Synopses & Reviews
In assigning a role for the Bible to play in Christian ethics, the popular question is, "How ought we to read?" Brian Brock contends the question we ought to consider is, "How can we genuinely pray and sing the Psalter?" Noting the central importance of the Psalter in the development of the church's doctrine and worship, he sets out an extended study of the Psalm exegesis of Augustine and Luther, examining the evidence showing both men felt that these performed Scriptures claim and reshape Christian action. Brock then suggests how this tradition must inform contemporary ethical and biblical interpretive judgments.With a unique combination of a survey of contemporary methodologies linking the Bible and Christian ethics, a close theological reading of the Psalm exegesis of these two revered theologians, and a theological analysis in a line-by-line exegesis explaining the Psalter's importance, Brock brings us a fresh, significant work.
Synopsis
Noting that academic biblical scholars and Christian ethicists have been methodologically estranged for some decades now, Brian Brock seeks to reframe the whole Bible-and-ethics discussion in terms of this question: What role does the Bible play in God's generation of a holy people -- and how do we participate in that regeneration?
Brock first examines various major contemporary thinkers on the Bible and Christian ethics, including John Howard Yoder, Brevard Childs, John Webster, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He then undertakes major discussions of Augustine and Martin Luther, unpacking their interpretation of the Psalms. Finally, Brock articulates the processes of renewal in God's people. His close study of a few individual psalms shows how we enter the world of praise in which all human life is comprehended within God's work -- and is thus renewed. Immersion in the exegetical tradition of the Christian faith, Brock argues, must be the heart and soul of theology and ethics.
Table of Contents
Introduction: the problem of estrangement from Scripture in Christian ethics -- Learning about reading the Bible for ethics -- Reading self-consciously : the hermeneutic solution -- Reading together : the communitarian solution -- Focusing reading : the biblical ethics solution -- Reading doctrinally : the biblical theology solution -- Reading as meditation : the exegetical theology solution -- Listening to the saints encountering the ethos of Scripture -- Augustine's ethos of salvific confession -- Luther's ethos of consoling doxology -- Singing the ethos of God -- Ethical exegesis : what have we encountered -- Exploring the place of Christian ethics in Scripture.