In Houses of the Interpreter, David Lyle Jeffrey explores the terrain of the cultural history of biblical interpretation. But Jeffrey does not merely rest content to chart biblical scholarship and how it has both influenced and been influenced by culture. Instead, he chooses to focus upon the ‘art’ of Biblical interpretation–how sculptors, musicians, poets, novelists, and painters have ‘read’ the Bible. By so doing, Jeffrey clearly demonstrates that such cultural interpretation has deepened the church’s understanding of the Bible as Scripture and that, remarkably, this cultural reading has contributed to theology and the practice of faith. Jeffrey’s chapters effectively root the theological issues central to any hermeneutical enterprise (e.g., Scriptural authority, narrative, the Old Testament as Christian Scripture, the role of the reader, gender, and postmodernism) in specific authors and artists (e.g., Chaucer, Bosch, Sir Orfeo, C. S. Lewis)—and he does this in constant conversation with literature, both eastern and western.
Table of Content
Preface and Acknowledgement
PART ONE: Scripture in the House of Theology
1. How Firm a Foundation…?
2. Masterplot and Meaning in Biblical Narrative
3. Self-Examination and the Examination of Texts
4. Charity and Cupidity in Biblical Tradition
5. The Gospel According to Isaiah
PART TWO: Scripture in the Houses of Art
6. Authority and Interpretation in the House of Fame
7. Chaucer’s Friar’s (Unpaid) Rent
8. Conversion in the English Saints’ Plays
9. Parody and Piety in Bosch’s Haywain
10. Sir Orfeo’s Harp: Music for the End of Time
PART THREE: Scripture in a House of Mirrors
11. Reading Wisely, Reading Well
12. Reading the Bible with C.S. Lewis
13. Scripture, Gender and Our Language of Worship
14. The Teaching Authority of Jesus and the Fatherhood of God
15. Postmodern Theology and Perennial Truth
Notes
Index
About the author
David Lyle Jeffrey is Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities at Baylor University. Jeffrey earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University and is also the author or editor of many books including The King James Bible and the World It Made, A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, and People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture.
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