Martin Luther on Reading the Bible as Christian Scripture: The Messiah in Luther's Biblical Hermeneutic and Theology: 224 (Princeton Theological Monograph)

Above all else that the sixteenth-century German Reformer was known for Martin Luther was a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures. One of the most characteristic features of Luthers approach to Scripture was his resolved christological interpretation of the Bible. Many of the Reformers interpreters have looked back upon Luthers Christ-centered exposition of the Scriptures with sentimentality but have often labeled it as Christianization particularly in regards to Luthers approach of the Old Testament dismissing his relevance for todays faithful readers of Gods Word. This study revisits this assessment of Luthers christological interpretation of Scripture by way of critical analysis of the Reformers prefaces to the Bible that he wrote for his translation of the Scriptures into the German vernacular. This work contends that Luther foremost believes Jesus Christ to be the sensus literalis of Scripture on the basis of the Bibles messianic promise not enforcing a dogmatic principle onto the scriptural text and its biblical authors that would be otherwise foreign to them. This study asserts that Luthers exegesis of the Bibles letter (i.e. his engagement with the biblical text) is primarily responsible for his conviction that Christ is Holy Scriptures literal sense. Marsh has provided fresh insight on Luthers hermeneutics and his preaching especially of Old Testament texts. Marsh focuses on Luthers own words to understand what the reformer taught about a Christian reading of Scripture. This is an excellent contribution to the contemporary discussions. --Jason K. Lee Professor of Theological Studies Dean School of Biblical and Theological Studies Cedarville University Through a close and learned reading of key texts in the reformers canon William M. Marsh shows that Christ is the focus of Luthers interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. Martin Luther on Reading the Bible as Christian Scripture makes an important contribution to our understanding of Luthers biblical theology and hermeneutics. By linking the human witness to Christ with the word of God Marsh demonstrates theologically how in Luthers thought the Bibles truth is connected to the living reality of Christ. --Christine Helmer Arthur E. Andersen Teaching and Research Professor Professor of German and Religious Studies Northwestern University In this volume William Marsh explores the manner in which Luther listened to and conveyed to others this conviction that God converses with his people in and through The Book. . . . A rewarding read indeed! --Robert Kolb from the foreword William M. Marsh is Assistant Professor of Theology in the School of Biblical and Theological Studies at Cedarville University in Cedarville Ohio.