I wrote this review article for the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology
_____
Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration and Interpretation Donald G. Bloesch Paternoster Press, Carlisle, 1994; 384pp., £19.99; ISBN 0 85364 589 2
_____
Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration and Interpretation Donald G. Bloesch Paternoster Press, Carlisle, 1994; 384pp., £19.99; ISBN 0 85364 589 2
Reading
this
book
caused
me
to
look
back
over
my
own
theological
journey.
In
this
extended
review,
I
share
some
of
its
key
elements.
They
may
help
others
to
think
about
the
issues
involved
in
our approach
to
Scripture
as
well
as
stimulating
interest
in
the
writings
of
Donald
G.
Bloesch.
I
first
became
aware
of
his
name
when,
as
a
divinity
student
in
the
mid-1970s,
I
read
his
book
The
Evangelical
Renaissance.
Bloesch's
approach
to
Scripture
differed
from
the
view
I
had
become
acquainted
with
through
reading
E.J.
Young's
Thy
Word
is
Truth:
Some
Thoughts
on
the
Biblical
Doctrine
of
Inspiration.
Bloesch
presented
a
perspective
which
aimed
at
being
evangelical
without
being
fundamentalist.
This
is
the
approach
he
now
argues
in
much
greater detail
in
this
latest
book.
He
distinguishes
from
both
liberalism
and
fundamentalism.
In
The
Evangelical
Renaissance,
Bloesch
listed
a
number
of
theologians
who
could
be
associated
with
this
position,
among
them,
G.C.
Berkouwer.
My
reading
of Berkouwer's
Holy
Scripture
led
me
into
a
thorough-going
study
of
Berkouwer's
writings,
later
published
under
the
title,
The
Problem
of
Polarization:
An
Approach
Based
on
the
Writings
of
G.
C.
Berkouwer
(
1992).
This
concern
with
the
problem
of
polarization
lies
at
the
heart
of
Bloesch's
Holy
Scripture:
'This
book
is
designed
to
build
bridges
between
various
parties
in
the
church
but
also
to
show
where
bridge
building
would
be
a
venture
to
futility'.
I
was
naturally
inclined
to
make
connections
between
Berkouwer's
work
and
Bloesch's
1994
volume
of
the
same
title.
Noting
Bloesch's
helpful
combination
of
optimism
and
realism,
I
was
reminded
of
Bloesch's
statement
in
an
earlier
work,
The
Ground
of
Certainty:
Toward
an
Evangelical
Theology
of
Revelation
(1971):
'The
great
theologians
from
Paul
and
Augustine
to
G.C.
Berkouwer
and
Karl
Barth
...
have
been
able
to
explain
what
the
faith
does
not
mean
as
well
as
what
it
means.'
This
commendation
can
also
be
applied
to
Bloesch
himself.
He
is
a
theologian
who
will
help
the
reader
to
discover
fruitful
pathways
while
avoiding
spiritual
cul-de-sacs.
In
The
Crisis
of
Piety
(1968),
Bloesch
expressed
his
concern
that
there
should
be
a
healthy
balance
between
devotion
and
doctrine,
which
is
echoed
in
Holy
Scripture,
where
he
warns
against
'reducing
revelation
to
rational
information'
and
'misunderstanding
revelation
as
an
ecstatic
experience
devoid
of
cognitive
content'.
Seeking
to
maintain
the
proper balance
between
faith's
rational
and
experiential
elements,
he
points
out
that
while
he
does
'not
wish
to
downplay
or
deny
the
propositional
element
in
revelation',
he
seeks
to
emphasize
that
'this
element
is
in
the
service
of
the
personal'.
While
I
was
in
the
U.S.A.
in
1978-9,
we
heard
much
about
'the
battle
for
the
Bible',
revolving
especially
around
Harold
Lindsell's
The
Battle
for
the
Bible
(1976),
and
Biblical
Authority
(1977)
edited
by
Jack
Rogers.
This
debate
lies
in
the
background
of
Bloesch's
Holy
Scripture.
He
has
listened
to
what
various
people
have
been
saying
over
the
course
of
the
years.
Now
he
makes
his
own
significant
and
substantial
contribution.
Following
my
year
in
the
U.S.A.,
I
had
an
article
published
in
Reformed
Review
(1980),
'The
Reformation
Continues:
A
Study
in
Twentieth
Century
Reformed
Theology'
(comparing
Berkouwer
and
Louis
Berkhof),
alongside
one
by
Bloesch,
'The
Sword
of
the
Spirit:
The
Meaning
of
Inspiration'.
The
two
impressively
complemented
each
other.
Bloesch's
theme
emerges
on
the
first
page
of
his
'preface'
to
Holy
Scripture:
'[the
Bible's]
worthiness
as
a
theological
guide
and
norm
does
not
become
clear
until
it
is
acclaimed
as
the
sword
of
the
Spirit
(Eph.
6:
17),
the
divinely
chosen
instrument
by
which
the
powers
of
sin
and
death
are
overthrown
in
the
lives
of
those
who
believe'.
A
few
years
later,
in
1987,
following
some
heated
debate
in
Life
and
Work,
my
small
booklet
entitled
The
Bible
laid
particular
emphasis
on
the
vital
connection
between
the
Holy
Spirit
and
the
Holy
Scriptures,
echoing
Bloesch.
