Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 26:3 (Fall 2022)
Article: Plenior, Praegnans, Or Progressive: Inner-Biblical Interpretation And Authorial Intent
Author: Thomas J. Sculthorpe

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Plenior, Praegnans, Or Progressive: Inner-Biblical Interpretation And Authorial Intent

Thomas J. Sculthorpe

Thomas J. Sculthorpe is a PhD candidate in Biblical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He also holds a BS in Physics from the United States Naval Academy and a MDiv from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Allison and they have five children. He serves as the Director of Math Education at Memoria Press in Louisville, Kentucky, and he is a member of Kenwood Baptist Church at Victory Memorial.

Biblical typology1 continues to be a hotly debated topic among interpreters of the Scriptures, especially among practitioners of the discipline of biblical theology.2 Perhaps the most dominant question concerns the nature of typology itself: is it a feature that emerges from exegesis of the biblical text or a hermeneutical method that readers bring to bear on the biblical text?3 And further, if typology was intended by the biblical authors, how can interpreters account for the often seemingly specious connections made by New Testament (NT) authors between Old Testament (OT) people, events, and institutions and Jesus Christ? While various attempts have been made to account for biblical typology within an evangelical framework, the recent contribution of Aubrey Sequeira and Samuel C. Emadi demands attention.4 In order to account for biblical typology, and to interpret biblical texts in the context of the canon of Scripture, must evangelicals cling to a “fuller” sense of some kind, a meaning in the text emerging from divine intention not fully apparent to the human writing the words? Sequeira and Emadi

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affirm such a “fuller” sense, arguing for a fine distinction between sensus plenior and what they have dubbed “sensus praegnans” based on consonance with human authorial intent. However, their proposal raises more questions than it answers.

I will argue that the typological development observable across the canon is the result of later, inspired, human authors closely reading and rightly understanding the meaning of earlier texts rather than the emergence of divinely hidden meanings. In short, the proper basis for biblical-theological exegesis and typology in Scripture is progressive revelation: the interpretation of biblical texts by inspired authors according to authorial intent across time. First, I will summarize Sequeira and Emadi’s sensus praegnans proposal. Th...