Introduction: God's Word and human understanding: What is the problem? -- Part One: The foundation of understanding: Presuppositions -- 1. Truth, language, and sin -- The pillar of understanding: Truth -- The vehicle of understanding: Language -- The spoiler of understanding: Sin -- Summary -- 2. Knowing God: Presuppositions about the Bible and creation -- Is the Bible the Word of God? -- Is the Bible true? -- Is the Bible coherent? -- The Bible and the world -- 3. The foundation and the frame: Presuppositions and interpretation -- Presuppositions and method -- Tradition and the church -- The Holy Spirit: The ultimate interpreter -- Part Two: Interpretation in theory -- 4. The church and biblical interpretation -- The early church: Justin Martyr and Irenaeus -- The developing church: Origen and Theodore -- The Middle Ages: Aquinas -- The Reformation: Luther and Calvin -- The modern church: From Schleirmacher to Bultmann -- The literary turn: From literary criticism to postmodernism -- Summary -- 5. The grammatical-historical method: Knowing what it meant -- Meaning and understanding semantics -- Culture and understanding -- Context and understanding -- Genre and understanding -- 6. Removing the veil: From what it meant to what it means -- History and beyond -- Typology and "fuller meaning" -- The Bible interprets itself -- Redemptive history and present application -- Conclusion. Part Three: Interpretation in practice -- 7. Studying God's Word -- Spiritual preparation -- Analyzing passages -- Understanding the Bible on its own terms -- Priorities of interpretation -- Two examples -- 8. Biblical genres -- Theological history -- Law -- Poetry -- Prophecy -- Parables -- Epistles -- Apocalyptic -- 9. The Bible in worship and witness -- Scripture and worship -- Scripture and witness -- 10. Scripture and guidance -- Guidance needs to be in context -- What is "God's will"? -- Submission to God -- Understanding God and His ways -- Understanding God's sovereignty -- Conclusion -- Appendix A: Where is meaning? -- Authorial intent -- Autonomous texts -- Reader response -- Conclusion -- Appendix B: The historical-critical method -- General description and evaluation -- "Scholarly" methods. Published in: Phillipsburg, N.J. Physical description: ix, 378 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

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