Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship - by David I Starling (Paperback)

About the Book

Offers a fresh approach to the art of biblical interpretation, focusing on the ways Scripture itself forms its readers as wise and faithful interpreters.

Book Synopsis

A Fresh Approach to the Art of Biblical Interpretation

This book offers a fresh approach to the art of biblical interpretation, focusing on the ways Scripture itself forms its readers as wise and faithful interpreters. David Starling shows that apprenticing ourselves to the interpretive practices of the biblical writers and engaging closely with texts from all parts of the Bible help us to develop the habits and practices required to be good readers of Scripture. After introducing the principles, Starling works through the canon, providing inductive case studies in interpretive method and drawing out implications for contemporary readers. Offering a fresh contribution to hermeneutical discussions, this book will be an ideal supplement to traditional hermeneutics textbooks for seminarians. It includes a foreword by Peter O'Brien.

From the Back Cover

"Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship is a refreshing and important call to think of biblical interpretation not in terms of mastering the text but of learning the craft of interpretation from the biblical authors themselves. Such apprenticeship is ultimately less methodological mastery than spiritual formation. Starling focuses on the way the biblical authors themselves received earlier texts and composed Scripture by means of inner-biblical interpretation. In an age of pervasive interpretive pluralism, where no single interpretive practice stands out as authoritative, Starling's case for contemporary interpreters to become apprentices to the biblical authors who know how to read the Bible, and themselves, in the light of Christ is a suggestion as timely as it is welcome."
--Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"What is theological interpretation of the Bible? In this wise and provocative book, Starling invites us to see how Scripture interprets Scripture. Highlighting various interpretive dispositions and practices at work within the two Testaments, he offers us models for our own continuing apprenticeship in reading the Bible as Scripture. The result (to change metaphors) is a hermeneutical feast to be tasted, tested, savored, and shared with others."
--Michael J. Gorman, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore

"Among Protestant interpreters, it is axiomatic that the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture itself. Starling develops this proverb in a provocative, fertile direction--urging, first, that we attend to how Scripture itself has already interpreted Scripture and, second, that we learn from the patterns and habits of theological interpretation we find in Scripture. He insightfully demonstrates how our interpretive practices might be shaped through these exercises in practical wisdom."
--Joel B. Green, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Hermeneutics as Apprenticeship paves a distinctive pathway into the conversation on biblical hermeneutics. Starling enlists the Reformation sensibility that Scripture interprets Scripture and sets about studying the internal hermeneutic of select biblical authors. This case study approach is as refreshing as it is insightful. He leads the reader through central motifs that emerge from his study--from a hermeneutics of virtue in Ruth to a hermeneutics of empire in 1 Peter. He suggests that we would do well to apprentice ourselves to the biblical authors and offers a model for doing just that."
--Jeannine Brown, Bethel Seminary-San Diego

About the Author

David I. Starling (PhD, University of Sydney) is senior lecturer in New Testament and theology and head of the Bible and Theology Department at Morling College in New South Wales, Australia. He has authored several books, including UnCorinthian Leadership: Thematic Reflections on 1 Corinthians, and is the New Testament book review editor for Themelios.