Customer Reviews

Reading the Old Testament, Revised and Expanded: Method in Biblical Study

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Barton's book would serve as a fine introduction to any student interested in practical application of source, form, redaction, or structuralist criticism to the Bible. Barton's prose is lucid, his examples extraordinary. His discussion of structuralism is the clearest demonstration that I have read. The book suffers from two flaws. First, Barton's book was written prior to the time when deconstruction became a trendy approach to scripture. Thus, students should be aware the structuralism has transformed into another approach more suited for the nihilistic climate of our age. Second, for those of us who believe that God is speaking to us through his word, Barton leaves little hope. He concludes that future study should focus on the act of reading rather than the mimetic relationship between text and man. While perhaps an intriguing scholarly study, it does little for those of us seeking to know God more fully.

This book is probably the best introduction to biblical interpretation out there. It's simple and straight forward as well as informative. It is definitely a book I would recommend from from which the reader will benefit.

The book covers the most common methods starting with literary competence and genre-recognition, on to literary, form and redaction criticism. Barton also covers the canonical approach, structuralism, historical-critical method, intentionalism, poetics. The 1997 edition of the book also addresses, albeit briefly, rhetorics and post-structuralist trends such deconstruction and postmodernism. It uses the book of Ecclesiastes as an example and a case study for the discussion of the methods presented in the book.


Additionally, I feel a need to respond to the objections presented by the previous reviewer. Judging by his first complaint about deconstruction, he is clearly speaking about the first edition of this book, the 1984 edition and not the current 1997 edition. As I've mentioned above, Barton addresses post-structuralist trends in this new edition, albeit briefly. Hence the first complaint isn't applicable to the present volume. As for the second complaint, I disagree with the reviewer that Barton leaves a little hope for those who believe the Bible to be the Word of God. Barton simply presents the reader with a set of tools and methods for the study of the Bible. These only enhance ones understanding of the Bible, not hinder it. One can still seek and come to know God -- understanding of literary forms or genre for example, does not prevent him or her from doing so.

I had to read this for an Old Testament class in seminary. I found myself frustrated when reading this book because I kept wondering where Barton landed on the various critical methods he describes. Then I realized that was not the purpose of this book. This book does a great job of explaining the issues and what you can look for. For example, if you are reading an article by some scholar and he discusses form criticism, this book will help you to understand what that means. It will also help to explain what presuppositions that scholar brings to the text as he begins to analyze it.

It is not an easy read and it was not a popular one in my class, but I am very glad that I had to read it. Prepare to be stretched if you are only used to reading authors with whom you agree.

Barton makes his intentions very clear. This is an introduction to biblical criticism. However, it offers no specific suggestion to the reader. Instead, Barton traces the development of biblical criticism from the Romantic period to the present, carefully describing the benefits and drawbacks of many historical approaches. His prose is measured, moderate, and occasionally funny, too.