Bonhoeffer as Biblical Interpreter: Reading Scripture in 1930s Germany (T&T Clark New Studies in Bonhoeffers Theology and Ethics)

"By oscillating between Dietrich Bonhoeffer's explicit hermeneutical reflections and his actual practice of interpreting biblical texts, Jameson E. Ross shows that Bonhoeffer's interpretive acts consist of a theologically self-reflective hermeneutic in which Scripture is for interpretation, underscoring how essential the interpreter's Spirit-given freedom, actions, theology, context and needs are for reading Scripture. Offering a fresh vision for methodological discussions in theology, this book is a valuable resource for graduate and postgraduate students and researchers on modern theology, political theology and ethics, and biblical exegesis."-- Provided by publisher "Dietrich Bonhoeffer was above all a biblical interpreter. Bonhoeffer's ecclesial hermeneutic consists of a self-reflective form of interpretation in which the ecclesial context is taken for granted, creating and shaping a closely related hermeneutical framework and interpretive practice. This book shows this coordinated relationship by oscillating between Bonhoeffer's explicit hermeneutical reflections and his actual interpretation of biblical texts. After the introduction situates the argument in relation to Bonhoeffer scholarship and outlines the project, Ross shows that Bonhoeffer's biblical interpretation in the 1930s is indebted to the ecclesial hermeneutic he developed already in 1925 in a student essay. Ecclesial acts of theology and preaching proceed through "pneumatische Auslegung," interpretation on the basis of the Spirit. Ross uses the interpretive activity in order to show what the newly inflected ecclesial hermeneutic of the Finkenwalde period looks like in practice by analyzing two sections of Nachfolge. Ross suggests that Bonhoeffer's relation to Scripture is best understood by utilizing the doctrinal resources of Pneumatology, carefully relating divine and human action in interpretation, and that his ecclesial hermeneutic contributes to conversations about how to interpret Scripture today"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents Foreword Acknowledgments A Note on Translation Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1 Prelude: Framing Interpretation Chapter 2 Berlin: Practicing Interpretation in the Academy Chapter 3 London: Practicing Interpretation in the Church Chapter 4 Interlude: Reframing Interpretation Chapter 5 Finkenwalde: Practicing Interpretation in the Seminary Conclusion Bibliography Index