In
discussing
the
difficult
and
controversial
subject
of
biblical
inerrancy,
both
of
us
have
referred
to
Berkouwer.
Here,
under
'The
Question
of
Inerrancy',
Bloesch
cites
Berkouwer:
'G.C.
Berkouwer
rightly
asks
"whether
the
reliability
of
Scripture
is
simply
identical
to
that
reliability
of
which
we
frequently
speak
concerning
the
record
of
various
historical
events.
Frequently,
terms
such
as
'exact',
'precise',
and
'accurate'
are
used
for
it..
..
Such
a
modern
concept
of
reliability
clearly
should
not
be
used
as
a
yardstick
for
Scripture"'.
Seeking
to
interpret
the
concepts
of
infallibility
and
inerrancy
creatively,
my
booklet
also
quoted
Berkouwer:
'The
Holy
Spirit
in
His
witness
to
truth
does
not
lead
us
into
error
but
into
pathways
of
truth
(11
Jn.4).
The
Spirit,
with
this
special
concern,
has
not
failed
and
will
not
fail
in
the
mystery
of
God-breathed
Scripture.'
Like
Berkouwer,
Bloesch
highlights
the
profound
truth
contained
in
the
concepts
of
infallibility
and
in
errancy.
Uncomfortable
with
the
term
'inerrancy'
because
of
its
association
with
'a
rationalistic,
empiricistic
mentality
that
reduces
truth
to
facticity',
Bloesch
insists
that
he
'wish[es]
to
retain
what
is
intended
by
this
word
-
the
abiding
truthfulness
and
normativeness
of
the
biblical
witness',
a
truthfulness
which
is
grounded
in
'the
Spirit
who
speaks
in
and
through
this
witness'.
In
Holy
Scripture,
Bloesch
discusses
a
wide
range
of
important
issues,
e.g.
'Scripture
and
the
Church',
'The
Hermeneutical
Problem',
'Rudolf
Bultrnann:
An
Enduring
Presence',
'The
Bible
and
Myth'.
I
have
highlighted
his
discussion
of
the
inerrancy
debate,
whose
importance
is
emphasized
by
the
fact
that
Bloesch
returns
to
this
issue
in
the
concluding
section
of
the
book
-
'The
Current
Controversy'.
Donald
Bloesch
is
not
well
known
in
the
U.K.
He
is
the
author
of
over
twenty
other
titles
and
this
volume
is
the
second
in
his
comprehensive
seven-volume
systematic
theology.
The
first
is
A
Theology
of
Word
and
Spirit:
Authority
and
Method
in
Theology.
Holy
Scripture
(published
in
the
U.S.A.
by
InterVarsity
Press)
has
Name,
Subject
and
Scripture
Indexes.
What
does
this
important
voice
from
the
U.S.A.
have
to
say
to
us
in
our
situation?
He
is
concerned
about
the
growing
polarization
between
liberals
and
Evangelicals
- a
matter
which
must
surely
concern
us
also.
He
seeks
to
be
both
conservative
and
progressive:
'I
believe
in
forging
a
new
statement
of
orthodoxy
that
stands
in
continuity
with
the
past
but
addresses
issues
and
problems
in
the
present'.
Bloesch
identifies
the
pitfalls
we
must
take
care
to
avoid:
'We
must
be
wary
of
a
sectarianism
that
elevates
peripherals
into
essentials,
but
we
must
also
beware
of
falling
into
an
eclecticism
that
draws
on
too
many
disparate
sources
of
truth
and
does
not
adequately
discriminate
between
truth
and
error'.
I
hope
that
the
voice
of
Bloesch
will
be
a
significant
one
among
our
students
and
teachers
of
theology.
_______________
_______________
This link will take you to a number of book reviews.
To find my review of Christopher Wright's Commentary on Deuteronomy, scroll down to near the end of the reviews.
To find my review of Frank Hasel's book, "Scripture in the Theologies of W. Pannenberg and D. G. Bloesch", keep on scrolling down past the review of Wright's book.
To find my review of Hermann Bavinck's book, "The Last Things: Hope for this World and the Next", keep on scrolling down past Hasel's book.
____________________________
To find my review of Christopher Wright's Commentary on Deuteronomy, scroll down to near the end of the reviews.
To find my review of Frank Hasel's book, "Scripture in the Theologies of W. Pannenberg and D. G. Bloesch", keep on scrolling down past the review of Wright's book.
To find my review of Hermann Bavinck's book, "The Last Things: Hope for this World and the Next", keep on scrolling down past Hasel's book.
____________________________
This
link will take you to a number of book reviews. To find my review of
the "New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology", scroll
down to the second review.
_____________________
_____________________
This
link will take you to a number of book reviews. To find my review of
Basil Meeking and John Stott (eds.), "The Evangelical-Roman Catholic
Dialogue on Mission", scroll down to the fourth review.
____________________
____________________
This
link will take you to a number of reviews. To find my review of George
Carey, "The Meeting of the Waters", scroll down to the third review.
____________________
____________________
This
link will take you to a number of book reviews which were published in
the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology. To find my review of
Elizabeth Templeton, "The Strangeness of God", scroll down to the second
review.
No comments:
Post a Comment