The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation [Paperback]

Grant R. Osborne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

Recipient of a Christianity Today 1993 Critics Choice Award!In this comprehensive and up-to-date volume, Grant R. Osborne provides seminary students and working pastors with the full set of tools they need to move from sound exegesis to the development of biblical and systematic theologies and to the preparation of sound, biblical sermons.Osborne contends that hermeneutics is a spiral from text to context--a movement between the horizon of the text and the horizon of the reader that spirals nearer and nearer toward the intended meaning of the text and its significance for today.He develops his thesis in each of three sections: the first covering general hermeneutics (grammar, semantics, syntax, backgrounds), the second covering hermeneutics and genre, and the third covering applied hermeneutics. Along the way, he offers assessments of recent developments from redaction criticism to reader response criticism. In two appendixes he also addresses the contemporary philosophical challenges to fixed meanings in texts and discusses the implications of this debate for biblical authority.Covering the wide spectrum from exegesis to sermon preparation, Osborne's up-to-date and comprehensive text should prove to be the standard evangelical work in the field for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Osborne (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He also serves as series editor for the IVP New Testament Commentary Series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 499 pages
• Publisher: Intervarsity Pr (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830812881
• ISBN-13: 978-0830812882
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,045,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Grant R. Osborne (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1977. His areas of expertise include the Gospels, hermeneutics, and the book of Revelation. His numerous publications include The Hermeneutical Spiral and commentaries on Revelation, Romans, John, and Matthew.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and practical., May 12, 2005

By 

George VANPOPTA (Ancaster, Ont.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)

This book is aptly subtitled, for comprehensive it is! Osborne goes the length in this book from explaining how to study the Biblical text in its original language to advice on delivery of sermons.

A basic thesis he mentions a number of times throughout the book is that the goal of hermeneutics is not the commentary but the sermon. This textbook is very detailed and yet practical: almost everything he writes is aimed at how to write a relevant sermon for a congregation today.

Part one deals with General Hermeneutics. Here he addresses matters of context, grammar, semantics, syntax, and historical and cultural backgrounds.

In part two Osborne discusses extensively the different genre of the Bible which he divides as narrative, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, apocalyptic, parable, and epistle. A preacher will do well to consult the different chapters when preaching on a text of a particular genre.

In Part 3, the author deals with Applied Hermeneutics. He writes about the place of Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology in the interpretation of Scripture. The second to last chapter is about contextualization-showing a congregation today how the text is relevant for them. The book comes together in the last chapter, "The Sermon," in which Osborne gives both theoretical and practical instruction in preparing the sermon and preaching.

Osborne promotes what is often called the textual-thematic (also known as textual- reconstructive or expository) sermon. He does not, however, totally reject the topical sermon.

This is a very good book. It would serve well as a textbook for a seminary course on hermeneutics. Considering its size (500 pages of dense type), a minister in a busy pastorate might be a bit intimidated to take it on. But then, that's what sabbaticals are for!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides a Solid Foundation for Biblical Interpretation, March 28, 2009

By 

anothernameinthehat (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)

The size of the book may seem daunting to many (500+ pages), but the knowledge contained within will be worth your time if you are considering to properly study the Bible. This book pretty much covers the wide range of subjects necessary to properly interpret the biblical texts. It doesn't address each of these subjects in extensive details, but it does provide a solid foundation for further investigation. Most of the material contained within the book can be very dry - like any other textbook or instruction manual, but it is invaluable for properly studying the Bible. I would recommend reading the book straight through the first time, and then put it on your shelf as a handy reference tool.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It has helped me., February 15, 2011

By 

Beukeboom (Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)

Other reviewers have described the content of the book better than I but I'd like to add some personal thoughts. First off, I am merely a Christian layman who is always looking to improve my Biblical study methods and with that in mind, this book does a very good job helping me. Hermeneutics sounds intimidating but it is just the theory and methodology of interpetation. In this case, interpretation of Biblical text. This book came highly recommended to me by several Christian scholars and I now realize why it comes so highly recommended. It not only is good as an introduction to Biblical hermeneutics for the layman like me, it is also good for the seminary student as well (in fact this book is used at many Christian seminaries). Don't be intimidated by the title. It is a wonderfully helpful textbook written in an easy-to-understand style and in a manner designed to teach.

If you are one who wishes to improve one's Bible studies, this is definitely a book to read as an aid.