Customer Reviews

Disciples and the Bible: A History of Disciples Biblical Interpretation in North America

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Boring is doing the Stone-Campbell tradition a favor with his book. He tackles the difficult job of tracing 200 years (1804 to date) of biblical interpretation in North America by dividing them into five "generations." His definitions of "generation" are logical and help the reader to understand the evolution of biblical interpretation by Disciple leaders down through the years. For each "generation" Boring fairly describes "the good, the bad, and the ugly." Yet he does so with an irenic spirit.

The churches of Christ and the Christian Church/Church of Christ branches of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement receive only one chapter each, in the book. Yet, throughout, Boring makes frequent references to each fellowship as he attempts to associate them with the influences of biblical interpretations by past "generation" leaders.

The book is heavily footnoted. The bibliography is extensive. I rate the book highly because of the difficulty of the subject matter and the excellent analysis displayed by the author. I believe church leaders, bible educators, and bible students, especially of the Stone-Campbell tradition, will benefit from the book.

"Disciples and the Bible" helps fill a gap in understanding hermeneutical history in the Restoration movement. Boring's book is useful in understanding the "how's" and "why's" of doctrinal "development" in Restoration thinking. For those in the Church of Christ and Christian Church branches of the Restoration movement, the book is less helpful (by Boring's admission). The main focus centres on the Disciples of Christ, and after the various splits in the movement, less attention is given to the other streams. Do not let the 500+ pages overly impress you, as the type set is rather large (making the reading easier, but meaning there is less to read). At times, the book comes across as a compilation of book reviews, as Boring examines some of the notable Restoration scholars and their works. This is a part of his purpose in tracing Restoration biblical interpretation. There seems to not be a great deal of attention given to the content of sermons in the five generations of the Restoration movement. Boring recognizes that this would be another means of approaching the topic, and that it would be a daunting task. Boring leaves you hungry for more, which is not a bad thing. The book is filled with headings, subheadings and a substantial bibliography which should prove helpful to further independent research.

It is quite clear that modern Christians, especially mainline Protestants, have become biblically illiterate -- this is true despite great advancements in historical and theological study of the Bible. Eugene Boring, who is an accomplished New Testament scholar, wrote this book in 1997 for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He shares here the way in which a faith community that has rooted itself in Scripture, especially New Testament, studied and made use of this text.

At the close of the book he offers important advice as to how a community of faith can reengage with Scripture and over come its tendency toward illiteracy. If we're going to talk theologically as a community that is non-creedal, then we must understand that resource that stands at the center of our faith.

This is essential reading! And just to make a play on the author's name -- this book is in no way boring!!