Preface

Summary

This book is a sequel to my The Bible, Theology, and Faith, in which I argued the in-principle case for, and sought to demonstrate in practice, a robust contextualization of academic biblical study within the theology and spirituality of the Christian Church; hence the presence of works of biblical interpretation within a series on Christian doctrine. Unfortunately, this sequel is unlikely to be placed on the library shelf next to its predecessor, even though in my mind they belong together. Here I seek to extend the thesis of the first book by showing how a key issue within Christian theology and spirituality – the critical discernment of claims to speak on God's behalf – might be articulated and developed within the context of Christian Scripture as a whole, with a view to its contemporary appropriation. I have tried throughout to keep in appropriate tension both the concern to read the biblical texts as ancient texts and the concern to read them for their bearing upon the present within the context of the continuing Christian tradition; the fusion of ancient and modern is fraught with difficulties, and yet is a nettle which the Christian theologian must firmly grasp. Although most of the book is a cumulative sequence of exegetical studies of prophetic and apostolic texts, its stance and thesis are alike theological, hermeneutical, and spiritual in outlook.