Customer Reviews

Scripture: An Ecumenical Introduction To The Bible and its Interpretation

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I pre-ordered this book because I was looking for a truly ecumenical introduction to the Scriptures for a university course I am creating. There is much that is admirable (e.g. readability, organization, and tone) about this text, but it is far from ecumenical. Giving nods to Roman Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox, and African-American understandings of the Bible, it is nevertheless written primarily from the perspective of mainline (theologically liberal) Protestantism.

Of the 15 authors, not one represents the Evangelical understanding (which is denigrated in this text), nor a Fundamentalist perspective (which the authors seem to confuse with Evangelicalism), nor even an Anabaptist viewpoint (the Church of the Brethren contributor to the text was apparently writing from a mainline, as opposed to Anabaptist standpoint).

It is rather dismissive of those who would believe in inerrancy, creationism, conservative politics, biblicism, or American exceptionalism. I do not share in all of those viewpoints, but I cannot imagine a truly ecumenical approach to Scripture that does not do them justice. We need such a book. This text, unfortunately, is not it. This probably reflects the fact that all of the contributors are associated with a single seminary and therefore do not reflect the full range of available options.

Gorman is readable for the layperson. The types of literature contained in Hebrew Scriptures explain the breadth of concepts of the "divine," which has puzzled me for decades. This is a good basic overview of biblical content.

Excellent book, easily read for novice and scholar alike, a thorough introduction to biblical interpretation.