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PAUL R. NOBLE, The Canonical Approach: A Critical Reconstruction of the Hermeneutics of Brevard S. Childs (Biblical Interpretation Series 16; Leiden/ New York/Cologne: Brill, 1995). Pp. x + 381. N.P
Noble provides a detailed assessment of Brevard Childs's "canonical criticism" and probes the deeper theological and philosophical implications of the biblical theology proposed by Childs. Ultimately, he criticizes Childs in order to redefine and expand his hermeneutics. Most significantly, N. seeks to reintroduce the concept of religious faith in the exegesis of the biblical text, which the historical-critical method has sought to eliminate for the sake of objectivity. He has some interesting perceptions, one of them being his idea that current pentateuchal research builds upon a "quotation theory" in order to explain the origin of the text. He propounds instead a "resource theory," characterizing the development of the text as a passage through the hands of creative persons who rework what they have received. He says that this dovetails with synchronic literary analyses of the biblical text far better than old source-critical characterizations ever did.
Essentially, N. offers seven ideas for developing Childs's hermeneutics. (I) The biblical theology of Childs must move from being merely descriptive to become a better developed biblical theology. (2) Childs, or someone, must focus more on "what really happened" in the historical events behind the biblical text. (3) Childs must accept Krister Stendahl's dichotomy between what the text meant originally and what it can mean to successive generations. (4) This further implies that the interpreter must recognize that the text legitimately may contain multiple levels...