دانلود کتاب Reading the Bible with Giants: How 2000 Years of Biblical Interpretation Can Shed New Light on Old Texts

Many readers of the Bible believe that interpreting the Scriptures well simply involves a two-way dialogue between themselves and the text. Implied in this view is the idea that we can simply jump over two thousand years of biblical interpretation. However, if we believe that God has been speaking through the Bible to devout believers throughout history it would seem that we should find a way to identify the insights they perceived in the text so that we can learn to read these sacred texts with them. Drawing on resources from Reception Theory, the goal of Reading the Bible with the Giants is to enable the contemporary reader to interpret the Bible in dialogue with those who have gone before us. ""I warmly welcome the second edition of Reading the Bible with Giants. Parris thoroughly understands reception theory, as his book Reception Theory and Biblical Hermeneutics shows. Here he aims at a wider, less academic audience, with a very practical study, which is full of homely illustrations and wise and timely tips. His suggestions for further reading are excellent, and he has a fine pastoral touch. This will help make biblical reading both more imaginative, more accurate, and engaged with other Christian interpreters."" --Anthony C. Thiselton, Professor of Christian Theology emeritus, University of Nottingham, UK ""What can we learn from studying how the saints who have gone before us read Scripture? Tracing the 'afterlife' of selected biblical texts in the hands of interpreters from ancient to modern times, David Parris underscores the importance of the tradition of biblical interpretation for our own practices as wise readers of the Bible."" --Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA ""Reading the Bible with Giants really is a very fine book--a useful introduction to a fascinating approach to the Bible that may seem new but is actually very old. Often witty, and very readable, this book will appeal to anyone interested in bridging the gap between what the Bible meant to its original audience and what it can mean to readers today."" --Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, OH ""Parris has provided a lively and accessible introduction to the basic concepts of reception theory, the role these concepts can play in our personal reading of the Bible, and how we teach them to others. This volume is warmly to be welcomed."" --Paul Joyce, Professor, King's College London, London, UK ""David Parris has written a genuinely useful conspectus on the good that follows from reading the Scriptures in the company of faithful readers of the Bible across the centuries. This book is to be highly recommended to any who have the responsibility of teaching Scripture or leading Bible study in both church and secular contexts. Particularly valuable is the practicality and clarity of his opening up fundamental matters of truth and method."" --David Lyle-Jeffrey, Distinguished Professor of Literature & the Humanities, Baylor University, Waco, TX David Parris is the Associate Director and Affiliate Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary's Colorado Springs campus. He is the author of Reception Theory and Biblical Interpretation.

Reviews from Amazon:

Dr. Parris provides a wonderfully concise and easy to read book on biblical interpretation and more. Building on the metaphor that we are dwarves on the shoulders of giants, he sets out to show how all of our interpretations are based upon the giant theologians of the past. Therefore, it is impossible to read the bible simply between yourself and the text, for whether you realize it or not, you are bringing another's understandings to your studies.

Given this reality, readers should read widely in the Christian classics, which can help to illuminate where their pre-understandings and presuppositions come. Furthermore, Dr. Parris argues that reading texts that seem "less scientific" actually helps us to see the Bible in new and profoundly theological ways instead of as a dry and boring collections of facts.

The book is full of case studies; one of the most prominent is on the interpretation of the whale in Jonah from its Hebrew ancestry up through the reformation and beyond. The author shows how Jewish conceptions of the whale, influenced its Greek translation and subsequently all the early church to see the whale as symbolic of hell. With the reformation, commentators set out to identify the species of the animal and how that changed the reading from theological to scientific that still permeates our understanding of the text today.

Arguing for a fuller understanding, Dr. Parris, urges us to set aside our scientific mindset and read the text again to see the theological wonders that the church fathers found in the text and how we can reclaim those understandings in our world again.

I highly recommend the text as very readable and accessible and encourage us all to find anew our roots and how and why we have received the text as it is and the impacts that has had on our understanding of its meaning today. It was once said, "There's gold in them hills." Let's mine again the foundations of our faith and find the gold.


I found this book very helpful. It not only reminded me that our knowledge of knowing God is a journey that began long before we were a twinkle in our parent's eyes. It also reminded me that our knowledge is bounded by the presuppositions of our culture. These presuppositions can be helpful as a scaffolding for our understanding but they are not the total building in which we will live. Knowledge is a step toward wisdom, but only a step. We can learn much from those who went before us. We can add to this learning but we have not completed the summation of all that we can know. So rejoice in your new knowledge but know learning never ends, even after two thousand years. Learning continues throughout history.