Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:1 (Mar 2024)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JETS 67:1 (March 2024) p. 145

Book Reviews

Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching: An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics. By Stanley E. Porter. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023, 192 pp., $26.99 paper.

The study of biblical hermeneutics is a perennial task for those committed to reading the Bible and communicating its message. In this succinct volume, Stanley Porter introduces the central issues involved in hermeneutics for those who aim to teach and preach biblical texts on a regular basis. This target audience allows Porter to navigate the vast and complex field of hermeneutical theory with precision and with a specific focus.

One helpful aspect of this volume is that it begins with an orientation to interpretation in general alongside hermeneutical starting points that inform the interpretative task. This broad perspective is important because “whether we recognize it or not, we are constantly engaging in the process of hermeneutics” (p. 1; cf. pp. 141–42). Porter defines hermeneutics as “discussion of the principles of understanding found in various models used to interpret a written text” (p. 3). Hermeneutics allows readers to reflect on the issues and commitments that inform their reading and shape how they perceive the Bible’s message.

After a brief survey of the way hermeneutics has been handled across the history of the church, Porter appropriately begins with a reflection on the theological commitments involved in assessing the Bible’s authority for readers (chap. 2). He then anchors his following discussion in the nature of language and the tools of linguistics (chap. 3). With these elements in place, Porter focuses extensively on the primary dimensions of textual analysis (chaps. 4–5). While noting the relevance of historical and theological contexts, Porter insists that “the first priority should be careful linguistic analysis of a given text” (p. 62). Discerning the “meaningful language patterns” of a text is at the heart of the interpretive task (p. 64). This text-based orientation is maintained in subsequent discussions of authorship and genre.

In the final three chapters, Porter rounds out the volume by discussing the way that this textual analysis connects to the further horizons of biblical theology, systematic theology, and the task of preaching. The final chapter examines what is involved in the move from hermeneutics to homiletics. For Porter, the structure of his volume reflects the field of hermeneutical study and the shape of the interpretive task: beginning with language and how words function, moving to an extended examination of the text itself, then allowing that meaning to interact with the further levels of other biblical books and the canon as a whole (in terms of both literature and theology), and then fin...