Customer Reviews

Living and Active: Scripture in the Economy of Salvation (Sacra Doctrina)

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telford work's first book (originally his doctoral dissertation from his fellowship at duke) rightly challenges the paradigm and dialect used by Christians to speak of their Holy Scriptures. rather than a simple reaction to recent scholarship on the doctrine of the Scripture, work (who modestly insists that his undergraduate students call him by his first name, telford) narrates the Bible's conception, mission, canonization, and ongoing life within the Church through the lens of the history of the Triune God's chosen community. to do this properly, telford work interacts with each of the many stages involved in Scripture's formation, including the beginnings of the Tanakh through the Sepuagint, as well as in the life and formation of Jesus through the post-ascension Church. by locating the use of Scripture in the life of God's Community - what he terms "the gathering" - he shows how the paradigm of inerrancy is fatally flawed. thus, telford fittingly presents a new ontological paradigm for the discussion of Scripture. he works alongside the giants of doctrine, including (but certainly not limited to) athanasius, augustine, barth, and barr. this is a profound and substantial book that will soon become a staple in colleges and seminaries, written by a man who is shaped not simply by ivory towers reaching into the sky, but infinitely more importantly, by the God to Whom such towers unknowingly point.

telford work's first book (originally his doctoral dissertation from his fellowship at duke) rightly challenges the paradigm and dialect used by Christians to speak of their Holy Scriptures. rather than a simple reaction to recent scholarship on the doctrine of the Scripture, work (who modestly insists that his undergraduate students call him by his first name, telford) narrates the Bible's conception, mission, canonization, and ongoing life within the Church through the lens of the history of the Triune God's chosen community. to do this properly, telford work interacts with each of the many stages involved in Scripture's formation, including the beginnings of the Tanakh through the Sepuagint, as well as in the life and formation of Jesus through the post-ascension Church. by locating the use of Scripture in the life of God's Community - what he terms "the gathering" - he shows how the paradigm of inerrancy is fatally flawed. thus, telford fittingly presents a new ontological paradigm for the discussion of Scripture. he works alongside the giants of doctrine, including (but certainly not limited to) athanasius, augustine, barth, and barr. this is a profound and substantial book that will soon become a staple in colleges and seminaries, written by a man who is shaped not simply by ivory towers reaching into the sky, but infinitely more importantly, by the God to Whom such towers unknowingly point.

Anglican Bishop Tom Wright mentions and recommends this book is a recent lecture, as a good resource for those who are trying to understand the role of the bible in the modern church and in Christianity. I take that as pretty high praise in itself!

I was taken aback by how convoluted and overreaching this text was. I guess I expected more. I found myself having to read and reread certain paragraphs and sections of this book just to understand what Telford was attempting to say. I found his open hostility toward the traditional position of inerrancy troubling. One reviewer says that Work "shows how the paradigm of inerrancy is fatally flawed." He shows no such thing. He approaches the discussion and falls flat in his efforts. One way to make your point it to denigrate your opponent. This he did do. He seemed to imply that all who believe in inerrancy are lowbrow fundamentalists. Ultimately, Work's overhaul (i.e., paradigm shift) for viewing the Word of God was simply over the top and without warrant. I note that this book came out in November 2001, but I have yet to see Bible colleges and seminaries adopting Work's new paradigm and dialect, and with a sales ranking of 711,096, his book is likely not going to usher in his "new paradigm."