Rightly Divided: Readings in Biblical Hermeneutics. Ed. by Roy B. Zuck. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishers, 1996. 320 pp. Paper, $14.99.
Dr. Zuck has woven together a scholarly work with contributions from scholars associated with such institutions as Oxford and Aberdeen, as well as Dallas, Denver, Gordon Conwell, Trinity, and Western Conservative Seminaries on how to interpret God’s Word. He takes his title from 2 Tim 2:15 (in KJV and NKJV), not using the phrase to support dispensational distinctives (though the editor does accept these), but as an exhortation concerning the central principles to properly interpret Scripture.
The initial essay, “The What and Why of Bible Interpretation,” by the general editor, faces the gaps that exist between the ancient text and today’s reader. Zuck refers to the time, special customs, language, writing, and spiritual gaps. Though there are hindrances, the Bible can be understood, Zuck maintains.
This reviewer found the chapters on language and on context especially interesting. There is a divided house as to whether an OT text can only mean what the actual author meant or whether deeper revelations (especially in the NT) are there too.
Arthur L. Farstad
Editor
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Dallas, TX
