Reclaiming the Bible for the Church

There are more Bibles and more versions of the Bible in circulation than ever before. Yet, the Bible's image as an authoritative book is being challenged by scholars. Can the Bible still speak to the church in an age of critical historical awareness?

In Reclaiming the Bible for the Church, front-ranking theologians speak out on the crisis of biblical authority and interpretation in the church, focusing in particular on the adequacy of the historical-critical method of hermeneutics. The essays address from various perspectives the notorious gap between the historical- critical approach to the study of the Bible and the church's liturgical and dogmatic transmission of biblical faith. The authors, following the central theme suggested by Brevard S. Childs's "canonical method" of biblical interpretation, argue that the historical -critical method does not suffice of itself apart from faith and the church.