This book is written by an outstanding reformed, Presbyterian-theology writer. Poythress is professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. One of the most serious things we do is interpret Scripture.  If we are wrong there, then we will distort or altogether miss the Bible’s message.   Vern Poythress has taught hermeneutics for more than twenty years.  He knows his topic and ably communicates it in oral and written form.  He has written extensively on this and other subjects.

Poythress sets forth a Trinitarian approach to interpreting Scripture.  He reminds us at the outset that if we read and interpret the Bible as merely a human book, we distort the message.  He uses alliterations to illustrate some of the most common distortions, creating characters such as Libby Liberal, Natalie Naturalist, and Norma Narratologist that make the reading delightful and help the reader understand and apply Poythress’ points. Some chapter titles that may whet your appetite for this book include: “God and Biblical Interpretation,” “What is the Bible?,” “The Purpose of the Bible,” “The Triune Character of Truth,” “Meaning,” “Communication,” and “Steps in Interpretation.”

One thread the author weaves throughout the book, both explicitly and implicitly, is the fact that our view of God impacts our interpretation of Scripture.  Poythress writes, “To know the author is to know [God].  If we are darkened in our understanding of God, our knowledge of the Bible will inevitably suffer, sometimes subtly, sometimes radically.”  The concluding chapter of the book, “Differences in the Doctrine of God among Christians” clearly reminds us of this point. 

Poythress also underscores the need to combine an understanding of the speaker (writer), the audience addressed, and the discourse or text in order to begin to comprehend God’s message to us.  The chapter “Steps in Interpretation” delineates three steps that help us study and interpret the Word.  Poythress also understands the weakness of the “Enlightenment, scientific, and rationalistic” approach to interpreting Scripture—the assumption that using all the right tools and logic will guarantee a correct interpretation. He maintains that a sense of how the church throughout history has understood a passage is necessary—essential—if we are to correctly interpret the Bible.

Poythress reminds us that we can get information from the Bible and still miss God’s message.  To understand the Bible we must involve both the mind and the heart; we must exegete soundly but also wrestle with the application of God’s Word for today’s setting.  Poythress clearly grasp the strengths and weaknesses of post-modernism, which makes his book valuable reading. It will be extremely helpful in teaching students how to correctly interpret the Bible. 

- Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator