Theology as Retrieval By W. David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Transcript of Theology as Retrieval By W. David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 152
Theology
Receiving the Past
Renewing the Church
W David Buschartamp Kent D Eilers
as Retrieval
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 352
Theology as
RetrievalReceiving the Past
Renewing the Church
W David Buschart
amp Kent D Eilers
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 1048625983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 9830949830889830931048625983093-1048625983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy9830909830881048625983093 by W David Buschart and Kent D Eilers
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
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InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIV reg Copyright copy 10486251048633983095983091 104862510486339830951048632 104862510486331048632983092 98309098308810486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
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ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-983090983092983094983095-983088 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-104863310486321048625983094-1048633 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 1048625983090 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 9830911048625 983091983088 9830901048633 9830901048632 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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Contents Acknowledgments 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Receiving and ransmitting the Deposit o Faith
he Shape o heological Retrieval Resemblances Models and
Authority Method Organization and Overview
983089 Scripture 983092983091
Commonality and Diversity
Vantage Points or heological Interpretation o Scripture
heological Cultures hat Prosper IS
he Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Practices
Coniguring heology and Exegesis by the Rule o Faith
Conclusion
983090 Theology 983096983089
An Alien Relevance heological Pasts
heology or the Christian Lie
Retrieval o and or a rinitarian Gospel
Fred Sanders he Deep hings of God
Donald Fairbairn Life in the rinity
Conclusion
983091 Worship 983089983089983095
Whose House Is his
An Alternative Way
Resources
Worship in the Key o RetrievalBloom
New Lie Downtown
Conclusion
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983092 Spirituality 983089983093983093
A Need or Wisdom
Quest or Sages and SourcesCruciorm Wisdom
Spirituality Guided by Christian Wisdom
om Schwanda Soul Recreation
Gary Neal Hansen Kneeling with Giants
Conclusion
983093 Mission 983089983097983091
Five Expressions o New Monasticism
he Monastic Impulse
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Cultivating and Sustaining the New
Monastic heological Imagination
he Monastic Impulse as Social Imaginary
Etienne Wenger Imagination Practices Reiication and Repertoire
Conclusion
1048630 Cosmos 983090983090983089
Radical Orthodoxy
Reclaiming the Cosmos or ldquoOnce there was no secularrdquo
Improvising raditionrsquos Harmony(s)
Constraint and Freedom in Jazz Improvisation
Catherine Pickstock radition and the Drit o ime
John Milbank Renarrating Christ and radition
Conclusion
Conclusion 983090983093983095
Epilogue 983090983095983095
Bibliography 983090983096983095
Author Index 983091983089983091
Subject Index 983091983089983093
Scripture Index 983091983089983095
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Theology as
RetrievalReceiving the Past
Renewing the Church
W David Buschart
amp Kent D Eilers
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 1048625983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 9830949830889830931048625983093-1048625983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy9830909830881048625983093 by W David Buschart and Kent D Eilers
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIV reg Copyright copy 10486251048633983095983091 104862510486339830951048632 104862510486331048632983092 98309098308810486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwideCover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images copy GregorysiStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-983090983092983094983095-983088 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-104863310486321048625983094-1048633 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 1048625983090 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 9830911048625 983091983088 9830901048633 9830901048632 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Contents Acknowledgments 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Receiving and ransmitting the Deposit o Faith
he Shape o heological Retrieval Resemblances Models and
Authority Method Organization and Overview
983089 Scripture 983092983091
Commonality and Diversity
Vantage Points or heological Interpretation o Scripture
heological Cultures hat Prosper IS
he Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Practices
Coniguring heology and Exegesis by the Rule o Faith
Conclusion
983090 Theology 983096983089
An Alien Relevance heological Pasts
heology or the Christian Lie
Retrieval o and or a rinitarian Gospel
Fred Sanders he Deep hings of God
Donald Fairbairn Life in the rinity
Conclusion
983091 Worship 983089983089983095
Whose House Is his
An Alternative Way
Resources
Worship in the Key o RetrievalBloom
New Lie Downtown
Conclusion
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983092 Spirituality 983089983093983093
A Need or Wisdom
Quest or Sages and SourcesCruciorm Wisdom
Spirituality Guided by Christian Wisdom
om Schwanda Soul Recreation
Gary Neal Hansen Kneeling with Giants
Conclusion
983093 Mission 983089983097983091
Five Expressions o New Monasticism
he Monastic Impulse
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Cultivating and Sustaining the New
Monastic heological Imagination
he Monastic Impulse as Social Imaginary
Etienne Wenger Imagination Practices Reiication and Repertoire
Conclusion
1048630 Cosmos 983090983090983089
Radical Orthodoxy
Reclaiming the Cosmos or ldquoOnce there was no secularrdquo
Improvising raditionrsquos Harmony(s)
Constraint and Freedom in Jazz Improvisation
Catherine Pickstock radition and the Drit o ime
John Milbank Renarrating Christ and radition
Conclusion
Conclusion 983090983093983095
Epilogue 983090983095983095
Bibliography 983090983096983095
Author Index 983091983089983091
Subject Index 983091983089983093
Scripture Index 983091983089983095
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Theology as
RetrievalReceiving the Past
Renewing the Church
W David Buschart
amp Kent D Eilers
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 1048625983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 9830949830889830931048625983093-1048625983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy9830909830881048625983093 by W David Buschart and Kent D Eilers
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIV reg Copyright copy 10486251048633983095983091 104862510486339830951048632 104862510486331048632983092 98309098308810486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwideCover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images copy GregorysiStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-983090983092983094983095-983088 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-104863310486321048625983094-1048633 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 1048625983090 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 9830911048625 983091983088 9830901048633 9830901048632 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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Contents Acknowledgments 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Receiving and ransmitting the Deposit o Faith
he Shape o heological Retrieval Resemblances Models and
Authority Method Organization and Overview
983089 Scripture 983092983091
Commonality and Diversity
Vantage Points or heological Interpretation o Scripture
heological Cultures hat Prosper IS
he Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Practices
Coniguring heology and Exegesis by the Rule o Faith
Conclusion
983090 Theology 983096983089
An Alien Relevance heological Pasts
heology or the Christian Lie
Retrieval o and or a rinitarian Gospel
Fred Sanders he Deep hings of God
Donald Fairbairn Life in the rinity
Conclusion
983091 Worship 983089983089983095
Whose House Is his
An Alternative Way
Resources
Worship in the Key o RetrievalBloom
New Lie Downtown
Conclusion
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983092 Spirituality 983089983093983093
A Need or Wisdom
Quest or Sages and SourcesCruciorm Wisdom
Spirituality Guided by Christian Wisdom
om Schwanda Soul Recreation
Gary Neal Hansen Kneeling with Giants
Conclusion
983093 Mission 983089983097983091
Five Expressions o New Monasticism
he Monastic Impulse
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Cultivating and Sustaining the New
Monastic heological Imagination
he Monastic Impulse as Social Imaginary
Etienne Wenger Imagination Practices Reiication and Repertoire
Conclusion
1048630 Cosmos 983090983090983089
Radical Orthodoxy
Reclaiming the Cosmos or ldquoOnce there was no secularrdquo
Improvising raditionrsquos Harmony(s)
Constraint and Freedom in Jazz Improvisation
Catherine Pickstock radition and the Drit o ime
John Milbank Renarrating Christ and radition
Conclusion
Conclusion 983090983093983095
Epilogue 983090983095983095
Bibliography 983090983096983095
Author Index 983091983089983091
Subject Index 983091983089983093
Scripture Index 983091983089983095
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2952
Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 452
InterVarsity Press
PO Box 1048625983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 9830949830889830931048625983093-1048625983092983090983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy9830909830881048625983093 by W David Buschart and Kent D Eilers
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement of
students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools of nursing in the United
States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students For
information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIV reg Copyright copy 10486251048633983095983091 104862510486339830951048632 104862510486331048632983092 98309098308810486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwideCover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images copy GregorysiStockphoto
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-983090983092983094983095-983088 (print)
ISBN 10486339830951048632-983088-10486329830919830881048632-104863310486321048625983094-1048633 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
P 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 1048625983090 10486251048625 1048625983088 1048633 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 9830911048625 983091983088 9830901048633 9830901048632 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 9830901048625 983090983088 10486251048633 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Contents Acknowledgments 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Receiving and ransmitting the Deposit o Faith
he Shape o heological Retrieval Resemblances Models and
Authority Method Organization and Overview
983089 Scripture 983092983091
Commonality and Diversity
Vantage Points or heological Interpretation o Scripture
heological Cultures hat Prosper IS
he Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Practices
Coniguring heology and Exegesis by the Rule o Faith
Conclusion
983090 Theology 983096983089
An Alien Relevance heological Pasts
heology or the Christian Lie
Retrieval o and or a rinitarian Gospel
Fred Sanders he Deep hings of God
Donald Fairbairn Life in the rinity
Conclusion
983091 Worship 983089983089983095
Whose House Is his
An Alternative Way
Resources
Worship in the Key o RetrievalBloom
New Lie Downtown
Conclusion
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983092 Spirituality 983089983093983093
A Need or Wisdom
Quest or Sages and SourcesCruciorm Wisdom
Spirituality Guided by Christian Wisdom
om Schwanda Soul Recreation
Gary Neal Hansen Kneeling with Giants
Conclusion
983093 Mission 983089983097983091
Five Expressions o New Monasticism
he Monastic Impulse
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Cultivating and Sustaining the New
Monastic heological Imagination
he Monastic Impulse as Social Imaginary
Etienne Wenger Imagination Practices Reiication and Repertoire
Conclusion
1048630 Cosmos 983090983090983089
Radical Orthodoxy
Reclaiming the Cosmos or ldquoOnce there was no secularrdquo
Improvising raditionrsquos Harmony(s)
Constraint and Freedom in Jazz Improvisation
Catherine Pickstock radition and the Drit o ime
John Milbank Renarrating Christ and radition
Conclusion
Conclusion 983090983093983095
Epilogue 983090983095983095
Bibliography 983090983096983095
Author Index 983091983089983091
Subject Index 983091983089983093
Scripture Index 983091983089983095
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 1152
Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Contents Acknowledgments 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Receiving and ransmitting the Deposit o Faith
he Shape o heological Retrieval Resemblances Models and
Authority Method Organization and Overview
983089 Scripture 983092983091
Commonality and Diversity
Vantage Points or heological Interpretation o Scripture
heological Cultures hat Prosper IS
he Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Practices
Coniguring heology and Exegesis by the Rule o Faith
Conclusion
983090 Theology 983096983089
An Alien Relevance heological Pasts
heology or the Christian Lie
Retrieval o and or a rinitarian Gospel
Fred Sanders he Deep hings of God
Donald Fairbairn Life in the rinity
Conclusion
983091 Worship 983089983089983095
Whose House Is his
An Alternative Way
Resources
Worship in the Key o RetrievalBloom
New Lie Downtown
Conclusion
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983092 Spirituality 983089983093983093
A Need or Wisdom
Quest or Sages and SourcesCruciorm Wisdom
Spirituality Guided by Christian Wisdom
om Schwanda Soul Recreation
Gary Neal Hansen Kneeling with Giants
Conclusion
983093 Mission 983089983097983091
Five Expressions o New Monasticism
he Monastic Impulse
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Cultivating and Sustaining the New
Monastic heological Imagination
he Monastic Impulse as Social Imaginary
Etienne Wenger Imagination Practices Reiication and Repertoire
Conclusion
1048630 Cosmos 983090983090983089
Radical Orthodoxy
Reclaiming the Cosmos or ldquoOnce there was no secularrdquo
Improvising raditionrsquos Harmony(s)
Constraint and Freedom in Jazz Improvisation
Catherine Pickstock radition and the Drit o ime
John Milbank Renarrating Christ and radition
Conclusion
Conclusion 983090983093983095
Epilogue 983090983095983095
Bibliography 983090983096983095
Author Index 983091983089983091
Subject Index 983091983089983093
Scripture Index 983091983089983095
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4152
Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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983092 Spirituality 983089983093983093
A Need or Wisdom
Quest or Sages and SourcesCruciorm Wisdom
Spirituality Guided by Christian Wisdom
om Schwanda Soul Recreation
Gary Neal Hansen Kneeling with Giants
Conclusion
983093 Mission 983089983097983091
Five Expressions o New Monasticism
he Monastic Impulse
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Cultivating and Sustaining the New
Monastic heological Imagination
he Monastic Impulse as Social Imaginary
Etienne Wenger Imagination Practices Reiication and Repertoire
Conclusion
1048630 Cosmos 983090983090983089
Radical Orthodoxy
Reclaiming the Cosmos or ldquoOnce there was no secularrdquo
Improvising raditionrsquos Harmony(s)
Constraint and Freedom in Jazz Improvisation
Catherine Pickstock radition and the Drit o ime
John Milbank Renarrating Christ and radition
Conclusion
Conclusion 983090983093983095
Epilogue 983090983095983095
Bibliography 983090983096983095
Author Index 983091983089983091
Subject Index 983091983089983093
Scripture Index 983091983089983095
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4752
Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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10486251048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
particularity includes perhaps most importantly the church In the church
theological reflection is carried out within the ellowship o Christrsquos body
located within a tradition characterized by unique emphases and traits and itsimultaneously draws on and contributes to the churchrsquos worship1048626 Tere in
worship theology is reminded that the risen and exalted Christ is gloriously
present in the church through the transorming work o his Spirit Tus the
church and by extension the theologian does not merely act but is acted upon
Te kinds o theologians who seek to be aithul both to the givenness o Chris-
tianity and the present moment require the skill best described as discernment
Teology as a task or craf requires discernmentmdasha orm o discernmentthat is as much art as science Tat theology requires discernment is true or
every sort o theologian a Christian conronted with a perplexing cultural
challenge a pastor exegeting a difficult text in the lectionary or a proessional
theologian teaching university students or training ministers in the seminary
In each case theological discernment operates in various modes and with a
range o overlapping practices Some Christians manage primarily in a biblical
mode relying heavily on passages committed to memory or the embeddedtheology o their church A pastor may interpret a text in an historical mode
inviting congregants into the world ldquobehindrdquo the text A university proessor
may adopt a conceptual mode challenging students to consider unexamined
mental rameworks For each methodological modes and preerences are in
play One such mode o theological discernment is retrieval1048627
As we use the term ldquoretrievalrdquo names a mode or style of theological dis-
cernment that looks back in order to move orward It is a particular way o
carrying out theological workmdashwhat John Webster calls ldquoan attitude o
mindrdquo983092mdashin which resources rom the past are ound distinctly advanta-
geous or the present situation Such resources might include doctrines
2Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology Te Praise of God in Worship Doctrine and Life (New York Oxord
