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Book Reviewsby the work of the Holy Spirit'who illuminates the mind andwitnesses to the veracity ofthedivine verities'" (p. 77).The same chapter emphasizesScripture's clarity, a Reformationprinciple which impliesthe ability of all God'speople to understand the sacredrecord (pp. 78, 79).In a chapter entitled "Usingand Abusing Language,"Moises Silva warns against misusingword studies in etymology,synonyms, etc., but carriesthe warning too far when herelegates many distinctions inScripture to mere rhetorical devices.Verbal inspiration meansthat the Holy Spirit used everyword with a purpose.Several chapters warnagainst making the understandingof Scripture difficult by amultitude ofdistinctions, exercisesin literary analysis, interpretingin the light of non-canonicalliterature (such as theJewish Mishnah), and imposingcomplicated literary frameworkson the text. But otherchapters (see, for example, pp.8 & 9) pile distinction on distinctionand exercise on exerciseas being essential to explainthe sacred text.Norman Geisler has anexcellent chapter entitled "The'Relation ofPurpose and Meaningin Interpreting Scripture."He warns against making purposedetermine meaning, ratherthan meaning dete~mine purpose.He points out, correctly,that the former leads to a nonliteralinterpretation of Scripture,as, e.g., in the interpretationof Genesis 1. Those whodetermine in advance that thepurpose of Genesis I isdoxological then proceed todeny its literal meaning. Hepoints out that the same thinghas been done with texts condemninghomosexuality, andBultmann's demythologizingwas the end result of makingmeaning dependent on purpose.It is a chapter every student ofScripture ought to read.WalterJ. Kaiser, Jr. pleadsin a chapter with the title, "TheSingle Intent of Scripture," forthe position that Scripture hasonly one meaning. That meaningis the obvious one, the oneobvious from the words andthoughts. It is, says Kaiser, the"surface" meaning, the "prosaic"meaning; and it is the correctone. Looking for othermeanings, he warns, reducesexegesis to a shambles. Thevery fact that a warning like thisNovember, 200 I71
is necessary speaks volumesabout the state ofHermeneuticsin evangelical circles.Roger Nicole has a generallygood chapter on the use inthe New Testament ofOld Testamentquotations. The HolySpirit, says Nicole, may use hisown Old Testament Scripturesin any way He wishes whenwriting the New Testament.But Darrell L. Bock, in hischapter, "'Evangelicals and theUse ofthe Old Testament in theNew," makes the prophecies ofthe Old Testament which arefulfilled in the New so complicatedthat any child of God inthe pew would be totally unableto make use of these prophecies.As an aside, how well Iremember the days ofmy childhoodwhen young children fromCatechism class would give theirannual Christmas program andquote Old Testament prophecieswhich were fulfilled inChrist in an appropriate and biblicallycorrect way. It's a goodthing they did not have to readthe treatment ofthese things inthis book.Several chapters, withCharles Kraft leading the way,deal with the problem of makingScripturerelevant to ourday.This is an extremely perplexingproblem, apparently. Kraftwrites:Largely through the input ofthe grammatico-historicalmethod, evangelical scholarshave begun to pay more andmore attention to the interrelationshipsbetween the waysin which things are stated inScripture and the ways inwhich things were state.d inthe wider cultural context inwhich the people and eventsrecorded in Scripture participated.When it comes to theanalysis ofsuch cultural contexts,however, it is likelythatcontemporary disciplinessuch as anthropology and linguistics,dedicated as they areto a primary focus on theseissues, may be able to provideus with sharper tools foranalysis than the disciplinesofhistory and philology haveprovided. On this assumption,I am attempting to developan approach that maybe labeled culturolinguistic(or, better. ethnolinguistic) asa contemporary evangelicalmodification and amplificationof the grammatico-his- .torical method. This methoddepends greatly on the pioneeringinsights of Bibletranslation theorists such asEugene Nida (whose views72PRTJ
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ProtestantReformedTheologicalJourna
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EDITOR'S NOTESProf. Russell J. Dyks
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For there are many, even l unruly,
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happen to hold unwittingly to some
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tion oftheir false teachings. II Pe
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est, they are very weak, at worst,
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truth~' (see I Tim. 4: 1 - 4). Ever
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Thomas Bradwardine:Forgotten Mediev
Page 17 and 18:
ated grace and uncreated grace. Unc
Page 19 and 20:
Bradwardine faces the question ofth
Page 21 and 22: the age, namely, that having set fo
Page 23 and 24: did not identify Thomas Bradwardine
Page 25 and 26: The first is that Bradwardine was a
Page 27 and 28: to Bradwardine as oneof"two pre-emi
Page 29 and 30: Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Sir
Page 31 and 32: power of the papacy in Bradwardine'
Page 33 and 34: The Serious Callof the Gospel -Is t
Page 35 and 36: elieve th~s proclamation with uprig
Page 37 and 38: to bring good news with their "fig
Page 39 and 40: nation, we read of Melchisedek, the
Page 41 and 42: official activity ofa monarch's her
Page 43 and 44: 8): "Calling is ofthose elect and r
Page 45 and 46: ut all his posterity unable to obey
Page 47 and 48: alone, and He saves whom He will. E
Page 49 and 50: have moved away from the notion oft
Page 51 and 52: every member ofthe visible, institu
Page 53 and 54: fulfilling this calling is their pa
Page 55 and 56: contingent. Further, Calvin did not
Page 57 and 58: ofacceptance in terms of merit, ins
Page 59 and 60: covenant ofgrace and works, or it i
Page 61 and 62: Spiritual, Suffers Them to DefileTh
Page 63 and 64: the gospel is preached" (p. 212).In
Page 65 and 66: "They do not hold that JesusChrist
Page 67 and 68: II Corinthians 3:6 that "the letter
Page 69 and 70: is to oppose and to repulsethat sec
Page 71: Rightly Divided: Readings inBiblica
Page 75 and 76: Guilt, Grace and Gratitude,Lectures
Page 77 and 78: 76ted under the new? If it wererigh
Page 79 and 80: er to keep himself holy; forthe Sab
Page 81 and 82: there is room for both positionsin
Page 83 and 84: Dr. Gannett's eschatologyalso effec
Page 85 and 86: that, but man has a corrupt nature(
Page 87 and 88: the love of God is "universal"(p. 5
Page 89 and 90: ever, throughout the book thereis n
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