Written for Our Learning: The Single Meaning of Scripture in Christian Theology

The idea of determinate or single meaning in biblical interpretation has long been considered to be a purely modern idea indissolubly wedded to the hermeneutics of historical criticism. At a time when historical criticism is increasingly viewed with theological suspicion it must be asked whether determinate meaning has a future in biblical interpretation. Written for Our Learning explores the various expressions of single meaning within Christian theology from the apostolic period to the present and argues for the preservation of the discernment of determinate meaning as the goal of biblical reading and study. In much postmodern discourse it has become usual to argue that the biblical text has many meanings (as many as there are interpreters). Benjamin Sargent shows in this tightly argued book that many readers in the past believed it had a single determinate meaning. This is a book that will challenge many assumptions on the basis both of detailed examination of many texts and of a wide knowledge of secondary literature about biblical interpretation down the centuries. --John Barton Oriel and Laing Professor of Biblical Interpretation Emeritus University of Oxford The interpretation of Scripture lies at the heart of Christian theology and its meaning determines our confession of faith. In this timely book Benjamin Sargent takes us through the history of the church to show that in every age Christians have maintained that there is one reading of the text that is valid above all others. Dr. Sargent does not ignore the complexities of hermeneutics but demonstrates how in spite of the many different avenues that interpreters have explored this fundamental assertion has continued to assert itself right up to the present day. --Gerald Bray Research Professor of Divinity Beeson Divinity School Benjamin Sargent (DPhil Oxford) is the vicar of Bransgore and Hinton Admiral in Hampshire England. He is the author David Being a Prophet: The Contingency of Scripture upon History in the New Testament (2014) and Written to Serve: The Use of Scripture in 1 Peter (2015).