University Press 1048625983097983096983088) p 9830913David Fergusson cites retrieval as one among several contemporary approaches to theology cross-
disciplinarity contextuality retrieval articulation o conessional identity and re-emergence o
liberalism (David Fergusson ldquoTeology oday Currents and Directionsrdquo in Te Expository imes
1048625983090983091983091 [9830909830881048625983090] pp 1048625983088983093-1048625983090)4John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830961048628 See
also John Webster ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo in Ressourcement A Movement
for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology ed Gabriel Flynn and Paul D Murray (Oxord Oxord
University Press 98309098308810486251048628)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486251048627
practices a metaphysic or ontology traditions or the Great radition more
generally Teologies o retrieval seek to recover these resources in order to
seize an opportunity or respond to a particular challengeIt is in this mode o theological discernment that the theologian most
transparently shows her awareness that her place is always already in the
middle It was Martin Heidegger who argued that our existence (Dasein)
always finds itsel already in the middle o the world and language (immer
schon)1048629 and in his wake this insight has ofen been reracted and developed
by others1048630 We want to make it clear that the strings o our remarks about
theologyrsquos in-the-middleness are not tied to Heidegger but to the doctrineso God salvation and ecclesiology Godrsquos triune ever-initiating presence in
creation redemption and consummation locates Christian existence and
thereore theology in the position o response to Godrsquos prior gracious agency
Tat theology is always perormed already in the middle is a eature o its
captivation to Godrsquos redeeming activity in Son and Spirit and thus its es-
sentially graced responsive character as God works within history
Tus while the moment at hand aces the theologian with challenges andopportunities her response is generated by unembarrassed recourse to the
doctrinal liturgical and spiritual assets o the Christian tradition Such re-
course is many times not uncritical but it is nonetheless caused by the theo-
logianrsquos mindulness o her place in the middle o a tradition o aith rom
which orgotten lost or unappreciated resources wait to be recruited And
more importantly she is aware o her place in the middle o a community
founded by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit whose action to redeem
and renew is both ongoing and generative o the theologianrsquos own work Tat
being said there are varying reasons why the Christian past is deemed ad-
vantageous a range o actors that contribute to it unctioning as an ldquoau-
thorityrdquo and a variety o ways those resources are recovered in practice Te
chapters in this book will draw out how this is so
Our purpose is to uncover the logic o retrieval in six areas o contem-
5Martin Heidegger Being and ime trans John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York
Harper and Row 1048625983097983094983090)6For example Jacques Derrida Of Spirit Heidegger and the Question trans Geoffrey Bennington and
Rachel Bowlby (Chicago Chicago University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Paul Riceour ime and Narrative Vol 1048625
trans Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago Chicago University Press 10486259830979830961048628) Ben
Quash Teology and the Drama of History (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 983090983088983088983096)
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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10486251048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
porary theological reflection in order to cultivate discernment about the use
o tradition in Christian theology today1048631 Te areas are Holy Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture By exam-ining the actual use o tradition in these six areas certain insights about the
unction o Christian tradition become available Specific instances o re-
trieval hold our attention in order to avoid abstraction We desire to keep
the study running ldquoas close to the groundrdquo as possible or it is there ldquoalong
the groundrdquo and in the middle o history that theological discernment is
developed and practiced Developing a theory o retrieval will be less useul
than dialogue with actual instances o it so we press specific examples inorder to see how tradition unctions in practice
Te value o our study is tied to a long-standing posture o Christian
identity that makes retrieval an organic mode o theological discernment
reception and transmission (Dynamics within modern theology in the West
that have made it difficult to maintain will be sketched in what ollows) Te
theologies o retrieval ound in the ollowing chapters are ideal candidates or
cultivating discernment about the use o tradition Tey are so precisely be-cause they all into the cadence o reception and transmissionmdasheven though
they do so in a variety o ways Tat is to say they remind in myriad ways that
Christian theology is rooted in and is thereore always receiving from her past
By examining them we find that certain insights rise to the surace about the
unction o tradition in theology placing our finger on these insights and
drawing out their significance will be our task By considering ldquoretrievalrdquo as a
mode o theological reflectionmdashan intensification o the cadence o receiving
and passing onmdashour book aims at growth in discernment that we would
mature in our ability to deliberate well about the belies values and commit-
ments operative in our reception and transmission o the deposit o aith1048632
7ldquoContemporaryrdquo is an admittedly ambiguous term employed here and throughout this book to
reer to the late twentieth and early twenty-first century8We are seeking something like Rowan Williamsrsquos description o the effect o dialoguing with the
past ldquoI it isnrsquot an option to simply discard our history we are bound to this demanding conversa-
tion this mutual questioning o past and present in which we discover more ully what we are as
a community and who we are as baptized Christians Out o this we hope comes a more mature
skill in listening and conversing nowrdquo (Rowan Williams Why Study the Past [Grand Rapids Eerd-
mans 983090983088983088983093] p 10486251048625983090 [emphasis added]) Similarly Rowan Williams Te Wound of Knowledge Chris-
tian Spirituality from the New estament to Saint John of the Cross 983090nd ed (London Darton Long-
man amp odd 1048625983097983097983088) p 1048625983091
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2752
Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3052
10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Beore entering that discussion however a brie account o retrieval is in
order We begin by considering the character o theological retrieval as an
intensification o that which is basic to the abric o Christianity the re-ception and transmission o the deposit o aith
R983141983139983141983145983158983145983150983143 983137983150983140 T983154983137983150983155983149983145983156983156983145983150983143 983156983144983141 D983141983152983151983155983145983156 983151983142 F983137983145983156983144
Teological retrieval is an organic expression o Christianityrsquos long-standing
posture o reception and transmission1048633 Christian identity is tied to canonical
texts locates itsel in relation to particular historical events (eg the history
o Israel the lie o Jesus Christ the mission o the apostles) and is embodiedin a wide range o shared practices carried on through history (eg prayers
community mission worship) What precisely Christians receive and pass on
is the deposit of faith the belie and proclamation that the promised Messiah
is the crucified resurrected and ascended Jesus the Son o God the ulfillment
o the covenant and the hope o the world And in every historical context the
people o God seek to think and live aithully in relation to this aith
From the earliest days o the Christian movement Christian identity wasmaintained and measuredmdashliturgically ethically and doctrinallymdashby the
reception and transmission o the deposit o aith While this dynamic is most
prevalent in Paulrsquos letters it is apparent in the Gospels as well Te opening
verses o the Gospel o Luke or example indicate that its subject matter is
the lie and significance o Jesus the Messiah Te Gospelrsquos account o this
did not arise directly with its author (presumably Luke) but was ldquohanded
downrdquo ( paradidōmi) by eyewitnesses Te inception o this Gospelrsquos witness
is orthrightly laid out as a delivered account o Jesusrsquo lie that in turn is
being conserved through passing it on again
In the same spirit the apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts the recipients o his
letters to respect the deposit o aith Tere are three different senses in which
he does so First Paul meant to hand on certain communal practices that would
characterize the Christian community Te celebration o the meal Jesus insti-
tuted was the most central Sharing a meal in the memory o Jesus was instituted
9Given the constraints o this introduction we offer a relatively slender account o theological
retrieval and its exegetical and doctrinal underpinnings For a well-developed trinitarian account
o retrieval and its biblical and theological warrants (rom a Reormed perspective) see Michael
Allen and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval for Teology and Biblical
Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983093) especially chap 1048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4152
Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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1048625983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
by Jesus himsel and Paul sees himsel as simply ldquopassing onrdquo ( paradidōmi) what
he had ldquoreceivedrdquo ( paralambanō) (1048625 Cor 1048625104862510486261048627 c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048626) Tere is a sense in
Paulrsquos writings that passing on the traditions o worship behavior and beliewere undamental to the ormation o Christian identity Edith Humphrey coins
a verb to describe the gist o this ldquotraditioningrdquo9830891048624 Second there is an ethical
shape to the Christian lie and Paul exhorts his readers to conorm themselves
to it by conorming to the traditions they had received rom him Such orms o
lie were based on Paulrsquos teaching but there is also a sense in which they were
modeled or them through the presence o Paul and the apostles ldquoAs you re-
ceived [ paralambanō] rom us instruction as to how you ought to walk andplease God (just as you actually do walk)rdquo (1048625 Tess 10486281048625 983150983137983155983138 see also 1048626 Tess 1048627983094)
Tird Paul reers most requently to receiving the actual content o the
Gospel delivered content composed not merely o ideas or even actions but
o Christ Jesus himself ldquoHim we proclaimrdquo Paul writes to the Colossians the
ldquoword o Godrdquo and the ldquomysteryrdquo o God (Col 104862510486261048632 10486261048629 1048626983094 983141983155983158 see also Rom
104862910486251048629-10486251048631 1048625 Cor 10486281048631 Col 10486271048625983094 Gal 10486251048625983094) In some cases proclaiming ldquothe gospelrdquo
and ldquopreaching Christrdquo seem to be synonymous or Paul (c 1048625 Cor 104862510486251048631 and1048625 Cor 104862510486261048627 1048625 Cor 104862510486291048625 10486251048625 and 1048625 Cor 1048625104862910486251048626 1048626 Cor 10486281048627 and 1048626 Cor 10486281048628) o receive
the gospel was not undamentally about intellectual assent or the adoption
o its ethic although both o these were involved Rather to receive the
message was to receive ldquoChrist Jesus as Lordrdquo (Col 1048626983094) It was the reception
o the work o God through Christ actualized in their midst through the
work o the Spirit ldquoGod in Christ is both the source and the content o the
gospelrdquo983089983089 For Paul the gospel is not exhausted by whatever intellectual
content it might contain Rather the gospel message itsel ldquois the divinely
powerul instrumentality through which Godrsquos salvation and righteousness
are presently revealedrdquo9830891048626 Te intellectual content o the gospel cannot
thereore be separated rom the personal presence o God in Christ that
accompanies its proclamation its reception and the union with Christrsquos
person that the Spirit effects through aith
Tus and this is crucially important the gospelrsquos authority transcended the
10Edith M Humphrey Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says (Grand Rapids Baker
Academic 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983090983094-104862898309111A B Luter ldquoGospelrdquo in Te Dictionary of Paul and His Letters ed Gerald Hawthorne Ralph P
Martin and Daniel G Reid (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 98309198309598308812Ibid p 9830919830951048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486251048631
apostles who delivered it In the preaching o the gospel Jesus himsel spokemdash
and speaks still todaymdashas Lord ldquoAnd we also thank God continually because
when you received ( paralambanō) the word o God which you heard rom usyou accepted it not as a human word but as it actually is the word o God
which is indeed at work in you who believerdquo (1048625 Tess 104862610486251048627) Te gospel is Jesus
Christ not an inert collection o ideas or practices but the mystery o God
brought to lie in those who believe through the work o Christrsquos Spirit Te
grace o God spoken o in the gospel message is ldquonone other than the risen
Christ who conronts men through the word o his Gospelrdquo9830891048627 Naturally then
receiving the deposit o aith entails more than intellectual assent alone butalso action and indeed the gospel brings orth action from within those who
receive it as the Spirit o God births new lie Having been traditioned in the
ways o the gospel those who receive it are to ldquoguardrdquo it (1048625 im 9830941048626983088) ldquohold
astrdquo to it (1048626 Tess 104862610486251048629) and ldquocontend orrdquo it (Jude 1048627 see also 1048625 Cor 10486251048627)
Just as competing gospels conronted those who received the letters o
the apostles Christians in the ensuing centuries aced challenges as well
Even though their historical and theological cultures differed at the root oeach challenge regarding the deposit o aith a similar dynamic was in play
reception and transmission For example at the close o the first century the
unknown author o 983089 Clement exhorted the Corinthian church much in the
spirit o Paul ldquoTereore let us abandon empty and utile thinking and
conorm ourselves to the glorious and holy canon o our tradition Indeed let
us note what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable in the sight
o him who made usrdquo (983089 Clement 10486311048626ndash1048627) Likewise around 104862510486311048632 983137983140 Irenaeus
echoed Paulrsquos language o reception and preservation ldquoTe church having
received this preaching and this aith although scattered throughout the
whole world yet as i occupying but one house careully preserves itrdquo
( Against Heresies 104862510486259830881048626) Competing interpretations o Scripture and new
cultural settings have always challenged the preservation o what Irenaeus
termed ldquothis aithrdquo yet the church has consistently sought to identiy and
maintain the essence o Christian identity Early in the third century Hip-
polytus o Rome spoke o an ldquoessence o the tradition which is proper to all
13Tomas F orrance Te Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (10486259830971048628983096 repr Eugene OR Wip
and Stock 1048625983097983097983094) p 9830911048625
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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10486251048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the churchesrdquo and expounded it through a liturgy and prayer983089983092 And later
around 104862810486261048629 Augustine exhorted the catechumens to receive the rule o aith
which is ldquoscattered up and downrdquo in Holy Scripture write it on their heartsand arm themselves with it9830891048629 It was this essence o the tradition that the ecu-
menical councils would later seek to guard through creedal ormulations9830891048630
But even then the task o receiving and passing on the deposit o aith re-
mained Fresh cultural environments and the passage o time would present
resh opportunities or and challenges to ulfilling Paulrsquos basic injunction to
imothy ldquoGuard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo (1048625 im 9830941048626983088)
Examples rom every era to the present could illustrate the dynamics oreception and handing on guarding and delivering And i we looked more
closely we would see that this dynamic is characterized by the ever-present
tension o continuity and change stability and development Christian teaching
developed even rom the time o the apostles and surely into the period o the
ecumenical councils and the tension was always whether such development
was consistent with the essence o the deposit Vincent o Leacuterins (fifh century)
spoke o this tension in terms o biological growth ldquoTe understandingknowledge and wisdom o each and allmdashand o the whole Churchmdashought to
grow and progress greatly and eagerly through the course o ages and centuries
provided the advance be within its own lines in the same sphere o doctrine
the same eeling the same sentimentrdquo9830891048631 As the apostolic tradition was trans-
mitted in new settings among resh challenges and opportunities Vincent
sought to navigate the same challenge that Paulrsquos injunction to imothy
presents the church ldquoguard what has been entrusted to your carerdquo In the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries John Henry Newman described the tension
between stability and development in terms o the growth o an idea Hans-
Georg Gadamer viewed it through the idiom o legal precedent and Jaroslav
14Clement Irenaeus and Hippolytus are all quoted rom D H Williams radition Scripture and
Interpretation A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church ed D H Williams (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
983090983088983088983094) p 98309398308815Augustine ldquoOn the Creed A Sermon to the Catechumensrdquo in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
Series 1048625 Vol 983091 ed Philip Schaff trans C L Cornish (Peabody MA Hendrickson 1048625983097983097983094) p 98309198309498309716See Carl rueman Te Creedal Imperative (Wheaton IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983090) chaps 983090 and 983094 Rob-
ert Jenson Canon and Creed (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17Vincent o Leacuterins Communitorium 9830909830919830931048628 in Creeds Councils and Controversies Documents Il-
lustrating the History of the Church AD 852019852019852023-852020852022852017 ed J Stevenson and W H C Frend revised
edition (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983090 [1048625983097983094983094]) p 983091983095983091
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486251048633
Pelikan cast it in terms o the rule o prayermdashlex orandi9830891048632 Examples could be
multiplied but it is enough to say that receiving the deposit o aith and deliv-
ering it in new times and places is as it always has been basic to Christianity9830891048633Te point to be noted here is simply this the theologies o retrieval we con-
sider can only be undertaken and flourish because o this dynamic o reception
and transmission marked by the inherent tension between stability and devel-
opment ldquoConservationrdquo is thus part o Christianityrsquos DNA as it receives the
deposit o aith entrusted to the apostles and delivers it to a world that God is
ldquoreconciling to himsel in Christrdquo (1048626 Cor 104862910486251048633) Te portrait o the New es-
tament is clear that receiving the deposit o aith entails more than merely as-senting to a particular set o ideas As we saw just rom examples in Paulrsquos
corpus the intellectual content o the gospel does not exhaust its real content
Rather the gospel proclaimed received and passed on again is Christ Jesus
himself Restoration to God is not effected by an idea or set o ideas but by the
person o the Son active and present through the agency o the Holy Spirit10486261048624
18See John Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Notre Dame IN
University o Notre Dame Press 983089983097983096983097) chap 983089 Hans-Georg Gadamer ruth and Method transJoel Weinsheimer and Donald G Marshall 983090nd ed (London amp Clark 9830909830889830881048628) pp 9830919830901048625-983091983094
(Bo Helmich reminded us o this connection) Jaroslav Pelikan Te Vindication of radition
(New Haven C Yale University Press 10486259830979830961048628) pp 1048625983094-1048625983095 and Pelikan Historical Teology (New
York Corpus Instrumentorum Philadelphia Westminster 10486259830979830951048625) pp 1048625983088983097-1048625983088 In Christian liturgy even rom its very origin the pattern o reception and development has been
present Gordon Lathrop argues that Christian liturgy has always ollowed the cadence o reception
and transformation o received things so they would speak ldquonew gracerdquo in light o Jesus Christ Tis
liturgical cadence Lathrop suggests is embedded in the Bible itsel ldquoime and again this is the
pattern o biblical speech old structures are used to speak o the new grace Old texts old stories
and songs are borrowed to speak o the world transormed Old meal practices and old washing
symbolism our ritual structures are shaped to speak o Jesus Christrdquo According to this deep patterno Christian liturgy rituals and symbols are received and then ldquobroken in order to speak o Godrsquos
gracerdquo in Jesus Christ (Gordon Lathrop Holy Tings A Liturgical Teology [Minneapolis Fortress
1048625983097983097983091] pp 983090983094 983096983088)19See Tomas Guarino Vincent of Leacuterins and the Development of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091) Malcolm B Yarnell Te Formation of Christian Doctrine (Nashville
BampH Academic 983090983088983088983095) Alister E McGrath Te Genesis of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans
1048625983097983097983095) Jaroslav Pelikan Development of Christian Doctrine Some Historical Prolegomena (New
Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983094983097) Pelikan Vindication of radition Pelikan Credo (New
Haven C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) Newman Development of Christian Doctrine20Te content o the Christian tradition is ldquonot a doctrinal statement nor a law nor a book o
Revelation but the very Person o Jesus himsel as the incarnate Word o God giving its author-
ity to the Gospel and to the event o the authoritative Word o aith and correspondingly we
have the Holy Spirit as Godrsquos Presence in the aith-creating Word o preaching Teology can
only speak o lsquoraditionrsquo in the true sense when it holds to this undamental point o departure
and lets it have ull playrdquo (Gerhard Ebeling Te Word of God and radition trans S H Hooke
[London Collins 1048625983097983094983096] p 10486251048628983093)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4152
Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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1048626983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Receiving and passing on the aith thereore entails more than trans-
mitting ideas or or that matter an ethical program or cultic regimen1048626983089
Christians have reduced the gospel to each o these at various times andplaces No in receiving the gospel the church receives the personal presence
o the triune God in the person o Christ as his presence is made actual by
the work o the Spirit Te antecedents o Christrsquos presence in the gospel are
ound in Israelrsquos experience o God in covenant tabernacle and temple and
urther back still in the act o creation itsel as divine gif Christ ulfills the
oretastes o Godrsquos presence in each as the true Son o Abraham (Mt 10486251048625) the
true Son called out o Egypt (Mt 104862610486251048629) and the true temple o God (Jn 104862610486251048633-10486261048625)Pentecost does not alter this christological centering but urther establishes
it the Spirit of Christ is the one given and it is the same Spirit who unites
us to Christ (Eph 104862710486251048628-10486251048633 1048625 Jn 104862710486261048628) Godrsquos sel-giving presence both orients
his people toward the God who descends Emmanuel and conditions our
understanding o the gospel we proclaim receive and pass along None-
theless the intensely relational trinitarian nature o the gospel in which
God is present in Christ is always at risk o being shorn down to a set o ideasTere is a sense thereore in which the receiving-and-passing-on posture
o Christian identity entails the making o people in every time and place in
some way contemporary with Jesus We might even say this is the work the
church perorms as she ldquoreceivesrdquo Christ Rowan Williams puts it this way
Churches have always been ldquoconservingrdquo communities that is they have always
been concerned about the past and about whether they were in some sense
doing the same thing as the previous generation had done Te ChristianChurch has the added concern o making sure those habits are a way o bringing
believers truthfully and effectively in the presence of a specific past the incarnate
reality of Jesus What the Church conserves is seen as important because o this
concept o becoming contemporary with Jesus Without this encounter with
Jesus in the days o his flesh and in his lie in his corporate Body in history
the believing sel remains untouched by transorming grace10486261048626
21Te stridently personal and relational nature o Christian worship is brought out well by Gordon
Lathroprsquos reading o Justinrsquos Apology ldquoJustin does not think o Jesus as merely having a good
anticultic idea which then can be passed on by philosophers in remarkable metaphors Te
teaching occurs by our insertion through the name through the reality o Jesus present through
the mystery o the cross and the memorial o the cross present in our ood into lie and aith and
community beore the creator Godrdquo (Lathrop Holy Tings pp 1048625983093983090-983093983091 [emphasis added])22Rowan Williams Why Study the Past p 9830971048625 (emphasis added)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486261048625
I this is the case then Christianity including its theology is always looking
back in order to move orward In the course o the churchrsquos worship mission
and work o sanctified reason (theology) part o her calling is to receive thedeposit o aith and aithully pass it on in whatever contemporary milieu the
church finds hersel Teologies o retrieval intensiy this dynamic by adopting
a mode o theology that recovers rom sites in the Christian past deemed useul
(on some accounts ldquoauthoritativerdquo) or the contemporary situation In this way
theologies o retrieval are not doing anything undamentally novel rather they
intensify an element o Christian theological method present rom its inception10486261048627
I as we suggest retrieval is an organic expression o Christian reception andtransmission then looking to Scripture is rightly regarded as the undamental
archetypal Christian retrieval1048626983092 Reading Scripture is a orm o retrieval Tis is
true whether the person looking back is a proessional biblical scholar a pastor
or a Christian businessperson and it is true whether the reading is done with a
view toward technical exegesis sermon preparation or personal devotion (or all
o the above) Holy Scripture in its canonical whole was written in distant times
and places by people whom we will never meet on earth Tus to turn toScripture is to look back Tere is no other way it can be there is no other way
it needs to be Just as the Scriptures came into existence and have been trans-
mitted within the space-and-time o history so too our reading o the Scriptures
occurs within that same realm o space-and-time Reading Scripture is an ex-
ercise in bridging two (or more) horizonsmdashthe ldquohomerdquo horizon o the reader
23We noted examples rom the patristic era that illustrate the reception and transmission o the
apostolic witness and the list could be easily expanded (Papias o Hierapolis Eusebius o CaesareaClement o Alexandria Origen Cyprian Athanasius Basil the Great Epiphanius o Salamis Au-
gustine Chrysostom) Teologians rom the Reormation and post-Reormation era also illustrate
the reception o the Christian traditionmdashthe church athers or otherwise even though Protestant
theologians in this era are sometimes mistakenly perceived to jettison tradition Martin Luther
(see Manred Schulze ldquoMartin Luther and the Church Fathersrdquo in Te Reception of the Church
Fathers in the West From the Carolingians to the Maurists ed Irena Backus [Leiden Brill
10486259830979830979830959830909830889830881048625] pp 983093983095983091-983094983090983094) John Calvin (see Johannes Van Oort ldquoJohn Calvin and the Church
Fathersrdquo in Backus Reception of the Church Fathers pp 9830949830941048625-983095983088983088) Balthasar Hubmaier (see Andrew
K Lager ldquoBalthasar Hubmaierrsquos Use o the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interactionrdquo
Mennonite Quarterly Review 9830961048628 [January 9830909830881048625983088] 983093-983094983094) Jonathan Edwards (see Kyle Strobel ldquoJona-
than Edwardsrsquos Reormed Doctrine o the Beatific Visionrdquo in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland ed
Ken Minkema Adriaan Neale and Kelly van Andel [Edinburgh Dunedin Academic Press 98309098308810486251048625]
pp 10486259830951048625-983096983096) and John Wesley (see Richard P Heitzenrater ldquoJohn Wesleyrsquos A Christian Library Ten
and Nowrdquo American Teological Library Association Proceedings 983093983093 [9830909830889830881048625] 1048625983091983091-1048628983094)24A close reading o the preceding section on the deposit o aith will reveal the clearly implicit
understanding that is now made explicit
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2952
Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486261048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
and the ldquooreignrdquo horizons o the authors and settings o the Scriptures10486261048629 Much
discussion in biblical hermeneutics over recent years has been devoted to the
need or bridging these two horizons and to the means and methods or respon-sibly doing so10486261048630 Tus because o the unique status and authoritative role
Scripture holds in Christianity it is the fundamental archetypal Christian re-
trieval one that is defining o Christianity and Christian theology
Troughout this section we have attempted to anchor theological retrieval to
the undamental Christian impulse to receive and pass along the deposit o aith
Teological retrieval is as such an intensification o this basic pattern an or-
ganic expression o Christianityrsquos posture toward the reception and transmissiono the deposit Tus although the retrievals we consider in this book are highly
diverse they hold this in common they believe the uture o the church hangs
in some sense not on our ability to innovate (or at the very least not only to
innovate) but in our capacity to creatively and critically retrieve rom the
churchrsquos past For theologies o retrieval immersion in the texts thought orms
and orms o lie o the Christian pastmdashwhether distant or more recentmdashare
believed to open up fresh opportunities for Christian faithfulness in the present Such aithulness is pursued in many different areas and the chapters o this
book consider six o them in turn Scripture doctrine worship spirituality
mission and engagement with culture
T983144983141 S983144983137983152983141 983151983142 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148 R983141983155983141983149983138983148983137983150983139983141983155
M983151983140983141983148983155 983137983150983140 A983157983156983144983151983154983145983156983161
Genealogies o modernity abound these days10486261048631 Depending on how the story
o modernityrsquos origins is told the explanation o what makes tradition a
25Anthony C Tiselton Te Hermeneutics of Doctrine (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) pp 1048625983095983095-98309598309626Te recent pursuit o the theological interpretation o Scripture to which we devote a chapter
is but one instance o this horizon-bridging endeavor27For example Tomas Pau Minding the Modern Human Agency Intellectual raditions and
Responsible Knowledge (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 9830909830881048625983091) Brad Gregory
Te Unintended Reformation How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge MA
Belknap Press 9830909830881048625983090) Michael Allen Gillespie Te Teological Origins of Modernity (Chicago
Chicago University Press 983090983088983088983096) Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge Belknap Press o
Harvard University Press 983090983088983088983095) Louis Dupreacute Te Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations
of Modern Culture (New Haven C Yale University Press 9830909830889830881048628) John Milbank Teology and
Social Teory 983090nd ed (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094) Michael Buckley At the Origins of Modern
Atheism (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983096983095) Eberhard Juumlngel God as the Mystery of
the World (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983096983091)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486261048627
problematic source within the modern mindset o the West varies Tis is
not the place or rehearsing different configurations to the question o tra-
dition and its place within the modern age nor does this book attempt toanswer this question Rather it is enough to simply note what is widely ac-
cepted fill out our sketch o theological retrieval and allow the rest o the
book to paint a more nuanced picture
It is widely accepted that chie among Enlightenment ideals are the power
o human reason (rationalism) and o particular significance here reedom
rom constraint (emancipationism) emancipation rom authority rom
transcendence rom prejudgments and naturally then rom tradition10486261048632
ldquoModernity is above all things convincedrdquo Michael Allen Gillespie writes
ldquothat it owes nothing to the past that it has made itsel that what matters
most is what is happening right now Indeed this is the meaning o the
reedom power and progress that we all prizerdquo10486261048633 Generally speaking the
attitude o the modern age ound the past a hindrance to overcome rather
than a resource rom which to draw It is assumed among Enlightenment
thinkers Wilken writes that ldquothe mark o rationality is autonomy Unlessa thinker is reed rom the constraints o inherited belies and institutions
he or she cannot engage in the spirit o ree inquiry that leads to truthrdquo Te
scholar can only properly carry out their work o ldquoresearch scholarship and
original thinkingrdquo when they ree themselves ldquorom the claims o tradition
and becomes independent o external constraints (ie tradition)rdquo10486271048624 ra-
dition is problematic i it unctions in a way that constrains ree thinking
progress and development toward the uture Te modern age is ldquoperma-
nently inured against one thingrdquo Louis Dupreacute writes ldquothe willingness to
accept authority uncriticallyrdquo1048627983089 History according to modernityrsquos sel-
understanding is progress orever moving orward through the power o
ldquoree human willingrdquo toward a uture o our own making10486271048626
Modernityrsquos progressive view o history and its confidence in unencum-
28See Dupreacute Enlightenment Robert Louis Wilken Te Spirit of Early Christian Tought (New Haven
C Yale University Press 983090983088983088983091) especially chap 983096 ldquoMemory and the Christian Intellectual Lierdquo29Gillespie Teological Origins p 98309098309798309130Wilken Spirit of Early Christian Tought p 104862598309498309731Dupreacute Enlightenment p ix32Gillespie Teological Origins pp 9830909830961048625-983096983091 Gillespie argues or inherent internal conflicts within
this view o history that were present rom modernityrsquos start (especially chaps 1048625 983096) and came
increasingly to the ore during the twentieth century
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2952
Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486261048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
bered rationality closed off a host o resources but these assumptions rapidly
came under fire in the twentieth century10486271048627 And with the priorities o mo-
dernity in doubt a raf o diverse theological retrieval movements aroselooking or resources in the churchrsquos past Tese included thenouvelle theacuteologie
initiated by Henri de Lubac Jean Danieacutelou and Maurice Blondel (Catholic)
postliberalism which began through the influence o Hans Frei and George
Lindbeck (initially mainline Protestant) the ancient-uture movement begun
by Robert Webber (evangelical Protestant) and paleo-orthodoxy spearheaded
by Tomas Oden (evangelical Protestant) Tese retrievals compose some-
thing like a wide river delta though conessionally ldquowiderdquo they flowed in thesame direction rom the past into the present toward the uture1048627983092 Each o the
retrievals studied in this book are within that delta just arther downstream
It is obvious rom just those listed above that late twentieth-century the-
ologies o retrieval are diverse No less is true o the retrievals ound in the
ollowing pages Beyond the obvious conessional differences their diagnosis
o the contemporary situation varies widely as does the view o history that
underlies their use o tradition Further when theologies o retrieval draw onthe past it becomes clear that other (most ofen implicit) actors are in play
that influence how the past actually unctions as an authority It is clear then
that in order to approach the retrievals which ollow we need some means
or doing so We need vantage points rom which to name and explore simi-
larities and differences among retrievals as well as the influential actors
operating beneath the surace Te ollowing three dimensions o retrieval
provide just such vantage points resemblances (what they hold in common)
models o history (historiography) and ldquoauthorityrdquo
First concerning what contemporary retrievals hold in common John
Webster identifies a rough set o six ldquoresemblancesrdquo among later twentieth-
century examples10486271048629 First theologies o retrieval are ldquoobjectivistrdquo or ldquorealistrdquo
Tey ldquoconsider Christian aith and theology to be a response to a sel-
33See John Webster ldquoTe Contemporary Scene Reappropriating raditionsrdquo in Te Modern Teo-
logians An Introduction to Christian Teology Since 852017983097852017983096 ed David Ford 983091rd ed (Oxord Blackwell
983090983088983088983093) pp 983090983090983097-98309698309434We borrow the metaphor rom Paul DeHart who applies it to postliberalism (Paul Dehart Te
rial of the Witnesses Te Rise and Decline of Postliberal Teology [Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983094]
pp 1048628983093-1048628983094)35John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology ed John
Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830939830961048628-983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2952
Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486261048629
bestowing divine reality which precedes and overcomes the limited reach o
rational intentionrdquo By this he means that theologies o retrieval grant that
Godrsquos revelation precedes and conditions theological perspectives on theworld rather than things going the other way around (it is ldquoresponsiverdquo in this
way) In other words they share the conviction that human rationality does
not ultimately set the terms or theological reflection practice or worship
Te second third and ourth resemblances ollow rom and are closely
related to the first Second the creedal resources o the ecumenical councils
are a ready resource ldquoTeir material accounts o this divine reality are
heavily indebted to the trinitarian and incarnational teaching o the classicalChristianity o the ecumenical councilsrdquo Tird ldquoTey consider that the gov-
erning norms o theological inquiry are established by the object by which
theology is brought into being (the source o theology is thus its norm)rdquo
Fourth ldquoTey do not accord final weight to external criteria or to the
methods and procedures which enjoy prestige outside theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te fifh and sixth resemblances involve the setting and context o theo-
logical retrieval Fifh ldquoTeir accounts o the location audience and ends oChristian doctrine are generally governed by the relation o theology to the
community o aith as its primary sphererdquo And sixth ldquoIn their judgments
about the historical setting o systematic theology they tend to deploy a theo-
logical (rather than socio-cultural) understanding o the tradition which
outbids the view that modernity has imposed a new and inescapable set o
conditions on theological workrdquo Tat is while the modern age has a largely
negative view o tradition the churchrsquos view should be determined by its own
theological criteria and norms (eg doctrines practices liturgies)
Websterrsquos resemblances provide handles or grasping what late twentieth-
century retrievals hold in common Yet on its own the resemblance
approach risks oversimpliying and at worst eliding their doctrinal philo-
sophical and historiographical diversity10486271048631 A second dimension o studying
theological retrieval is to ask about the approach to history that lies
beneath the actual retrieval What is the historiographical model that
underlies retrieval
36Ibid p 983093983096104862837Tis is not at all something Webster intends and his essay addresses some o these distinctions
which our summary leaves out or the sake o brevity
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3752
Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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1048626983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Morwenna Ludlow argues or three broad historiographical models that
lie beneath approaches to Christian tradition static reormatory and
adaptive Te ldquostaticrdquo model views ldquoboth theology and the Church as basicallyunchangingrdquo and the development o doctrine is an unolding or ldquoworking
out o the logical implicationsrdquo o what was implicitly present rom the
original revelation10486271048632 Teologyrsquos task is thus to ldquomaintain the truth in as pure
a orm as possiblerdquo10486271048633 Ludlowrsquos examples are extremely conservative versions
o Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theology (though she emphatically
grants that both traditions include exceptions) According to this model
even though it has high regard or the past as an authority the motivation orretrieval (in theory) is lessened because the churchrsquos doctrine is understood
to be a ldquoconstant deposit passed rom age to agerdquo9830921048624 In contrast the second
model ldquoreormatoryrdquo prizes the original revelation o divine truth but iden-
tifies a degradation o original revelation It assumes that ldquotheological rotrdquo set
in at some point in the Christian tradition and that return to an original
healthy state requires treatment Te model can motivate retrieval because
the purpose o theology is in part to ldquorecoverrdquo the original truth o Christianaith or today983092983089 Ludlowrsquos examples include not surprisingly Protestant
theology the ressourcement movement among Roman Catholics and surpris-
ingly perhaps many eminist theologians who seek to recover the original
message o Jesus beore it was corrupted by a patriarchal society9830921048626 According
to the third model ldquoadaptiverdquo change is inherent to Christianity but not ac-
cording to the pattern o original truth-all-reorm9830921048627 Te role o theology is
to be in dialogue with previous eras o Christian aith in order to allow the
past to be in conversation with the present Teology helps the church to
adapt to the present by enabling her to be interrogated by the past983092983092 Ludlowrsquos
models are useul precisely because they suggest approaches to history that
open up the actual use o tradition in theologies o retrieval
Tird beyond resemblances and historiography another dimension o
38Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University
Press 9830909830881048625983091) p 98309098309598309739Ibid p 98309098309698308840Ibid p 98309098309698309141Ibid p 98309098309698308842Ibid p 983090983096104862543Ibid pp 9830909830961048625-98309698309044Ibid p 983090983096983093
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2552
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486261048631
retrieval is the rationale(s) or affording the Christian past ldquoauthorityrdquo In
other words what makes the past a norm or theology As we will see tra-
dition takes its place as an authority or norm or different reasons and itunctions as such in different ways Historiography may provide clues in
these matters but it does so only to point us toward other influential actors
In some cases doctrinal influences are in playmdashsuch as the doctrines o God
revelation and Scripture Christology and ecclesiology In other cases the
actors are more sociologicalmdashexperiences that press on the church in its
time and place political economic or otherwise Or more specifically ec-
clesial actorsmdashperceived deficiencies in the areas o spirituality liturgy andmission or broader matters o denominational particularity or ecumenism
And in other cases the actors that contribute to traditionrsquos status as norm are
more straightorwardly scripturalmdashresources rom the Christian past are
ound to uniquely illuminate the biblical text or correct misdirections in the
history o interpretation It becomes increasingly clear that while retrievals
may share a common historiographical view other actors such as these lead
to different ways in which the past is understood to be an authority
9830921048629
owarduncovering these actors we apply a range o interpretive angles rom social
theory to jazz improvisation rom architecture to learning theory
Tese three dimensions o studying theological retrievalmdashresemblances
historiography and authoritymdashintertwine in the ollowing chapters Specific
attention to historiography will be largely implicit but the actors that con-
tribute to views o authority will receive greater attention And although the
resemblance approach risks oversimplification i used by itsel it is none-
theless useul or orienting ourselves at the outset Our list o resemblances
takes its cue rom Websterrsquos but with an important distinction Although he
ramed retrieval specifically in terms o the discipline o systematic theology
our study considers theological retrieval more broadly We use the term re-
trieval to describe a mode or style o theological reasoning that transcends its
deployment in the field o systematic theology In positing his resemblances
Webster has in mind a set o problems to which retrieval is an antidote spe-
cifically the epistemological posture o modernity and the attending neglect
o classically Christian modes o thought and inquiry Similarly the theologies
45Ludlow provides several examples (see Ludlow Gregory pp 983090983096983095-9830971048625)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2852
10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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10486261048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval we selected or this study in one way or another are attempting to
respond to both o these issues (1048625) the corrosiveness o modernity or genu-
inely Christian aith and practice and (1048626) their unapologetic dependence onways o thinking and living they believe are native to Christianity
Looking across the spectrum o just the retrievals in the ollowing
chapters we detect the ollowing set o resemblances Identiying them at
the outset will keep the reader attentive or their appearance
(1048625) Te theologies o retrieval considered here turn to the past because
they survey the resources available in the present and find them wanting
inadequate or meeting contemporary needs and opportunities As JohnWebster observes late modern practitioners o retrieval have studied the
history o Christian belie ldquoas a diagnostic to identiy what are taken to be
misdirections in modern theology and then the deployment o history as a
resource to overcome themrdquo9830921048630 Andrew Walker and Robin Parry suggest that
the church exists in the midst o ldquoits third and most serious schismrdquo9830921048631 Te
present needs help rom the past
William J Abraham situates a proposal or a collaborative and wide-ranging project o retrieval by taking inventory o the contemporary state
o affairs He introduces Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the
Church by listing the ailures and inadequacies that mark contemporary
theology philosophy culture politics and churches
Liberal Protestants are still trying to hold on to some crucial academic centers
o power but they are at the end o the line Evangelicals are looking or
deeper roots and wider commitments but they are currently hitting out in alldirections and not least at each other Roman Catholicism is taking stock
afer Vatican II but it is internally divided Orthodoxy is searching or its
own voice afer the cruelty o oppression but it is sorely tempted to withdraw
rom debate Pentecostalism is coming o age intellectually but it is unsure
i it will really find a hearing in the church as a whole Liberation theology has
lifed up the plight o the poor and oppressed but it has allen into shrill
moralism and or the most part exhausted its resources Karl Barth is making a
comeback but his disciples are in danger o alling into a barren scholasticism9830921048632
46Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309347Andrew G Walker and Robin A Parry Deep Church Rising Te Tird Schism and the Recovery of
Christian Orthodoxy (Eugene OR Cascade 9830901048624983089983092) p 98309348William J Abraham introduction to Canonical Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church ed
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2952
Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3052
10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 2652
1048627983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
contemporary scientific field theory10486291048626 Te point is Pannenbergrsquos retrieval was
not ad hoc nor did he always operate in that mode Rather with a specific
contemporary theological challenge in mindmdashthe divine persons and theirrelationsmdashhe sought figures rom an era in which this topic was explored at
great depth because they held theological relevance or the need at hand
Te theologies o retrieval considered in this book share this same resem-
blance For instance to redress deficiencies in biblical interpretation some
advocates o theological interpretation o Scripture (IS) receive patristic
and medieval exegetes (chap 1048625) and new monastics in order to redirect the
churchrsquos mission recover orms o lie present in past monastic andmonastic-like movements (chap 1048629) Neither casts about randomly rather
they careully select and seek to wisely employ resources rom particular
locations because o the alien relevance they are believed to hold or today10486291048627
(1048626) Each retrieval holds the view that history is a field of divine action Mo-
dernity had the effect o largely removing God rom the realm o history or
at least o making it problematic or how to think about the use o human
reason and agency in relation to Godrsquos action in the world ldquoIneffable in beingand inscrutable in his designsrdquo Louis Dupreacute observes ldquoGod withdrew rom
the original synthesis altogetherrdquo1048629983092 Tese theologies o retrieval however ex-
plicitly or implicitly trade on the common conession that history is the realm
o divine operation and thereore that resources rom the Christian past are
serviceable or the present Tat is history is not merely the eminent domain
o creaturely activity but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and pres-
ervation are carried out A view o history such as this does not baptize the
developments and theology o every era o the churchrsquos history it is not as i
the Christian tradition is devoid o missteps and error Rather such a view o
history trains the contemporary theologianrsquos attention onto the Christian past
in order to discern the Spiritrsquos presence in spite of human railties and mistakes
In doing so the theologian alls into the cadence o receiving and passing on
52Wolart Pannenberg Systematic Teology 983091 vols (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048625ndash1048625983097983097983096) vol 1048625
chap 983093 and vol 983090 chap 983095 respectively On Pannenbergrsquos theological method see Kent Eilers
Faithful to Save Pannenberg on Godrsquos Reconciling Action (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625)53Te phrase ldquoalien relevancerdquo was prompted by an observation made by intellectual historian
Quentin Skinner (see ldquoA Reply to My Criticsrdquo in Meaning and Context ed James ully [Prince-
ton NJ Princeton University Press 1048625983097983096983096] p 983090983096983095)54Louis Dupreacute Passage to Modernity (New Haven C Yale University Press 1048625983097983097983091) p 983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4152
Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486271048625
Retrieving the view o history as a field o divine action is at least partly
due to renewed confidence in Christianityrsquos own conceptual and linguistic
resources Te articulation o what history ldquoisrdquo and how one conceives thenature o the interactions between divine and human agency takes a par-
ticular shape under the influence o ormative doctrines such as the rinity
providence and pneumatology Tis leads us to the next resemblance
(1048627) Tese theologies o retrieval display confidence in the language and con-
ceptual resources of Christianity Rather than seeking to correlate with the
accepted norms and practices o our era the problems at hand can be ldquocor-
rected by skillul deployment o the intellectual and spiritual capital oChristianityrdquo10486291048629 In other words the grammar or logic o Christian belie and
its practices are unapologetically taken as ready resources or the work o
theology Such grammar or ldquocapitalrdquo is drawn rom within Christianityrsquos ca-
nonical Scriptures ecumenical creeds the doctrinal matrices o particular
traditions o Christian aith the ormative and influential figures within
various ecclesial traditions (eg Catholic post-Reormation monastic) and
liturgical practices and orms o lie Tough Enlightenment sensibilitiesprized versions o objective neutralitymdashthe attempt to remove ourselves rom
bias or particularitymdashthese theologies o retrieval seek to embody climb
within and work out rom the particularity o Christian belie and lie
(1048628) From the perspective o retrieval theology is rightly understood as a
churchly endeavor that is theology is to be done primarilymdashnot exclusively but
primarilymdashwith and or the church Tis does not mean that theology operates
without reerence to or significance or the world beyond the church Rather
theology inormed by retrieval is in John Websterrsquos words ldquogenerally governed
by the relation o theology to the community o aith as its primary sphererdquo10486291048630
Tis community o aith has a history and that historyrsquos Lord is the risen and
exalted Christ Teologies o retrieval are grounded in the confidence that God
has been at work in the world in and through the ebb and flow o history in-
cluding the centuries since the New estament era Tis community o aith
embodied in the church has a past a present and a uture and this history in-
orms both the motives and substance o retrieval in at least two ways
First the church-in-history is the community o aith in which resources
55Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo p 98309398309698309756Ibid p 9830939830961048628
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
o retrieval are sought and rom which they are drawn It is not just toward
some generic ldquopastrdquo that retrieval looks but to the history o Christianity Te
church o Christ did not begin with the ounding o todayrsquos local churchesRather Godrsquos work and witness in the world through the church has been
present since the time o the New estament Retrieval turns to this work and
witness in its search or resources or contemporary use From their investi-
gation o the Nicene Creed to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer rom
the Rule o St Benedict to the hymns o Charles Wesley the practitioners o
retrieval considered in this study look or resources within the history o
Christianity the history o the church10486291048631
Second the church constitutes not only the context rom which resources
o retrieval are drawn but also the primary arena in which they are brought to
bear today Retrieval entails the church o yesterday helping the church o today
to think speak and act rightly At its best retrieval is not ldquomere restorationrdquo o
a theological ormulation or liturgical practice ldquobut a deep proound and pas-
sionate engagement with truthrdquo in word and deed10486291048632 For example the retrievals
we selected include those that serve reading the Bible ormulating Christianbelie participating in corporate worship in the church pursuing personal
Christian ormation and undertaking Christian mission in the worldmdashtoday
An important effect o their churchly orientation is that theologies o
retrieval are characterized by two types o ecumenicity ecumenicity across
time and ecumenicity across Christian traditions First practitioners o re-
trieval believe a proound continuity exists in the church across time In Te
Genesis of Christian Doctrine Alister McGrath notes that there is ldquoa common
actor o central importance to the reappropriation o the past communal
continuity with the past rdquo10486291048633 Tis continuity does not consist in unthinking
reiteration o theological ormulas or attempts simply to reproduce be-
haviors o the past Nor does it consist in commonalities shared by two
57Any engagement with the history o Christianitymdashincluding the theologies o retrieval examined
heremdashinevitably will be shaped by the view o the church held by the one undertaking that engage-
ment Tus retrievals conducted by scholars whose views o the church correspond to or example
the view o the church associated with the Anabaptist or Lutheran or Roman Catholic tradition
will be inormed by those understandings as to ldquowhererdquo genuine Christianity is ound in the past
and which church(es) constitute ldquothe true churchrdquo (see William J Abraham ldquoCanonical Teism
Tirty Tesesrdquo in Abraham Vickers and Van Kirk Canonical Teism pp 983094-983095)58Robert E Webber Ancient-Future Worship (Grand Rapids Baker Books 983090983088983088983096) p 104862598308898309759McGrath Genesis of Doctrine p 1048625983096983096 (emphasis original)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3052
10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486271048627
churchesmdashthe church o the past and the church o the present Rather this
continuity is ontological Te ldquochurch o the pastrdquo and the ldquochurch o the
presentrdquo are in act one church Tus Bryan Litfin writes ldquoOur ocus on theuture must take into account the grand story o which we all are a part
We are small figures inevitably carried orward by the weight o the holy
catholic church whose sails are filled by the mighty wind o the Holy Spirit
Te church o the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a divine workrdquo10486301048624 Tere is a
ldquocontinuous heritage in the aithrdquo which means that ldquoall the centuries o
Christian historyrdquo are the ldquorightul possessionrdquo o the church today1048630983089
Second many retrievals are marked by highlighting continuities across tradi-tions o Christianity In addition to a more extensive chronological reach re-
trieval ofen expresses and advances a more catholic ecclesiastical reach Many
theologians who employ retrieval turn to people and resources beyond their
own usual ecclesial-theological rame o reerence Tis is perhaps most no-
ticeable among Protestants For example some Protestants rom within his-
torically nonliturgical and nonsacramental ecclesial traditions are adapting
principles and practices rom liturgical and sacramental traditions Reachinga bit urther some are drawing rom people resources and streams o Christi-
anity that their own tradition has ofen categorized as ldquoEastern Orthodoxrdquo or
ldquoRoman Catholicrdquomdashand has thereby neglected George Kalantzis summarizes
a perspective that both prompts and inorms many retrievals when he writes
that ldquothe history and tradition o the church is not the birthright o any one
Christian communion but a shared heritage that has been is and must con-
tinue to be integral to all Christian communions We all Protestant Catholic
or Orthodox drink rom the same well o a common Christian traditionrdquo10486301048626
(1048629) Closely related to the previous resemblance the theologies o retrieval
considered here ace the challenge o Christianityrsquos sociality Tat is Christian
existence is socially embodied and this means that expressions o Christian
aithmdashdoctrine liturgy spiritual practices orms o liemdashare embedded within
communities in particular times places and cultures We might say that Chris-
tianity is in this sense always ldquolocalrdquo Christian existence always has its eet on
60Bryan M Litfin Getting to Know the Church Fathers (Grand Rapids Brazos 983090983088983088983095) p 983090983094104862861Ibid p 98309098309562George Kalantzis ldquoEpilogue Radical-ness o the Evangelical Faithrdquo in Evangelicals and the Early
Church ed George Kalantzis and Andrew ooley (Eugene OR Cascade 9830909830881048625983090) p 9830901048628983091 He goes
on to observe that the ldquospringrdquo that eeds this well is ldquothe early Christian centuriesrdquo
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the ground in actual time and space At the same time in all their diverse ldquolo-
calityrdquo expressions o Christianity are also ldquouniversalrdquo Christians are connected
to those o other times and places through their common membership in thebody o Christ As the author o Hebrews writes we are surrounded by ldquoa great
cloud o witnessesrdquo that transcends our locality (Heb 104862510486261048625-1048627) Te dialectic be-
tween locality and universality has been the case or Christian aith rom its
inception (a point commonly emphasized among missiologists)10486301048627
All this may seem too obvious to point out However sociality bears im-
portantly on the work o theological retrieval in at least two ways First un-
derstanding the past requires careul deliberation about the social environ-mentsmdashwhat we will later call ldquosocial imaginariesrdquomdasho the locations rom
which retrieval is being attempted Objects o retrieval do not float in a void
rather they are lived and expressed in particular communities Tis is not to
reduce the content o Christian distinctiveness to its cultural-linguistic ele-
ments or relativize Christianityrsquos claims to universal truth It is merely to say
that comprehending ideas or practices in the Christian past requires us to
consider the social actors that contributed to their flourishing
1048630983092
Second orobjects o recovery to flourish in the present (doctrines practices etc) the-
ologies o retrieval must navigate the matter o social continuity and discon-
tinuity between then and now Te aim o theological retrieval is not merely
the comprehension o how Christians thought or acted in the past but the
orward movement o the church Tus we must discern and navigate the
social particularities o Christian belie and practice both then and now
(983094) Finally the act o retrieval obligates one to recognize and navigate
historical continuity and discontinuity Change is a universal and patently
obvious characteristic o historical existence and the very notion o retrieval
implicitly posits that there has been some type o rupture or discontinuitymdash
otherwise retrieval would not be needed Te modern era and our own
timemdashwhether we regard it as modern postmodern or hypermodernmdashis
63See imothy ennent Teology in the Context of World Christianity (Grand Rapids Zondervan
983090983088983088983095) Andrew Walls Te Missionary Movement in Christian History (Maryknoll NY Orbis 1048625983097983097983094)64A fine example is J odd Billings and I John Hesselink eds Calvinrsquos Teology and Its Reception
(Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983090) Te editors write ldquoo understand and access
contemporary efforts at retrieval [o Calvinrsquos thought] readers should seek to understand Cal-
vinrsquos writings in their sixteenth-century context as well as the various ways in which they have
been received in the pastrdquo (xvi)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3252
1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3352
Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3452
10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3552
Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4152
Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486271048629
not alone in seeing an inextricable connection between ldquohistoryrdquo and
ldquochangerdquo It is one o the necessary parts o this bothand continuity and
change Te modern era can however be challenged or its almost myopicpreoccupation with change and newness (indeed dis-continuity) to the
virtual exclusion o continuity ldquoIn most fields o intellectual and artistic
culturerdquo Carl Schorske writes ldquotwentieth-century Europe and America
learned to think without history rdquo He continues
Te very word ldquomodernismrdquo has come to distinguish our lives and times rom
what had gone beore rom history as a whole as such Modern architecture
modern music modern sciencemdashall these have defined themselves not somuch out o the past indeed scarcely against the past but detached rom it in
a new autonomous cultural space Te modern mind grew indifferent to
history or history conceived as a continuous nourishing tradition became
useless to its projects10486301048629
Te retrievals occupying our attention in the ollowing pages challenge this
by attempting in myriad ways to think again with history more specifically
with the Christian tradition whether that is the biblical narrative or perhapsmore broadly the Great radition
Tat being said retrieval does not deny the act o change It does however
challenge the modern tendency to presume that change is (always) good as
well as the accompanying tendency to emphasize change to the virtual ne-
glect o continuity Beginning in the 10486251048633983094983088s and beyond numerous historical
theologians including Jaroslav Pelikan and R P C Hanson began to chal-
lenge this bias toward change10486301048630
For example Pelikan observes that ldquothechurch historian shares an occupational hazard with all other historians he
tends to be more interested in change than in continuityrdquo And ldquoTis interest
in change takes the orm o a preoccupation with doctrinal controversy and
theological speculation to produce the impression that the development o
Christian doctrine is ar more erratic and fitul than it has been in actrdquo10486301048631
Even a historical theologian such as Maurice Wiles who writing at the same
65Carl E Schorske Tinking with History Explorations in the Passage to Modernism (Princeton NJ
Princeton University Press 1048625983097983097983096) p 104862866Pelikan Development Pelikan Historical Teology and R P C Hanson Te Continuity of Chris-
tian Doctrine (New York Seabury 10486259830979830961048625)67Jaroslav Pelikan ldquoAn Essay on the Development o Christian Doctrinerdquo Church History 983091983093 (1048625983097983094983094) 983096
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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1048627983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
time as Pelikan and Hanson advocated substantive revisions to the content
o the received doctrinal tradition o the church recognized that ldquothe idea o
radical discontinuity in doctrine is not strictly conceivable Tere mustalways be a relation o some sort between what has gone beore and what
comes aferrdquo10486301048632 Finding the relation between what has gone on beore and
what comes afer is apparent in the retrievals considered here and in act
they embrace the connection in one way or another
Rowan Williams aptly rames continuity and discontinuity by the doc-
trine o Christrsquos body the church For Williams retrieval is made possible by
our shared membership within Christrsquos body ldquoI we begin rom our axiomo common membership in the Body there will always be gifs to be received
rom the pastrdquo10486301048633 Tis is so because ldquoWe are all in the Church living lsquoin the
wakersquordquo o Godrsquos agency that precedes all our ldquothoughts and initiativesrdquo10486311048624 Tis
has the important consequence that ldquoi we are ree to listen to the strange
and recognizable lsquoothernessrsquo o the past this may help us in dealing with
what is strange to us nowrdquo1048631983089 On the one hand encountering the past we find
strangers living in a different time and place and with their own conven-tions o thought and culture On the other hand we also find ellow members
in the body o Christ and thereore ldquoriendsrdquo Tese ellow members o
Christrsquos body ldquoare helpul to us not because they are just like us but in ancy
dress but because they are who they are in their own contextrdquo10486311048626 It is a fitting
characterization o the continuity and discontinuity that all retrievals share
Tus wise theological engagement with the Christian past will neither
cast our orerunners as versions o ourselves nor ail to draw on them And
this is so because the risen and exalted Christ acts in the church and the
constancy o his action in the body o Christ links us to and orients us
toward our brothers and sisters rom the past10486311048627 As Stephen Holmes ob-
68Maurice Wiles Te Making of Christian Doctrine (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1048625983097983094983095)
p 1048625983094983095 Te point here is neither to deny that there has been discontinuity nor to suggest that all
continuity is good Rather the point is simply to acknowledge and embrace good and proper
continuity which due to the bias toward change too ofen goes unrecognized or neglected
simply because it is ldquooldrdquo or ldquotraditionalrdquo or ldquothe samerdquo69Williams Why Study the Past p 98309798309570Ibid p 10486251048625104862571Ibid72Ibid p 98309098309473Such a view also rejects post-Enlightenment depictions o the God-world relation that trade
exclusively on cosmological inherently deistic explanations o creation and avor a more bibli-
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486271048631
serves ldquoIn giving an account o how a theologian should relate to theolo-
gians o previous generations it is not just the differing historical loca-
tions that are important but the shared ecclesial location toordquo1048631983092
M983141983156983144983151983140 O983154983143983137983150983145983162983137983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 O983158983141983154983158983145983141983159
Teorizing about retrieval risks ormulating a theory o retrieval that has
its ldquoeetrdquo nowhere not fitting any actual retrieval in practice John Ciardirsquos
remarks about theories o poetry well apply ldquoWhat has any poet to trust
more than that feel o the thing Teory concerns him only until he picks
up his pen and it begins to concern him again as soon as he lays it downrdquo10486311048629
Our interest is not to develop a theory o retrieval that floats ree rom its
actual practice Tus rather than theorize about retrieval we take six
retrievals in hand turn them about and then press them hard enough
to see what they reveal about retrieval or the thought and lie o the
church And in the process we also gain wisdom regarding Scripture doc-
trine worship spirituality mission and engagement with culture in the
church todayOur selections are by no means comprehensive o contemporary theological
retrieval and resh provocative work appears regularly10486311048630 Several retrievals o
varying scale and stages o maturity were beyond the scope o this book but
would make excellent subjects or uture study most notably retrieval or race10486311048631
cally ldquorealisticrdquo conception o Godrsquos activity in the world74Stephen R Holmes Listening to the Past (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 983090104862575John Ciardi ldquoranslatorrsquos Noterdquo in Te Divine Comedy translated by John Ciardi (New York
New American Library 983090983088983088983091) p xxv76During final stages o preparing this manuscript an important book was released rom the re-
nowned patristic scholar Frances Young called Godrsquos Presence A Contemporary Recapitulation of
Early Christianity (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) Te book is a thoroughgoing
retrieval o patristic wisdom or contemporary theology ldquoA stab at a systematic theology which
has contemporary coherence but is inormed not by the usual dialogue with contemporary
philosophers or theologians but rather by engagement with the theology o the early church
athers who laid down the parameters o Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the
creedsrdquo (p 1048625) What makes Youngrsquos work distinctly noteworthy is her effort to retrieve the ethos
o patristic thought and in doing so to permit even her theological method to be influenced by it77See Willie J Jennings Te Christian Imagination Teology and the Origins of Race (New Haven
C Yale University Press 9830909830881048625983088) Brian Bantum Mulatto A Teology of Race and Christian Hy-
bridity (Waco X Baylor University Press 9830909830881048625983088) J Cameron Carter Race A Teological Account
(New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) Jonathan ran ldquoTe New Black Teology Retriev-
ing Ancient Sources to Challenge Racismrdquo Christian Century February 983096 9830909830881048625983090 pp 9830901048628-983090983095
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
gender10486311048632 soteriology 10486311048633 and the spiritual senses10486321048624 as well as specific commu-
nities o aith such as the Hebraic heritage o Christianity 1048632983089 and the tradition
o Pietism10486321048626 Tat being said the examples on which we will ocus are illus-
78See Nonna Verna Harrison Godrsquos Many-Splendored Image Teological Anthropology for Christian
Formation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983088) pp 983097983090-983097983094 Morwenna Ludlow Gregory of
Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern (Oxord Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983095) chaps 1048625983088-10486251048628 Sarah
Coakley ldquoIntroduction Gender rinitarian Analogies and the Pedagogy o the Songrdquo in Re-
thinking Gregory of Nyssa ed Sarah Coakley (Oxord Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-1048625983091 originally
published in Modern Teology 1048625983096 no 1048628 (983090983088983088983090) 10486281048625983091-983091983091 Janet Martin Soskice ldquorinity and lsquothe
Feminine Otherrsquordquo New Blackfriars 983095983093 (January 10486259830979830971048628) 983090-983090983096 Verna Harrison ldquoA Gender Reversal
in Gregory o Nyssarsquos First Homily on the Song o Songsrdquo Studia patristica 983090983095 (1048625983097983097983091) 9830911048628-983091983096 KariElisabeth Boslashrresen Subordination and Equivalence Te Nature and Role of Women in Augustine
and Tomas Aquinas (Lanham MD University Press o America 10486259830979830961048625) Coakley provides a
select bibliography o recent work on Augustine related to gender in God Sexuality and the Self
An Essay ldquoOn the rinityrdquo (Cambridge Cambridge University Press 9830909830881048625983091) pp 983091983088983093-98309579See Roger E Olson ldquoDeification in Contemporary Teologyrdquo Teology oday 9830941048628 (983090983088983088983095) 1048625983096983094-
983090983088983088 Paul L Gavrilyuk ldquoTe Retrieval o Deification How a Once-Despised Archaism Became
an Ecumenical Desideratumrdquo Modern Teology 983090983093 (983090983088983088983097) 9830941048628983095-983093983097 Goumlsta Hallonsten ldquoTeosis
in Recent Researchrdquo in Partakers of the Divine Nature ed Michael J Christensen and Jeffery A
Wittung (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983095) pp 9830909830961048625-983097983091 Tis retrieval spans conessional
lines as the ollowing sources illustrate Lutheran Jonathan Linman ldquoMartin Luther lsquoLittle
Christs or the Worldrsquo Faith and Sacraments as Means to Teosisrdquo in Christensen and WittungPartakers of the Divine Nature pp 1048625983096983097-983097983097 Carl E Braaten and Robert W Jenson eds Union
with Christ (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) uomo Mannermaa Christ Present in Faith Lu-
therrsquos View of Justification (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983088983093) Wesleyan Michael J Christensen ldquoJohn
Wesley Christian Perection as Faith Filled with the Energy o Loverdquo in Christensen and Wit-
tung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 9830901048625983097-983090983097 Ben Drewery ldquoDeificationrdquo in Christian Spiri-
tuality ed Peter Brooks (London SCM 1048625983097983095983093) pp 983091983091-983094983090 Reormed Kyle Strobel ldquoJonathan
Edwards and the Polemics o Teosisrdquo Harvard Teological Review 1048625983088983093 no 983091 (9830909830881048625983090) 983090983093983097-983095983097
Strobel Jonathan Edwardsrsquos Teology A Reinterpretation (London amp Clark 9830909830881048625983090) esp pp
1048625983090983093-1048628983094 10486259830971048628-983097983094 983090983091983090 Michael McClymond ldquoSalvation as Divinization Jonathan Edwards Greg-
ory Palamas and the Teological Uses o Neoplatonismrdquo in Jonathan Edwards ed Oliver Crisp
and Paul Helm (Surrey Ashgate 9830909830889830881048628) pp 1048625983091983097-983094983088 Carl Mosser ldquoTe Greatest Possible Bless-ing Calvin and Deificationrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983093983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983091983094-983093983095 Yang-Ho Lee ldquoCalvin
on Deification A Reply to Carl Mosser and Jonathan Slaterrdquo Scottish Journal of Teology 983094983091
(9830909830881048625983088) 983090983095983090-9830961048628 J odd Billings ldquoJohn Calvin United to God Trough Christrdquo in Christensen
and Wittung Partakers of the Divine Nature pp 983090983088983088-9830901048625983096 Billings Union with Christ Myk Ha-
bets ldquoReorming Teosisrdquo in Teosis ed Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov (Cambridge
James Clarke 983090983088983088983094) pp 10486251048628983094-983094983095 Habets Teosis in the Teology of Tomas orrance Ashgate
New Critical Tinking in Religion Teology and Biblical Studies (Surrey Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) evan-
gelical Marcus Peter Johnson One with Christ An Evangelical Teology of Salvation (Wheaton
IL Crossway 9830909830881048625983091) Robert V Rakestraw ldquoBecoming Like God An Evangelical Doctrine o
Teosisrdquo Journal of the Evangelical Teological Society 1048628983088 (1048625983097983097983095) 983090983093983095-98309498309780Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk eds Te Spiritual Senses (Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 98309098308810486251048625)81Marvin R Wilson Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage A Christian Teology of Roots and Renewal
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628)82Roger E Olson and Christian Collins Winn Reclaiming Pietism Retrieving an Evangelical
radition (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983093)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486271048633
trative windows into the mode o theological reflection that is retrieval Tey
give the reader a view o what is common among theologies o retrieval more
broadly and they demonstrate the diversity characteristic o a mode o re-flection rather than a unified school o thought Tey are also prominent in the
contemporary scene so the reader will not need to look ar to find them Finally
these retrievals open up into major areas o Christian reflection So while we
made no attempt to link each retrieval exclusively to a single theological locus
in the course o considering them the reader will be drawn into reflection on
the doctrine o Scripture the rinity corporate worship the Christian lie
mission and the metaphysics that uel the churchrsquos engagement with cultureTe progression o chapters ollows a pattern not unamiliar to dogmatic
study ormal mattersmdashScripture and the task o theology the inner lie o the
churchmdashworship and spirituality and the outreaching o the churchmdashmission
and presence in the world Reflective o the diversity among retrievals there is
some variety among the precise structures o the chapters Tere are also
however common elements shared by all o them Each chapter begins with a
brie introduction which orients the reader to a particular orm o retrievalKey elements are then identified and considered and attention is given to the
theological commitments that und the retrieval Against the background o
this description and analysis the retrieval is examined through a close en-
gagement with selected actual instances o the orm o retrieval that is the
subject o the chapter And each chapter is enriched by bringing an illumi-
nating interpretive anglemdashrom jazz and architecture to social theory and the
history o ideasmdashinto conversation with its orm o retrieval
Chapter one considers theological interpretation o Scripture as retrieval
o the Bible or the church Critical methods o biblical interpretation have
dominated in the academy and the church since the Enlightenment Such
methods consider theological claims problematic because o their biasing
effect on the reader or their association with the church rather than the
academy Tose advocating or theological interpretation seek (in various
ways) to reorder the relationship between the interpreters o Scripture and
the theological doctrinal claims that are undamental to Christian identity
Tis necessitates as we will see some consideration o the social actors
involved with such retrieval It also raises not a ew questions about the
practices o interpretation that are being retrieved specifically the disconti-
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1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4152
Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3652
1048628983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
nuities between their ldquotheological culturesrdquo and our own Charles aylorrsquos
concept o social imaginary will be useul to us as we unpack this urther
While all the retrievals in this study are theological in character chaptertwo ocuses on retrievals or theology per se Te church must steward all o
its resources in relation to the historical dynamic o continuity and change
but this is ofen o particular significance when it relates to the ormulation
and articulation o Christian belie In theology in the modern era the em-
phasis has predominantly allen on change and the changes proposed have
ofen been significantly shaped by philosophical or cultural criteria applied
without substantive guidance rom the theological heritage o the church Teresulting trajectory has both contributed to and been reinorced by the sepa-
ration o the theological enterprise rom the church and Christian lie Re-
trievals or theology work to overcome both the separation o the church rom
its theological past and the separation o theology rom the church by con-
structively employing long-neglected resources or Christian belie A cognate
discipline the history o ideas provides angles o approach that helpully il-
lumine these retrievalsTe retrievals considered in the next two chapters directly complement
and in some interesting respects parallel each other Some retrievals or
Christian spirituality (chapter 1048628) have led to a renewed appreciation or the
importance o the corporate dimensions o spiritual lie and in chapter
three we consider retrieval or corporate worship Tis central practice in the
lie o the church has been the subject o much study debate and proound
change in recent years While many o these changes have been guided by
the value o attraction and the adoption o principles and practices rom
contemporary popular culture many retrievals or worship are giving at-
tention to Christian ormation and drawing rom historical liturgies o the
church By way o illustration we will explore a recent book o ldquocommon
prayerrdquo and the worship principles and practices o two church congrega-
tions Furthermore church buildings most ofen provide the physical setting
in which corporate worship takes place and developments in ecclesiastical
architecture over the course o the twentieth century and into the presentmdash
some o which constitute a retrieval in church architecturemdashprovide en-
gaging metaphors and images or thinking about retrieval or worship
Recent years have seen increased attention to spirituality in both society
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Introduction 10486281048625
at large and Christianity Te reaction to this is mixed among those who take
interest whether theoretical or applied in nurturing Christian lie On one
hand they are encouraged by the resh interest and energy now being givento spirituality On the other they have concerns ranging rom the re-
inorcement o unhealthy principles and practices within Christianity to the
bypassing o distinctively Christian resources or nurturing spiritual lie
Chapter our examines contemporary retrievals or Christian spirituality an
important approach to addressing many o these concerns Tese retrievals
are shaping contemporary Christian spirituality through reclaiming perspec-
tives such as respect or the roles o the material and the corporate in spiri-tuality and practices such as contemplation and other spiritual disciplines
Retrievals or spirituality are ofen characterized by a quest or wisdom and
a recent exploration by philosophers o ldquocruciorm wisdomrdquo provides an in-
ormative conceptual companion to the quest or spiritual wisdom
In chapter five new monastics and their retrieval o monastic-like orms
o lie and practice or the sake o mission bring us ull circle to where we
began in chapter one Like our study o theological interpretation o Scriptureshowed new monastic retrieval affirms historical continuity with the
Christian past while likewise having to contend with serious cultural discon-
tinuity Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove provides an example or how some new
monastics attempt to navigate these challenges New monastics identiy a
thread running throughout the Christian tradition and across conessional
and denominational lines Going by various names the ldquomonastic impulserdquo
names a social reality o Christian aithulness Te unavoidably social nature
o retrieval is apparent again Charles aylor provided an interpretive angle
or parsing sociality related to theological interpretation o Scripture Etienne
Wengerrsquos social theory o learning will open this up again here with addi-
tional nuance
Te cosmos is the ocus o chapter six and the expansive nature o the
word cosmos is meant to draw attention to the bold range o this retrieval
In this chapter we consider the diverse ecumenical project o Radical Or-
thodoxy (RO) ROrsquos retrieval has sought to recover a comprehensive meta-
physics o participationmdasha Platonic-Christian ontologymdashthat views every-
thing in terms o its undamental nonreducible participation in God Up to
this point in the book we have reerred to this chapter through terms like
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3852
10486281048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
ldquoengagement with culturerdquo but only or lack o better shorthand ldquoCulturerdquo
could easily be interpreted too narrowly whereas ROrsquos retrieval o a par-
ticipatory metaphysic is meant to uel not merely the churchrsquos engagementwith culture but everything indeed the Cosmos Te engine o ROrsquos retrieval
is driven by the telling o a particular story the genealogy o modernity and
with it the rise o the secular Tis is central or RO because its genealogy
not only narrates the tale o how a participatory metaphysic was lost but
shows the way toward retrieving it through various key figures as well Teir
retrieval thereore ocuses on a cast o characters ranging rom Augustine
to Aquinas rom Maritain to De Lubac John Milbank and Catherine Pick-stock will illustrate this retrieval or us and their interaction with the
Christian tradition will ask important questions about the tension that exists
between stability and change constraint and freedom in the reception and
transmission o tradition Te conceptualities o jazz improvisation will
provide an apt way to press into this tension
R983141983139983151983149983149983141983150983140983141983140 R983141983137983140983145983150983143
Abraham William J Jason E Vickers and Natalie B Van Kirk eds Canonical
Teism A Proposal for Teology and the Church Grand Rapids Eerdmans
10486269830889830881048632
Allen Michael and Scott R Swain Reformed Catholicity Te Promise of Retrieval
for Teology and Biblical Interpretation Grand Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048629
Humphrey Edith M Scripture and radition What the Bible Really Says Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 104862698308810486251048627
Ludlow Morwenna Gregory of Nyssa Ancient and (Post)modern Oxord OxordUniversity Press 104862698308810486251048627
Webster John ldquoRessourcement Teology and Protestantismrdquo In Ressourcement
A Movement for Renewal in wentieth-Century Teology edited by Gabriel
Flynn and Paul D Murray pp 104862810486321048626-10486331048629 Oxord Oxord University Press 104862698308810486251048628
mdashmdashmdash ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo In Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology
edited by John Webster Kathryn anner and Iain orrance Oxord Oxord
University Press 10486269830889830881048632
Williams Rowan Why Study the Past Te Quest for the Historical Church
Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048629
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4252
1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4352
Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 3952
852017
Scripture
Anyone who thinks he has understood the divine
scriptures or any part of them but cannot by his understanding
build up this double love of God and neighbor has not
yet succeeded in understanding them
S983156 A983157983143983157983155983156983145983150983141 O983150 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 T983141983137983139983144983145983150983143983089
Read Scripture like any other book
B983141983150983146983137983149983145983150 J983151983159983141983156983156 ldquoO983150 983156983144983141 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150 983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141rdquo1048626
I983150 983137983150 983145983150983156983141983154983158983145983141983159 983145983150 983090983088983088983092 a well-reputed biblical scholar described his
relationship to the Bible as ldquoschizophrenicrdquo1048627 It was schizophrenic in the
sense that his approach to the Bible as a person o aith was different romhis academic approach ldquoIn my [academic] work I attempt to deal with the
Bible as I would deal with any work o literature And to treat the history o
Israel as I would treat the history o England or Russia or China that is an
attempt at a scientific historical approachrdquo As a person o aith the Bible
shaped his lie belies ethics moral concerns and religious outlook but he
describes these as a ldquoprivate aspectrdquo o his relationship to the Bible ldquoSo I think
1St Augustine On Christian eaching trans R P H Green Oxord World Classics (Oxord
Oxord University Press 1048625983097983097983095) p 9830909830952Benjamin Jowett ldquoOn the Interpretation o Scripturerdquo in Te Interpretation of Scripture and Other
Essays (1048625983096983094983088 repr London George Routledge amp Sons 1048625983097983088983095) p 9830953Hershel Shanks ldquoContrasting Insights o Biblical Giants BAR Interviews Elie Wiesel and Frank
Moore Crossrdquo BAR 983091983088 no 1048628 (JulyAugust 9830909830889830881048628) 983090983096-983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4052
10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486281048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Biblerdquo he
