Synopses & Reviews
While traditional doctrinal and historical interpretations rely heavily on rational analysis, the impact of scripture is mainly on the human heart. Examining this impact in the light of linguistic and literary theory, feminism, structuralism, Jungianism, deconstructionism, the analysis of archaic imagery and myth, the recovery of Gnostic texts, and finally an openness to pluralism, whether ethnic, geographic, religious, or interpretive, Schuyler Brown explores scripture today. He explains that texts are not simply storehouses of knowledge but rather "a vineyard" (Hugh of St. Victor) to be tilled for the reader's nurture and pleasure.
Synopsis
Traditional doctrinal and historical interpretation both rely heavily on rational analysis. But from the disciples at Emmaus to the beginnings of the present century, it has been the impact of scripture upon the human heart that has changed human lives. In recent decades, this impact has been strengthened by advances in linguistic and literary theory, by such disparate influences as feminism, structuralism, Jungianism, deconstructionism, the analysis of archaic imagery and myth, the recovery of Gnostic texts, and finally an openness to pluralism, whether ethnic, geographic, religious, or interpretive.
All of these factors are treated here with a brevity and comprehensiveness which convincingly show that the reader of scripture has a creative and not merely passive role.