened my eyes, or opened them anew, to some important truths.
Time and space will not permit an in-depth review. For this reason I shall note what stood out to me as interesting and worthy of consideration:
1.Leithart seems to like essentially literal translations of the Scripture due to the fact that words have meaning and should be translated as such, as opposed to the idea that words are "malleable" (pg 6) and can be changed (in such manners as gender neutral translations, or in dynamic equivalence translations where ancient idioms are changed to present day idioms). He has a point that should be seriously considered. After all, we must have a text which is true to the original text. If not, what is the use of exegesis?
2.Leithart also brings up a very interesting point when he posits that the meaning of a text can change with time. He uses the example of someone who shoots a person and is charged with attempted murder. When the victim dies a few hours later, the circumstances have changed, so the shooter is charged with murder. The point to be seen here, is not the fact that the meaning of a text changes, as Leithart says. The point is that subsequent events give us a different perspective on the text, thus influencing our understanding of the text as well as the text's significance to us. Leithart's point, never the less, should be seriously considered, because we must look into backgrounds, etc. if we are to understand a text, and in that he and I agree.
3.Another thing that Leithart mentions is structure and themes in texts. That is important. We need to look at the big picture before we dig into the narrow portion of a few verses. We should see what themes are at play as well as what the structure is, and what we are lead to in latter portions of the text.
One thing that I did not like is that Leithart seems to appreciate a grammatical-historical hermeneutic, but does not seem to confine himself to that; and I believe that one must adhere to that to be true to the text.
In the end, I enjoyed the book and will probably refer to it again. It is a book for readers with advanced reading capabilities, who will take the time to think through what is said, and for readers who have discernment and a will to rightly divide the Word of God.
Thanks to the kind folk at Baylor University Press for providing this copy of Deep Exegesis for review.
I enjoy reading books relating to hermeneutics. This was a particularly interesting book to me.
Peter Leithart, Senior Fellow of Theology and Literature at St. Andrews College, has added to my library a book that has opened my eyes, or opened them anew, to some important truths.
Time and space will not permit an in-depth review. For this reason I shall note what stood out to me as interesting and worthy of consideration:
1.Leithart seems to like essentially literal translations of the Scripture due to the fact that words have meaning and should be translated as such, as opposed to the idea that words are "malleable" (pg 6) and can be changed (in such manners as gender neutral translations, or in dynamic equivalence translations where ancient idioms are changed to present day idioms). He has a point that should be seriously considered. After all, we must have a text which is true to the original text. If not, what is the use of exegesis?
2.Leithart also brings up a very interesting point when he posits that the meaning of a text can change with time. He uses the example of someone who shoots a person and is charged with attempted murder. When the victim dies a few hours later, the circumstances have changed, so the shooter is charged with murder. The point to be seen here, is not the fact that the meaning of a text changes, as Leithart says. The point is that subsequent events give us a different perspective on the text, thus influencing our understanding of the text as well as the text's significance to us. Leithart's point, never the less, should be seriously considered, because we must look into backgrounds, etc. if we are to understand a text, and in that he and I agree.
3.Another thing that Leithart mentions is structure and themes in texts. That is important. We need to look at the big picture before we dig into the narrow portion of a few verses. We should see what themes are at play as well as what the structure is, and what we are lead to in latter portions of the text.
One thing that I did not like is that Leithart seems to appreciate a grammatical-historical hermeneutic, but does not seem to confine himself to that; and I believe that one must adhere to that to be true to the text.
In the end, I enjoyed the book and will probably refer to it again. It is a book for readers with advanced reading capabilities, who will take the time to think through what is said, and for readers who have discernment and a will to rightly divide the Word of God.
Thanks to the kind folk at Baylor University Press for providing this copy of Deep Exegesis for review.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Useful close readings
The author provides useful close readings of John 9 and many other Biblical texts, making this a valuable book on that score. Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. M. Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant introduction to theologically rich hermeneutics
Read this and other reviews by me and other scholars at the blog "For Christ and His Kingdom".
Rev. Dr. Peter J. Read more
Rev. Dr. Peter J. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Peter A. Green
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life Changing!
When I was taught to study the Bible I was told there are rules to follow. Those rules prevent us from falling into the nonsense of that allegorical (read: Catholic) method. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Jacob Sweeney
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best of its kind
This is one of the best books on understanding the Bible that I've read. Leithart goes through different aspects of understanding the biblical text, constantly coming back to John... Read more
Published on July 4, 2010 by John Dekker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deep Clarification
I found this book to be profound, witty, thought provoking and extremely helpful. For many years, the biblical interpretation I found left me dissastisfied. Read more
Published on October 12, 2009 by Steven M. Esmond
1.0 out of 5 stars
Deep Exegesis using Deep Vocabulary
My apologies to the author Peter Leithart for the one star critique, I do appreciate the time you put in developing this book. Read more
Published on September 25, 2009 by Edward E. Grensky
