The Canonical Approach: A Critical Reconstruction of the Hermeneutics of Brevard S. Childs (Biblical Interpretation, No 16)

This text provides an assessment of Brevard S. Childs's "canonical approach" to biblical interpretation. An analysis of Childs's work identifies a number of historical, hermeneutical and theological issues that are central both to Childs's programme and to the wider methodological debate. These include the adequacy of the historical-critical tools, their relationship to the more recent, "synchronic" approaches, the role of the interpreter's own presuppositions, the viability of working from a specific faith-commitment and ways in which the ancient texts can "speak" to the modern church. Following a discussion of these questions the text suggests how Childs's programme can be set on a sounder methodological basis. This book is particularly notable for its clarification of Childs' approach, and for its original solutions to a number of central methodological problems.