Reading the Bible Responsibly —A Theological Rationale for Postmodern Interpretation

New from Fortress:
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Reading the Bible Responsibly — A Theological Rationale for Postmodern Interpretation

MINNEAPOLIS (September 18, 2006)—In Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World, A. K. M. Adam, one of the leading voices in postmodern criticism, brings together some important questions introducing postmodern interpretation and arguing its urgent importance for the life of the contemporary church.

Does postmodernism threaten biblical theology, or is it the antidote to the conceits of modernism? Can historical criticism preserve Christological orthodoxy from the perils of “docetic” interpretation? Does postmodernism dissolve meaning in an ocean of pluralism that undermines biblical authority? How do texts “mean,” anyway; and how can faithful Christians find their way through the bewildering landscape of postmodern interpretation?

In Faithful Interpretation A.K.M. Adam takes on all these questions and more, offering a comprehensive vision of an honest, responsible, and faithful interpretive practice.

“For over fifteen years, A. K. M. Adam has been patiently urging us to abandon the modern quest for the holy grail of correct interpretive method. In these illuminating and instructive essays, Adam helps us see not only why such a quest is bound to fail, but also where to direct our energies instead. For as Adam rightly reminds us, for that community called church, the practice of reading the Bible is not primarily about ‘getting it right,’ but about being transformed into a more faithful embodiment of the gospel.”

—Philip D. Kenneson, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Milligan College

“In these essays A. K. M. Adam deploys his firm grasp of postmodern intellectual trends toward thoughtful, probing examinations of biblical interpretation. The range of topics is impressive. His prose is both graceful and erudite. His analysis is critically acute and theologically edifying. Here is theological hermeneutics at its best.”

—Stephen Fowl, Professor of Theology, Loyola College in Maryland

A. K. M. Adam is Professor of New Testament at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and priest at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston. He is author of Making Sense of New Testament Theology (1995) and What is Postmodern Biblical Criticism? (Fortress Guides to Biblical Scholarship, 1995), and editor of Postmodern Interpretations of the Bible: A Reader (2000).

Faithful Interpretation: Reading the Bible in a Postmodern World

By A. K. M. Adam

Format: 5.5” x 8.5”, paperback, 176 pages
ISBN: 0-8006-3787-9
Price: $20.00
Publisher: Fortress Press
Rights: World

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