reported ldquoOne my proessional lie the other a more private concern in-
terest and ascination with the Biblerdquo983092 His testimony is illuminating not be-cause it represents the approach o every Christian biblical scholar Rather it
portrays the outworking o an axiom voiced by Benjamin Jowett in 10486251048632983094983088
ldquoRead Scripture like any other bookrdquo1048629
oday Jowettrsquos precept is being challenged Under the broad banner o
ldquotheological interpretation o Scripturerdquo (IS) many biblical scholars and theo-
logians are retrieving approaches to the Bible that predate modernity prac-
tices o interpretation ofen called premodern or ldquoprecriticalrdquo1048630
Tese ap-proaches attempt to recast the relationship between readers texts and history
so that the Bible is interpreted by Christians not as a book like any other book
but as Scripture1048631 In this sense the attack against Jowettrsquos axiom is more basi-
cally an assault against the assumptions and logic which underlie it
It is because the underlying logic o Jowettrsquos axiom is predominantly
modern many advocates or IS argue that it has held such considerable sway
in modern biblical scholarship
1048632
Te intelligibility o ldquoread Scripture like anyother bookrdquo depends upon particularly modern assumptions about readers
texts and history Tese assumptions are likewise inscribed upon methods o
biblical study that have dominated in the modern university especially his-
torical criticism ldquoLike citizens in the classical liberal staterdquo Jon Levenson ob-
4Ibid p 9830919830885Benjamin Jowett ldquoInterpretationrdquo p 983095 We are certainly aware that as R W L Moberly points
out the issues involved with biblical interpretation are far more complex than the polarity be-
tween the Bible like any other book and the Bible unlike any other book (see R W L MoberlyTe Bible Teology and Faith A Study of Abraham and Jesus [Cambridge Cambridge University
Press 983090983088983088983088] chap 1048625) Jowettrsquos axiom simply operates as a heuristic to introduce the theme o
this chapter6For an overview o the development o IS since Karl Barth see Daniel J reier Introducing
Teological Interpretation of Scripture Recovering a Christian Practice (Grand Rapids Baker Aca-
demic 983090983088983088983096) chap 1048625 IS is not without its critics or example Paul E Capetz ldquoTeology and
the Historical-Critical Study o the Biblerdquo in Harvard Teological Review 10486259830881048628 no 1048628 (October
98309098308810486251048625) 1048628983093983097-983096983096 D A Carson ldquoTeological Interpretation o Scripture Yes But rdquo in Teo-
logical Commentary Evangelical Perspectives ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) pp
1048625983096983095-9830909830889830957Tis is not to say Jowettrsquos maxim holds no avor among contemporary biblical scholars John
Barton reaffirms it saying that biblical criticism ldquorequires the adoption o the same general
hermeneutic or reading the Bible as or any other textrdquo (Te Nature of Biblical Criticism [Louis-
ville KY Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983095] pp 1048625983095983090 10486259830959830978For a genealogy o Jowettrsquos precept see R W L Moberly ldquolsquoInterpret the Bible Like Any Other
Bookrsquo Requiem or an Axiomrdquo in Journal of Teological Interpretation 10486281048625 (9830909830881048625983088) 9830971048625-10486251048625983088
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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Scripture 10486281048629
serves ldquoscholars practicing historical criticism o the Bible are expected to
eliminate or minimize their communal loyalties to see them as operative only
within associations that are private nonscholarly and altogether voluntaryrdquo1048633 One obvious consequence o the elimination o communal loyalties (such as
an interpreterrsquos identification with the Church) has been the slow migration
o classic theological belies (and in some cases systematic theology) away
rom biblical studies As Walter Moberly describes
It is common knowledge that modern biblical criticism only became a recog-
nizable discipline through the process o explicit severing o the Bible rom
classical theological ormulations Te basis or this was the belie that onlyso could the Bible be respected and heard in its own right untrammeled by
preconceptions which supposed that the answers were already known even
beore the questions were asked or by anachronistic impositions o the con-
ceptualities and assumptions o subsequent ages9830891048624
Tis is not to say that advocates or IS discount the discipline o modern
biblical studies out o hand Rather many contend that Christian biblical
interpretation must utilize the insights o critical studies while at the sametime remaining wary o its underlying logic and assumptions many o
which they argue are doctrinally insufficient (a model termed ldquopostcriticalrdquo)983089983089
ldquoWe must appropriate without capitulating rdquo Michael Allen argues ldquoHis-
torical method is a wonderul handmaid and a terrible masterrdquo9830891048626
9Jon Levenson ldquoHistorical Criticism and the Fate o the Enlightenment Projectrdquo in Te Hebrew Bible
the Old estament and Historical Criticism (Louisville Westminster John Knox 1048625983097983097983091) p 10486251048625983096
Emphasis added10R W L Moberly Te Bible p 1048628 Similarly Geoffrey Wainwright ldquoowards an Ecumenical
Hermeneutic How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures ogetherrdquo Gregorianum 983095983094 (1048625983097983097983093)
983094983091983097-1048628983097 C Baruch Spinoza Teological-Political reatise second ed translated by Samuel Shirley
(Indianapolis Hackett 9830909830889830881048625) p 98309698309511Richard and R Kendall Soulen suggest three models or theological interpretation that vary
based on their view o the relation between modern biblical criticism and exegesis Te conser-
vative model denies validity to the findings and methods o modern critical tools and reasserts
the unique status o the Bible as a divinely inspired text Te liberal model adopts modern
critical tools and approaches consequently accepting a revised understanding o the nature o
the Biblersquos significance Te postcritical model grants the validity o critical methods o exegesis
but insists on the integrity o specifically theological approaches that regard the Bible as Scrip-
ture Our attention consistently rests on approaches broadly within the postcritical model (see
Richard N Soulen and R Kendall Soulen ldquoTeological InterpretationCriticismrdquo in Handbook
of Biblical Criticism ourth ed [Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 98309098308810486251048625] pp 98309010486251048628-1048625983095)12Michael Allen ldquoTeological Commentaryrdquo in Teological Commentary Evangelical Perspectives
ed Michael Allen (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) p 983094 Allenrsquos ldquohandmaidrdquo metaphor echoes Karl
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048628983094 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
Given the range o opinion about the role o modern biblical criticism it is
not surprising that approaches and projects or IS widely vary Some re-
trievals ocus on distinct eras o ChristianitymdashPatristic Medieval or Reor-mation9830891048627mdashand others on specific individuals rom the Christian tradition983089983092
Both approaches seek in one way or another to immerse themselves in their
patterns and habits o interpretation not uncritically but thoroughly and hon-
estly For others lost or underprivileged practices are the primary ocus9830891048629 or
the role o the churchrsquos creeds related to exegesis9830891048630 Some seek wisdom rom
the history o interpretation9830891048631 and still others retrieve doctrines related to the
status o the Bible within the Christian community such as divine inspirationor the economy o salvation9830891048632 Te diversity o approaches and emphases is
due in part to the range o ecclesial locations rom which these proposals arise
but it is also due to how advocates o IS name the problem to which the re-
trieval o IS is the solution (we address this urther in the next section)
Despite its diversity (or maybe because o it) the momentum o IS seems
Barth who motivated by similar concerns described the application o critical tools as ldquopre-
liminary workrdquo that provides a ldquopoint o departure or genuine exegesisrdquo (Te Epistle to the Ro-mans trans Edwyn C Hoskyns 983094th ed [London Oxord University Press 1048625983097983094983096] pp 983095-983096)
13For example (Patristic) Brian E Daley ldquoIs Patristic Exegesis Still Usable Some Reflections on
Early Christian Interpretation o the Psalmsrdquo in Te Art of Reading Scripture ed Ellen F Davis
and Richard B Hays (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 983094983097-983096983096 Christopher Hall Reading
Scripture with the Church Fathers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 1048625983097983097983096) (Medieval) Peter
M Candler Jr Teology Rhetoric Manuduction Or Reading Scripture ogether on the Path to God
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983094) David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Superiority o Pre-Critical Exegesisrdquo
Teology oday 983091983095 no 1048625 (1048625983097983096983088) 983090983095-983091983096 (Reormation) imothy George Reading Scripture with
the Reformers (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 98309098308810486251048625)14For example Jason Byasse Praise Seeking Understanding Reading the Psalms with Augustine
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095) Peter J Leithart Athanasius Foundations in Teological Ex-egesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids Brazos 98309098308810486251048625) imothy J Wengert Reading the
Bible with Martin Luther An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 9830909830881048625983091)15For example (these could be vastly multiplied) (lectio divina or meditation reading) John Jeffer-
son Davis Meditation and Communion with God Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction
(Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 9830909830881048625983090) (figural reading) Richard B HaysReading Backwards
Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Waco X Baylor University Press 98309098308810486251048628)16For example Robert Jenson Canon and Creed Interpretation Resources or the Use o Scripture
in the Church (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox 9830909830881048625983088)17For example C Clifon Black Reading Scripture with the Saints (Eugene OR Cascade 98309098308810486251048628)
chapter 983093 David Paul Parris Reading the Bible with Giants How 852018852016852016852016 Years of Biblical Interpreta-
tion Can Shed New Light on Old exts (London Paternoster 983090983088983088983094) John L Tompson Reading
the Bible with the Dead What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis Tat You Canrsquot Learn
from Exegesis Alone (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983095)18For example Michael Graves Te Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture What the Early
Church Can each Us (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309098308810486251048628) Retrieving doctrines o the economy o
salvation will be our ocus later in the chapter
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Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
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Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
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Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
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10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4352
Scripture 10486281048631
unlikely to wane anytime soon Several commentary series are devoted to it9830891048633
an academic journal10486261048624 a dictionary1048626983089 and the number o proposals or its
method seems to multiply yearly10486261048626 Miroslav Vol even suggests that the ldquoreturno biblical scholars to the theological reading o the Scriptures and the return
o systematic theologians to sustained engagement with the scriptural textsmdashin
a phrase the return o both to theological readings o the Biblemdashis the most
significant theological development in the last two decadesrdquo10486261048627
Te question that remains or our study concerns the manner in which
IS seeks to retrieve patterns o reading Scripture rom the past It is not
especially useul toward the cultivation o theological discernment or us tomerely note that some orms o IS draw on premodern resources in the
effort to revitalize biblical interpretation We need to press more firmly on
the retrieval to discern the conditions on which such retrieval operates and
the actors that contribute to its flourishing Tat is to say or those ap-
proaches to IS which do so what does retrieving lost orgotten or under-
privileged patterns o biblical exegesis necessitate In order or these kinds o
IS to thrive and flourish or them to be ound sensible ways to exegete theBible what is required o the reader What kind o sel-understanding must
19For example Te wo Horizons New estament Commentary and Old estament Commentary
(Eerdmans) Illuminations (Eerdmans) Blackwell Bible Commentaries (Wiley-Blackwell) Belie
A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox) amp Clark International
Teological Commentary ( amp Clark) Tere is also a single volume commentary on the whole
Bible (Teological Bible Commentary Gail R OrsquoDay and David Peterson eds [Louisville KY WJK
983090983088983088983097]) and book-by-book surveys o the Old and New estaments (Teological Interpretation of
the Old estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096] Teological In-
terpretation of the New estament Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983096])Commentary series are also devoted to retrieving premodern interpreters the Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture (IVP Academic) the Reormation Commentary on Scripture (IVP
Academic) Te Churchrsquos Bible Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators (Eerdmans) Com-
mentary series have also been launched to inorm preaching through theological commentary on
lectionary readings Feasting on the Word Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary (WJK)20Te Journal for Teological Interpretation (Eisenbrauns)21Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible introduces a wide variety o topics related to
IS (Kevin Vanhoozer ed [Grand Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983093])22For example J odd Billings Te Word of God for the People of God An Entryway to the Teo-
logical Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) Black Reading Scripture chap-
ters 983090 and 1048628 Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture (Eugene OR Cascade 983090983088983088983097) Joel Green
Practicing Teological Interpretation Engaging Biblical exts for Faith and Formation (Grand Rapids
Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) Angus Paddison Scripture A Very Teological Proposal (London amp
Clark 983090983088983088983097)23Miroslav Vol Captive to the Word Engaging the Scriptures for Contemporary Teological Reflection
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983088) p 10486251048628 (emphasis original)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4752
Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4452
10486281048632 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145983141983158983137983148
the interpreter have in order or theological exegesis to be a fitting and sen-
sible way to engage Scripture What sorts o assumptions about readers texts
and history must be heldmdashin contrast to the predominantly modern onesthat many advocates o IS decry Tese are the questions we will pursue
ollowing a brie introduction to IS that ocuses on its elements o retrieval
C983151983149983149983151983150983137983148983145983156983161 983137983150983140 D983145983158983141983154983155983145983156983161
IS is a recovery movement in the ollowing sense advocates o IS seek to
retrieve a relationship between theology and the practices o biblical exe-
gesis that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical studies andtheology which it is believed hinder the interpretation o the Bible as
Scripture What constitutes these modern developments is up or debate A
ew examples illustrate
Retrieving the doctrinal heritage o the church is commonly emphasized
among some advocates o IS In his preace to the Brazos Teological Com-
mentary on the Bible R R Reno cites the ready dismissal o tradition among
contemporary biblical scholars many o whom understand doctrine to beldquothe moldering scrim o antique prejudice obscuring the Biblerdquo1048626983092 Quite the
opposite Reno contends tradition is a ldquoclariying agent an enduring tradition
o theological judgments that amplifies the living voice o Scripturerdquo Other
approaches to IS such as the Eerdmans wo Horizons New estament Com-
mentary attempt to bridge the modern distinctions between systematic the-
ology and biblical studies Te wo Horizons series preace acknowledges the
importance o modern and postmodern approaches to the Bible but it centers
the seriesrsquo interests ldquoon theological readings o the textrdquo that are ldquodeliberately
theologicalrdquo interpreting New estament books canonically and remaining in
conversation with constructive theology10486261048629
Te role o critical methods is ofen the ocus as well In the introduction to
the Dictionary for Teological Interpretation of the Bible Kevin Vanhoozer calls
into question the autonomy o ldquoso-called critical approaches to reading the
24R R Reno series preace to the Brazos Teological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids
Brazos 983090983088983088983093ndash)25Joel B Green and Max urner series preace to the wo Horizons New estament Commentary
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983093ndash) Other series o theological commentary include the ollow-
ing Belie A Teological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville KY Westminster John Knox)
amp Clark International Teological Commentary (London amp Clark)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4752
Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
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Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4552
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4752
Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4652
1048629983088 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Bible that transcend or rectiy modern developments in biblical exegesis
