This book report serves both as an overview and an evaluation of Thomas B. Warren’s book, Logic and the Bible. Warren’s writing is an introduction to logic (“the science of correct reasoning”) and its relationship with the Bible. He focuses much of his discussion around the matter of implication/inference, and its importance in dealing with the Bible in a rational, logical way. Warren states the importance of this matter by describing a theological position that claims that no inference/implication of the Bible is binding to man, but is rather human doctrine/opinion. This ideology has a great impact on how one views the Bible, and Warren attempts to tackle this problem in this book. After introducing his goal, Warren then defines some important …show more content…
Those laws are the law of rationality, the laws of thought (which are the law of identity, the law of excluded middle, and the law of contradiction), and the law of inference and/or implication. Similar to the definitions given in the first section, understanding these laws is critical in the discussion of logic in general, as well as how it applies to the Bible. The law of rationality states “that men should draw only such conclusions as are warranted by the evience”. Warren relates this to the Bible by describing Biblical faith as rational (based on evidence), and not the “leap into the dark” that some claim faith to be (Rom. 10:17). This is a central idea in the discussion of logic and the …show more content…
Although it is by no means exhaustive, he does detail accounts involving Jesus, Peter, Paul, and others that clearly demonstrate both the use of the law of rationality in the Bible itself and by the men recorded in the Bible. The book also shows Bible passages (such as 1 Thess. 5:21 and Jude 3) that teach the use of the law of rationality by precept. This is another important aspect of Warren’s argument against those that reject logic in relation to the Bible. Then, Warren lists a series 134 different questions directed towards “agnostics and irrationalists”. These questions are specifically designed to reveal the self-contradictions inherent in the position held by agnostics and irrationalists. The inclusion of these questions is of great benefit to those that hold this position, but also to others in their dealings with aforementioned groups. Warren also details some specific ways to use these questions to help guide those who hold the agnostic or irrational viewpoint into
It is the reader and his or her interpretive community who attempts to impose a unified reading on a given text. Such readers may, and probably will, claim that the unity they find is in the text, but this claim is only a mask for the creative process actually going on. Even the most carefully designed text can not be unified; only the reader's attempted taming of it. Therefore, an attempt to use seams and shifts in the biblical text to discover its textual precursors is based on a fundamentally faulty assumption that one might recover a stage of the text that lacked such fractures (Carr 23-4).
Beyond the Bible is full of useful insights regarding how to apply scripture to doctrine and everyday life. Marshall, Vanhoozer, and Porter are all well-educated theologians. How to faithfully apply Scripture to everyday life is not conclusively agreed upon and laid out in this book, but it pushes readers to think about biblical interpretation in new ways. As mentioned earlier, hermeneutics is meant to be an on-going discussion, not a solo speech.
Evans, C. Stephen. Critical Dialog in Philosophy of Religion. 1985. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press. Taken from Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
N.T Wright (2008) stated that “When we read the scriptures as Christians, we read it precisely as people of the new covenant and of the new creation” (p.281). In this statement, the author reveals a paradigm of scriptural interpretation that exists for him as a Christian, theologian, and profession and Bishop. When one surveys the entirety of modern Christendom, one finds a variety of methods and perspectives on biblical interpretation, and indeed on the how one defines the meaning in the parables of Jesus. Capon (2002) and Snodgrass (2008) offer differing perspectives on how one should approach the scriptures and how the true sense of meaning should be extracted. This paper will serve as a brief examination of the methodologies presented by these two authors. Let us begin, with an
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
To begin, before a person can debate the validity of anything, they must first understand the topic they are debating. So is the case here. A person must first understand the Bible and its origins before they can try and prove or disprove it. The Bible itself is composed of 66 books divided int...
...hal. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Called to Love: Christian Witness Can Be the Best Response to Atheist Polemics." America 198 (2008): 23. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
The Bible is read and interpreted by many people all over the world. Regardless, no one knows the absolute truth behind scripture. Walter Brueggemann, professor of Old Testament, wrote “Biblical Authority” to help people understand what he describes as six different parts that make up the foundation to ones understanding of scripture. He defines these six features as being: inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance. As Brueggemann explains each individual part, it is easy to see that they are all interconnected because no one can practice one facet without involuntarily practicing at least one other part.
And again, “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus. . . since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 2:16.
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
Trible, P. (1973). ‘Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation’. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 41 (1), pp.30-48.
Unfortunately for Christians, there is actually very little law in the Bible -- either Old Testament or New -- that is original. Consider the Torah of the ancient Jews. The laws of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Hammurapi, Eshnunna, Hittites, Mishnah, and Israelites all bear a striking resemblance to each other, due to widespread copying of laws. Shared social norms produced identical laws against sorcery, kidnapping, sale of an abducted person, false witness, business dishonesty, bribing judges, property right violations, shutting off irrigation canals used by others, etc. The complete list of identical laws and customs is quite extensive. & nbsp; Nor is the New Testament's approach to the law unique.
6. Bohdan R. Bociurkiw and John W. Strong, Religion and Atheism in the U.S.S.R. and
In this paper I am trying to find out what true Biblical exegesis means. By finding that truth then I and the person reading this paper can leave with an understand-ing on how to comprehend the content of exegesis. Through out my paper you will see noted some of my sources. I have carefully read these books and have selected the best ones to fit the purpose of this document. I will be exploring many areas of exegesis and will be giving you a brief overview of these and then explaining different uses for exegesis.
Thiselton, A.C. (2005). Can the Bible mean whatever we want it to mean? Chester, U.K.: Chester Acadamic Press, 10-11.