New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Principles and Methods

Essays on New Testament Interpretation
Essays on New Testament Interpretation

In 1977 Howard Marshall edited a collection of essays on New Testament interpretation contributed by some of the best Evangelical scholars in the UK, many of whom have since gone to their reward, including Marshall himself. The volume has proved to be of enduring value to students, particularly F.F Bruce’s masterful summary of the history of New Testament study. All of the essays are available for free download, thanks to the kind permission of Paternoster Press. Click on the individual articles to download.

I. Howard Marshall, ed. New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Principles and Methods. Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, 1977, revised 1979, 1985. Pbk. pp.406.

Contents

Editor’s Foreword

Introduction – I. Howard Marshall

Part I – The Background To Interpretation II

The History of New Testament Study – F.F. Bruce

Presuppositions in New Testament Criticism – Graham N. Stanton

Part II – The Use of Critical Methods in Interpretation

Semantics and New Testament Interpretation – Anthony C. Thiselton

Questions of Introduction – Donald Guthrie

The Religious Background – John W. Drane

Historical Criticism – I. Howard Marshall

Source Criticism – David Wenham

Form Criticism – Stephen H. Travis

Tradition History – David R. Catchpole

Redaction Criticism – Stephen S. Smalley

Part III – The Task of Exegesis XII

How the New Testament Uses the Old – E. Earle Ellis

Approaches To New Testament Exegesis – Ralph P. Martin

Exegesis in Practice: Two Examples – R.T. France

Demythologising – The Problem of Myth in the New Testament – James D.G. Dunn

The New Hermeneutic – Anthony C. Thiselton

The Authority of the New Testament – Robin Nixon

Expounding the New Testament – John Goldingay

Bibliography

Indexes

Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives

Essays on the Patriachal NarrativesEssays on the Patriarchal Narratives brings together a team of seven Old Testament scholars who examine the evidence for the authenticity of Genesis 12-50. All of the essays are available for free access. Just click on the individual links below to view.

Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives – Table of Contents

The Patriarchs in Scripture and History – John Goldingay

Methods of Studying the Patriarchal Narratives as Ancient Texts – Alan R. Millard

Archaeological Data and the Dating of the Patriarchs – John J. Bimson

Comparative Customs and the Patriarchal Age – Martin J. Selman

Abraham Reassessed – Donald J. Wiseman

The Religion of the Patriarchs – Gordon J. Wenham

Diversity and Unity in the Literary Structure of Genesis – David W. Baker

Preface

Today there is renewed interest in the history and traditions of the patriarchal period. Recent publications have sought, among other things, to show that the biblical patriarchs were a literary, even fictional, creation of the first millennium BC, produced to provide the nation of Israel, which came into prominence only then, with ‘founding fathers’. Much of this new writing is helpful in distinguishing what are traditional or speculative interpretations from the basic text of Genesis. Sometimes archaeological evidence has been adduced in support of the historicity of the patriarchs and their cultural background in the second millennium BC which can no longer be sustained. Sometimes, however, the value of such evidence is ignored or belittled.

In the light of the importance of this subject for the proper understanding of the historical reliability and the theological teaching of the Bible (which cannot be separated), the Council of Tyndale House set up an Old Testament project group to look afresh at aspects of the problems raised. These essays are the first fruits of its work. We are grateful to all who have supported the research and to those scholars who have given time to it.

Since such studies depend largely on the validity of the methods of study, this matter has initial place. Attention is given also to matters of tradition-history and structural analysis of the text. The essays review past work and attempt, in their various ways, to break new ground and stimulate further study. They aim to make a positive contribution, not merely to criticize the works of other writers. Each, necessarily, reflects the views of its own author, rather than of the contributors as a whole.

These essays are offered in the context of a continuing debate, yet with the hope that they will prove of interest and help to many concerned with a subject of absorbing historical and theological importance.

D.J.W.
A.R.M.

© 1980 A.R. Millard & D.J. Wiseman, reproduced by permission. Prepared for the web by Robert I. Bradshaw, January 2004. Please report any typographic errors.

Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel

Notes on Some Problems in the Book of DanielNotes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel was one of the first collections of articles that I placed on-line. It remains one of my favourites, both for the enduring value of the essays included in it and for Professor Wiseman’s response to my letter requesting his permission to digitise it:

“My own contribution has been wisely followed and I still feel that it answers problems & I would be willing for you to reproduce my chapter with due acknowledgement.”

– D.J. Wiseman, 15th July 2005.

You can download the each article by clicking on the links below.

Some Historical Problems in the Book of Daniel – D.J. Wiseman – pp. 9-18.

The Musical Instruments in Nebuchadnezzar’s Orchestra – T.C. Mitchell and R. Joyce – pp. 19-27.

The Hebrew of Daniel – W.J. Martin – pp. 28-30. 

The Aramaic of Daniel – K.A. Kitchen – 31-79.

Foreword

This monograph brings together, in expanded form, some of the papers first read at the Tyndale Fellowship Old Testament Study Group meeting at Tyndale House, Cambridge, in July, 1964 to consider some of the many problems to be found in the book of Daniel. While the views here expressed are those of the individual authors, it is considered that the data collected, the subjects covered, and the new theories proposed are sufficiently important to warrant their presentation in a more permanent form. They present a challenge to commonly held views and it is hoped that they will contribute to the further understanding of some of the difficulties studied….