Interpreting Scripture in the Third Millenium: Author, Reader, Text

Richard C. Smith is a professor in the Classics Department, University
of Alberta.

Although the title makes this book sound as if it might be heavy going
for anyone without a doctorate in theology, this short book is designed
for anyone with an interest in biblical interpretation. Its three
chapters were originally presented as lectures at Mount Saint Vincent
University, but readers from beyond the confines of the Roman Catholic
tradition will benefit from the clarity of presentation and the
theological breadth shown by Vogels.

Each of the chapters deals with one of three main methods of
approaching the Bible: (i) focusing on the intentions of the writer,
(ii) concentrating on the reactions of the reader, or (iii) analyzing
the text as it now stands. Each chapter explains the presuppositions and
theory of each form of interpretation and uses the familiar story of
Adam, Eve, and the garden of Eden to illustrate the three methods.

For the first method, Vogels points out that to explore the
understanding of the writer, one must investigate as much as possible
the geographical, historical, cultural, sociopolitical, and linguistic
context of the writer in order to fully clarify his intentions. He then
illustrates the different results that this method gives if one assumes
that the writer is (i) Moses, (ii) the Yahwist, (iii) the Yahwist and
others, or (iv) a Yahwist not at the time of Solomon. He thereby
elucidates some of the difficulties of this form of interpretation.

The second method (reader-centred interpretation) is illustrated by the
contrasts between particular readings: Jewish and Christian, male and
female, prescientific and scientific, religious and materialistic. There
is an excellent presentation of the differences between a masculine
perspective on the Adam and Eve story and a feminine one. The problem
here is that subjectivity can easily become invalid exegesis.

The third approach is semiotic and explains the analysis in terms of
its narrative structures and discursive relationships. Despite the
dangers of fundamentalist interpretations in the semiotic method, Vogels
predicts that it will become the most popular in the third millennium.