Mere Christian hermeneutics : transfiguring what it means to read the Bible theologically / Kevin J. Vanhoozer.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-399) and indexes.

Introduction: An experiment in biblical-theological criticism -- Part 1. Reading the Bible in and out of church : the divided domain of the word. -- Forming reading cultures : from biblical literacy to gospel citizenship -- Exegesis in a toolshed : a conflict of reading cultures -- Biblical studies and theology as polarized reading cultures : the state of the question -- Part 2. Figuring out literal interpretation : the letter of the text. -- Defining sensus literalis (part 1) : from grammatical sense to eschatological reference -- Defining sensus literalis (part 2) : from the figural to the trans-figural -- Part 3. Transfiguring literal interpretation: the light of Christ. -- Shedding light on literality : light wrought -- The transfiguration of Christ : light revealed -- Transfiguring the literal : light refracted -- Transfiguring the reader : light reflected -- Conclusion: Beatific lection : transfiguring Christian reading cultures.

"How can we read the text of Scripture well, rightly, and faithfully? Challenges abound when it comes to reading Scripture, including not only the variety of actual interpretations of the Bible but also the plurality of reading cultures, each with its own preferred frame of reference. A cynical observer might say that the one thing Christians have never agreed on is how to interpret the Bible, or even on the meaning of the "literal sense." Theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer responds to these challenges by offering 'Mere Christian Hermeneutics.' The allusion to C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity is no accident, for he develops a "mere" Christian hermeneutic--that is, principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians. Vanhoozer seeks to fulfill this promise without degenerating into a bland ecumenical tolerance of conflicting opinions. Rather, he turns to the accounts of Jesus' transfiguration, a key moment in the broader economy of God's revelation, to suggest that spiritual or "figural" interpretation is not a denial or distortion of the literal sense but, rather, its glorification. In this light, he calls both church and academy to develop reading cultures that enable and sustain the kind of unity and diversity that "mere Christian hermeneutics" calls for and encourages." --

"A textbook of biblical interpretation, using Jesus' transfiguration as a case study, generative lens, and basis of a Christian hermeneutic"--