Publisher: IVP Academic
Pages: 297
When you begin to study the Bible more deeply, one of the first words you often hear or read is “context”. Personally, in my first year in seminary, I heard a colleague say in relation to a passage from Hosea, the following: “well, it depends on the context of the biblical passage” and I thought “what does that word mean?”
Seminary students, pastors, or those who are interested in the Scriptures today can find literature that facilitates their approach to hermeneutics and exegesis (yes, other words you hear often). One of those books is "In all the Scripture", written by Dr. Nicholas G. Piotrowski, in which the reader will find himself before an introduction to biblical hermeneutics.
The book is not really an introduction, rather its focus is to help the reader better understand the Scriptures by approaching three contexts, which are literary, historical, and Christological. But don't worry, this is not a work in which you find a huge amount of information, the author offers a variety of examples of the issues he explains, aided by graphics that will help the reader to have more clarity in the ideas that are transmitted.
There are eight chapters that make up this book, in the first chapter, we find an introductory approach to hermeneutics and its development in history. The second chapter focuses on how Jesus and the apostles make use of the three aforementioned contexts. From chapter three to six, the author offers an exposition of the literary, historical and Christological context, giving greater scope to the latter. Chapter seven is dedicated to the literary genre in the Scriptures. A subject that is currently being of great interest to students of Scripture. And finally, chapter eight refers to the applications derived from our biblical study.
I personally really enjoyed chapter six, in which the author addresses such matters as OT allusions and citations. in the NT; as well as his approach to biblical typology. He writes at the end of this chapter: “Christological context is like a locomotive, where literary context and historical context are the rails that keep the train properly tied to the Bible's topography. All three contexts working together…” (pp.196)
An issue on which I expected more explanation was about the allegorical method, however the author does not expand further on the issue, in terms of its current use, advantages or disadvantages.
“In all the Scripture”, will be the book that I will begin to recommend for those who have no idea of Hermeneutics, for three simple reasons: a) it is an accesible and academic reading; b) multiple examples and tips; c) at the end of each chapter, the author offers recommended literature to delve into the subject matter.
Let's study the scriptures and get to know Jesus Christ.
I received this book for free from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review for the book.
