Journal: Michigan Theological Journal
Volume: MTJ 03:1 (Spring 1992)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

MTJ 3:1 (Spring 1992) p. 96

Book Reviews

Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1991. 499 pp. Hardback.

Content

The careful student of theology and exegesis looks suspiciously at most works claiming to give a comprehensive treatment of any subject these days. Indeed, the growing body of literature devoted to the issues of theology and interpretation make mastery of any subject nearly impossible. What is remarkable about Osborne’s treatment is that he appears to have been successful in this regard and is to be congratulated for a substantial and thoughtful treatment of both historical and current issues of the debate.

Osborne masterfully plays upon the “hermeneutical circle” concept of the New Hermeneutic in his title: “The Hermeneutical Spiral.” He is adept at summarizing the deficiencies of past approaches and chooses the metaphor of a spiral to describe the interpretive process because “it is not a closed circle (i.e., the process) but rather an open-ended movement from the horizon of the text to the horizon of the reader. I am not going round and round a closed circle that can never detect the true meaning but am spiralling nearer and nearer to the text’s intended meaning as I refine my hypotheses and allow the text to continue to challenge and correct those alternative interpretations, then to guide my delineation of its significance for my situation today. The sacred author’s intended meaning is the critical starting point, but not an end in itself (p. 6).” Such a spiral forms the major premise for the book.

Osborne builds upon E. D. Hirsch’s distinction between the author’s intended meaning of a text (The Aims of Interpretation, 1976) which does not vary, and the application of the original meaning into the contemporary setting. The process and the presuppositions which undergird the study are well-outlined in the introduction to the book (pp. 5-15), a section which appropriately recognizes the ties of meaning to literary genre and both the simplicity (clarity) and diversity

MTJ 3:1 (Spring 1992) p. 97

(within unity) of Scripture. Osborne proposes a ten-stage process of interpretation which he breaks into three major sections.

The first section deals with general hermeneutics and covers the foundational issues of context, grammar, semantics, syntax, and historical and cultural backgrounds. Under the discussion pertaining to context, in addition to a general discussion of the relation of context to meaning, Osborne supplies several examples which diagram the English text while showing coordinate and subordinate relationships. His section on rhetorical techniques, though brief (pp. 35-...