Peter Leithart says it well
Teological interpretation o Scripture thus involves respect or premodern
interpretation attention to the doctrinal heritage o the church recognition
that Bible scholarship takes place within the church and exists or the edifi-
cation o the church and acknowledgement that interpretation is not a
clinical scientific enterprise but a orm o piety and properly proceeded and
ollowed by prayer praise and worship10486271048624
However the growing popularity o IS should not mask the difficulty o
defining it We should also not assume that its advocates are o one mind
about its practice First a good deal o conessional diversity exists among
emerging proposals1048627983089 Advocates include a wide variety o Protestants
Roman Catholics Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox each with their unique
ecclesial traditions respecting the Bible its history and the relationship be-
tween it and the church10486271048626 Second the theoretical shape o proposals or IS
varies according to the resources and methodologies that are emphasizedmdash
30Peter Leithart Athanasius Foundations o Teological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 98309098308810486251048625) p 983090983096 On IS as retrieval see also George Lindbeck ldquoPostcritical
Canonical Interpretation Tree Modes o Retrievalrdquo in Teological Exegesis Essays in Honor of Bre-
vard Childs (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983096) pp 983090983094-9830931048625 (esp pp 983090983094-983091983091 983091983093-983091983096 983093983088) Robert Louis
Wilken ldquoInterpreting the Bible as Biblerdquo in Journal for Teological Interpretation 1048628 no 1048625 (983090983088983088983096) 983095-1048625104862831Te institutionalvocational locations o its advocates influence proposals as well See Daniel
reier ldquoWhat Is Teological Interpretation An Ecclesial Reductionrdquo International Journal of
Systematic Teology 1048625983090 no 983090 (9830909830881048625983088) 104862510486281048628-9830941048625 Stephen E Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scrip-
ture Cascade Companions (Eugene OR Cascade 98309010486241048624983097) pp 9830951048630-98309698309632Eastern Orthodox interpreters are not considered in this chapter but several Orthodox scholars are
actively involved in IS or their hermeneutics are broadly consistent with the profile o IS wepresent For example Edith M Humphrey Grand Entrance Worship on Earth as in Heaven (Grand
Rapids Brazos 9830901048624983089983089) idem ldquo983090 Corinthiansrdquo in Teological Interpretation of the New estament A
Book-by-Book Survey ed Kevin Vanhoozer (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983096) pp 9830891048624983096-983089983092
idem And I urned to See the Voice Te Rhetoric of Vision in the New estament Studies in Teo-
logical Interpretation (Grand Rapids Baker Academic 98309010486241048624983095) idem Ecstasy and Intimacy When
the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 98309010486241048624983093) Teodore G Stylianopou-
los Encouraged by the Scriptures Essays on Scripture Interpretation and Life (Brookline MA Holy
Cross Orthodox Press 9830901048624983089983089) idem Te New estament An Orthodox Perspective Vol 852017 Scripture
radition Hermeneutics (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983092) For introductions to
Orthodox perspectives on the Bible and hermeneutics see George Kalantzis ldquoScripture in Eastern
Orthodoxy Canon radition and Interpretationrdquo in Te Sacred ext Excavating the exts Explor-
ing the Interpretations and Engaging the Teologies of the Christian Scriptures ed Michael Bird and
Michael Paul (Piscataway NJ Gorgias 98309010486249830891048624) pp 9830891048630983091-983095983095 Teodore G Stylianopoulos ldquoPerspec-
tives in Orthodox Biblical Interpretationrdquo in Sacred ext and Interpretation Perspectives in Orthodox
Biblical Studies ed Teodore G Stylianopoulos (Brookline MA Holy Cross Orthodox Press 98309010486241048624983095)
pp 983091983090983093-9830911048630 Our thanks to Edith Humphrey or directing us toward several o these resources
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4752
Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4752
Scripture 10486291048625
precritical linguistic doctrinal canonical cultural-social and so on For
example in making their case or IS some build their presentation around
the appropriate location o Scripturersquos interpretation others the exegeticalstrategies applied some the goal or telos o reading Scripture theologically
and still others the operative agencies at work in the process o interpre-
tation Tird the actual practice o IS varies considerably Simply survey a
handul o theological commentaries and the diversity o approaches and
styles or offering theological commentary is unmistakable
Despite the diversity among advocates and projects they all seek to
engage the Bible as Scripture Tat is as John Webster writes ldquoas more thana set o clues to the history o antique religious culture and so as a text which
may legitimately direct theological reason because in some manner it a-
ords access to Godrsquos sel-communicationrdquo10486271048627 A similar consensus was ound
among the biblical scholars theologians and pastors who gathered under
the title ldquoTe Scripture Projectrdquo Tey met to ldquoexplore to exempliy and to
nurture habits o reading Scripture theologicallyrdquo toward recovering ldquothe
churchrsquos rich heritage o biblical interpretation in a dramatically changedcultural environmentrdquo Advocates or IS would not equally weigh each o
the ollowing nine theses nor would they agree on their ull inclusion as
they are stated here However across the spectrum o IS these nine theses
give a general sense or common ground
983089 Scripture truthully tells the story o Godrsquos action o creating judging
and saving the world
983090 Scripture is rightly understood in light o the churchrsquos rule o aith as acoherent dramatic narrative
983091 Faithul interpretation o Scripture requires an engagement with the
entire narrative the New estament cannot be rightly understood apart
rom the Old nor can the Old be rightly understood apart rom the New
983092 exts o Scripture do not have a single meaning limited to the intent o the
original author In accord with Jewish and Christian traditions we affirm
that Scripture has multiple complex senses given by God the author o the
whole drama
33John Webster ldquoTeologies o Retrievalrdquo in Te Oxford Handbook of Systematic Teology (Oxord
Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983096) p 9830939830971048625
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4852
10486291048626 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
983093 Te our canonical Gospels narrate the truth about Jesus
1048630 Faithul interpretation o Scripture invites and presupposes participation
in the community brought into being by Godrsquos redemptive actionmdashthe
church
983095 Te saints o the church provide guidance in how to interpret and
perorm Scripture
983096 Christians need to read the Bible in dialogue with diverse others outside
the church
983097 We live in the tension between the ldquoalreadyrdquo and the ldquonot yetrdquo o thekingdom o God consequently Scripture calls the church to ongoing dis-
cernment to continually resh rereadings o the text in light o the Holy
Spiritrsquos ongoing work in the world1048627983092
V983137983150983156983137983143983141 P983151983145983150983156983155 983142983151983154 T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 I983150983156983141983154983152983154983141983156983137983156983145983151983150
983151983142 S983139983154983145983152983156983157983154983141
Returning to the question we posed above what does retrieving IS neces-
sitate Tat is in order or IS to flourish to be ound sensible as a mode o
engaging the words o Scripture what needs to be recovered We approach
the question by way o our vantage points Tese should not be seen in
contrast to one another or they overlap significantly in some cases (such as
John Webster and Kevin Vanhoozer) Rather each recovery allows a slightly
different vantage point on the retrieval o IS and the conditions practices
and cultures required or its retrieval Looking at the movement rom di-erent perspectives we gain a broader sense or the contours o the whole
Tey are (1048625) recovering the Bible as Scripture (1048626) recovering the voice o
Scripturersquos divine author (1048627) recovering a participatory theology of history
and (1048628) recovering the reader
(983089) Recovering the Bible as Scripture John Webster When did the Bible
cease to be Scripture Michael Legaspi traces the origin o modern biblical
studies (and its separation rom systematic theology) to what he calls the ldquodeath
34aken rom Ellen F Davis and Richard B Hays Te Art of Reading Scripture (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 983090983088983088983091) pp 1048625-983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 4952
Scripture 10486291048627
o Scripturerdquo10486271048629 According to Legaspi the Reormation birthed divisions in the
Western church and this so depleted the Biblersquos prestige that it lost its prior
uniying unction within Western society Although the Bible lost its statusattention to it was ar rom overmdashjust not as Scripture Te German university
would find a place or the now ldquodeadrdquo Bible in its own post-Enlightenment
project According to Legaspi it did so by ldquodisengag[ing] biblical interpretation
rom conessional paradigmsrdquo and made ldquoa new cultural Bible shorn o scrip-
tural propertiesrdquo that could be the ldquocenterpiece o an irenic political theologyrdquo10486271048630
Te modern biblical scholars who thus inherited a ldquodeadrdquo Bible continued to
find it an invaluable cultural resourcemdashphilologically morally aestheticallyand historicallymdashbut it was no longer a text read as Scripture
Legaspirsquos genealogy reveals that our conception o the Biblersquos undamental
nature has determinative significance or how we read it As the argument goes
with the death o the Bible as Scripture modern biblical scholars read the Bible
very differently afer the sixteenth century10486271048631 Given the apparent ldquodemiserdquo o the
Bible as Scripture Jowettrsquos basic precept or interpretationmdashldquoread Scripture like
any other bookrdquomdashdoes not surprise
10486271048632
I the Bible is text but not Scripture asmodern academic study o the Bible has held is necessary or the unction o
biblical criticism then the Biblersquos status and properties its production and trans-
mission and the practices fitting to it are not defined theologically Tat is they
are not understood according to the relation between Scripture and the churchrsquos
conession o God Godrsquos saving acts and the world in relation to those acts
Instead the interpreter o Scripture encounters a text o the same nature as other
texts o the same natural history o production and transmission as other texts
and thus a text whose fitting interpretive practices are the same as other texts
Among Protestants seeking to recover the ontology o the Bible as Scripture
John Webster an Anglican is perhaps the most eloquent10486271048633 In Te Domain of
35Michael Legaspi Te Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxord Oxord Univer-
sity Press 9830909830881048625983088) p 98309136Ibid p 98309437Ibid p 98309098309338See Moberly ldquoInterpretrdquo pp 9830971048625-1048625104862598308839Others include Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I983090 trans Geoffrey W Bromiley ed Geoffrey W
Bromiley and Tomas F orrance (Edinburgh amp Clark 1048625983097983093983094) pp 1048628983093983095-9830951048628983088 Hans Urs von
Balthasar ldquoTe Word Scripture and raditionrdquo in Exploration in Teology vol 1048625 Te Word Made
Flesh (San Francisco Ignatius 1048625983097983096983097) pp 10486251048625-983090983094 More recently D S Yeago ldquoTe Bible Te Spirit
the Church and the Scriptures Biblical Inspiration and Interpretation Revisitedrdquo in Knowing the
riune God Te Work of the Spirit and the Practices of the Church ed J J Buckley and D S Yeago
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5052
10486291048628 983144983141983151983148983151983143983161 A983155 R983141983156983154983145 983141983158983137983148
the Word he defines theological interpretation as ldquointerpretation inormed by
a theological description o the nature o the biblical writings and their re-
ception setting them in the scope o the progress o the saving divine Wordthrough timerdquo9830921048624 I it is not obvious rom the definition the logic o Websterrsquos
argument or theological interpretation is rooted in his account o Scripturersquos
captivation to the triune economy o salvation In other words accounting or
the practices o reading Scripture that are properly theological it is first re-
quired to give a ldquotrinitarian description o Godrsquos ordering o created reality as
the domain o his saving presence and speechrdquo983092983089
Once given the practices o interpretation that are proper to Scriptureand the being o its interpretations are then available Holy Scripture is the
domain o the Word and within this domain creaturely lie and intellect
assumes a particular ldquoshaperdquo in the ldquowake o the Wordrsquos creative rule over
and perecting o its hearersrdquo9830921048626 Tese include ldquocertain intellectual actsmdash
above all the acts o readingmdashand the skills (linguistic literary historical)
needed to accomplish themrdquo
However when treating the actual practice o theological interpretationthe domain o the Word is not lef behind it is not as i Godrsquos dealings with
Scripture ended with its inspiration inscripturation and canonization ldquoTe
reception o the divine Word is not a work o pure naturerdquo Webster avers
ldquorom which the missions o the Word and the Spirit have been banished
Scripture is not simply a text through which God has spoken but which is
now delivered as it were inert and deenseless into our hands as raw material
or our lsquousersquo God speaks in Holy Scripture and through the operation o the
illuminating Spirit God orders and enables its receptionrdquo9830921048627 It is that God
ldquospeaksrdquo through Scripture and not merely ldquohas spokenrdquo
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830889830881048625) pp 1048628983097-983097983091 Work Living and Active Scripture in Te Economy
of Salvation (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 983090983088983088983090) Joel B Green Seized by ruth Reading the Bible as
Scripture (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983095) Matthew Levering Participatory Biblical Exegesis A Teol-
ogy of Biblical Interpretation (Notre Dame IN University o Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983096) Paddison
Scripture Scott Swain rinity Revelation and Reading A Teological Introduction to the Bible and
Its Interpretation (London amp Clark 98309098308810486251048625) Darren Sarisky Scriptural Interpretation A Teo-
logical Exploration (Oxord Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983091)40John Webster Te Domain of the Word Scripture and Teological Reason (London amp Clark
9830909830881048625983090) p 98309198308841Ibid p 104862598309542Ibid p 98309098308843Ibid
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892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5152
Scripture 10486291048629
God speaks as in the Spirit Jesus Christ speaks Te eternal Word made flesh
now enthroned at the right hand o the Father is present and eloquent His
state o exaltation does not entail his absence rom or silence within the realmwithin which he once acted in sel-humiliation rather his exaltation is the
condition or and empowerment o his unhindered activity and address o
creatures Tis address takes the form of Holy Scripture o accomplish his
communicative mission the exalted Son takes into his service a textual tra-
dition a set o human writings so ordering their course that by him they are
made into living creaturely instruments o his address to living creatures983092983092
Te theological understanding both o what Scripture is and what is tobe expected rom those who read it must be understood according to
Webster as a corollary o more central Christian teachings about God his
saving acts and the state o things in light o those acts In short Scripture
is understood in terms o its captivation within the economy o grace and
revelation namely the communicative presence o the risen Christ who
speaks through his Spirit to instruct its readers ldquoHoly Scripture is an el-
ement in the drama o Godrsquos redeeming and communicative sel-givingrdquo9830921048629
o summarize Webster offers a theological account o Scripturersquos on-
tology that culminates in exegetical practices that are fitting to the Bible as
Scripture Scripturersquos ontology thus carries an implicit hermeneutic though
Webster does not develop that hermeneutic in any detail From our second
vantage point the work o Kevin Vanhoozer we see how contemporary
hermeneutical theory can be leveraged to bridge the gap
(983090) Recovering the voice of Scripturersquos divine author Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer a Protestant grapples with the relationship between author
text and reader by co-opting the categories and terminology o speech-act
theory Like Webster Vanhoozer approaches the Bible and its interpretation
in light o the triune economy o salvation the ontology o the Bible is estab-
44Ibid p 983096 (emphasis added)45John Webster Holy Scripture A Dogmatic Sketch (Cambridge Cambridge University Press
983090983088983088983091) p 1048628983090 Stephen Fowl registers the same point When interpreted within the context o the
doctrine o God history in general and the Biblersquos history more specifically are not domains o
creaturely reality alone but the space in which Godrsquos providential care and preservation are car-
ried out As Fowl explains ldquoI revelation is seen as the triune Godrsquos sel-communication then
one can be more relaxed in approaching and analyzing the human processes that led to the
ormation o Christian Scripturerdquo God is not only the content o revelation but also ldquothe one
who directs and sustains the revelation o Godrsquos very sel with the aim o drawing humanity into
ever deeper communionrdquo (Fowl Teological Interpretation of Scripture p 983097)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252
892019 Theology as Retrieval By W David Buschart and Kent Eilers - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltheology-as-retrieval-by-w-david-buschart-and-kent-eilers-excerpt 5252