Reading the Good Book Well, Book Review Example

Hoggatt in this book addresses biblical interpretation. His proposition is that, in current colleges, the state of teaching biblical interpretation is poor and thus there should be an overhaul to enable clear understanding of what the Bible means. The author cites sources of the problem as including competing and contradictory methodologies; unnecessarily technical jargon and Biblical scholarship failure to demonstrate the direct importance of its methods on the Church’s pastoral life.

The book made up of eighteen chapters consists of two parts. The author in part one deals with ‘The why of exegesis’, and, in part two, he considers ‘The how of exegeses. This book contains hermeneutics text addressing beginning students in the field. Chapters one and two “Reading the Bible and Aching for God” and “It Is not Just about God; It is also about Garry” shows a postmodern students’ understanding concerns who take the Bible as the Word of God with authority. In chapter one, Camery-Hoggatt asserts that there is a difference in what the scriptures mean from what they say[1]. Thus, teachers and students need to have a clear understanding of this to avoid the prevailing mess in teaching the understanding of scriptures.

Camery-Hoggatt does not begin with theory but engages the reader’s heart concerned with the application and relevance of Scripture. He nonetheless asserts that the results suffer unless questions about what a text meant to its original author and readers, precedes contemporary application while he affirms the appropriateness of these desires. Camery-Hoggatt demonstrates the importance of a careful exegesis hard work by using examples, which are both insightful and entertaining. He asserts that none can use a scriptural text to mean what it never intended to mean at all.

In part one of Camery-Hoggatt’s textbook, he introduces a paradigm suitable in recovering the meaning intended by an author in a text. He argues that by neglecting a careful exegesis of text Bible students easily make mistakes of drawing wrong inferences. Chapter 3 provides the principal proposition that excellent interpretations come about when a reader knows the primary information as known by original audience, engages the proper reading strategy or protocol for a given textual genre, assumes the predispositions of the original audience, and respects the presuppositions shared by the original readers and author[2]. Camery-Hoggatt’s rich discussion on Thomas Kuhn’s perspective and paradigms can assist postmodern students understand the diversity and ambiguity they often experience. He demonstrates the authorial intent’s importance for reading the Bible well rather than abandoning it. In chapters 4 and 5, the author introduces the technique of establishing a scriptural text written by the original author, and how one can arrive at a translation theory- English Bible.

Camery-Hoggatt cites some various uses of the Scriptures including Homiletics, spiritual direction, pastoral care, polity, mission, ethics, apologetics, and public theology. According to him, a crucial consideration that can help one be clear about what he or she is assuming lies in the distinction between deep structures and surface structures.

Part two of Camery-Hoggatt’s book gives the reader instructions on how to move from what a text says to what it means or the various exegesis tools. In this case, he sets four challenges necessary for a biblical text valid for interpretation. In the first place, biblical text gaps existing between what the author says and assumes and lexicography need filling with scripts, schemas, and personal information, which best approximates original readers’ interpretation. He asserts that understanding the original author and the readers is so fundamental in the understanding of the scripture. Thus, placing in the appropriate context a given scriptural text is extremely crucial for a correct inference of the biblical texts. In chapters 9 and 10, the author deals with the benefits of social science research and cultural gaps. Chapter 11 on form and genre and chapter 12 dealing biblical introduction close the first challenge.

The author gives elimination of irrelevant background information as the second challenge. In chapter 13, the author explores the determination of non-crucial portions of cultural, form, lexical and historical information contributing to a given text’s meaning. Chapter 14 gives the third challenge as recognizing, overcoding and polyvalence illustrated using an engaging introduction to irony, word plays and other methods used, by authors, to create multiple effects upon the readers. In chapter 15, Camery-Hoggatt focuses on intertextuality, a form of polyvalence whereby biblical authors interact with texts in their literary or oral tradition through the means of echoes, allusions and direct quotations[3]. This is valuable for one to understand well texts in which biblical authors use oral literature in their immediate surroundings.

The fourth and final challenge according to Camery-Hoggatt, involves taking the sequence of a text seriously, with a consideration of the information available for the reader only. In chapter 16, the author addresses literary criticism elements, giving guidance in ways that foretelling, chiasm, inclusions, flashbacks, foreshadowing amongst others enable further emphasis and reinforcement of meanings by the authors.

Camery-Hoggatt asserts that biblical scholarship has been opaque and distressing to the beginning theologians and students[4]. Thus, the students and theologians and students are often functionally unable to draw clear conclusions from most teaching resources because lay people and pastors undergo training within this cobweb of methods. In addressing this problem, the author proposes several solutions including a textual concept to include assumptions and cultural aspects on which the text relies for meaningful communication. The second involves a return to the author’s intentioned conscious affirmation as the starting place for interpretation. The third entails a language, easily accessible explaining the logic of biblical interpretation and basic vocabulary. The solution also involves an examination of the various academic disciplines with an aim of correlating their inferences with the necessary reading activities.

The book “Reading the Good Book Well” is an engaging entree and a delightful reading for understanding the interpretation and reading of the New Testament. This rich book explains the logic and basic vocabulary of biblical interpretation. The author shows how the different methods can be an interpretive model for exegesis, which is seamless. He then gives a concise reflection on that method’s implications for reading, reflection, teaching and preaching. Camery-Hoggatt teaches students a way of reading the Bible that replicates the activities that biblical authors expected from their readers through common and practical examples. The author uses a model applicable across all linguistic genres, boundaries and other cultural contexts. Camery-Hoggatt asserts that there exists a common set of mental activities that we can identify and study throughout the human experience of language, which are fundamental to interpretation and reading of the Bible[5].

Camery-Hoggatt’s book has plentiful strengths and thus I value it so much. It has a conversational tone with contemporary illustrations, which are extremely commendable for the present time college students. The conversational tone takes care of the boredom that one may develop while reading other books. The engaging and colloquial language used in the book introduces the best insights from linguistic theory, intertextuality, social science and textual criticism. This is a valuable characteristic for this book, as in it the author used these styles amounting to the creation of enthusiasm from the readers. The delineation of the four challenges for valid exegesis, by the author, is clear and solid. Students and theologians find a fundamental way of interpreting the Scripture using these four by subjecting texts to the four challenges. The book helps in interpreting the Word as it means, not as the author never intended as it has been with many theologians and the lay people. The book contains clean, uncrowded and well laid-out text. Thus, the book captivates the reader when he or she begins reading. One will not drop the book one he has started reading it. In addition to giving a firm foundation for beginners in the teaching of biblical interpretation, the book provides a refreshing for teachers and advanced students.

Camery-Hoggatt’s book is exceptional in communicating serious concepts in a way easily understood by the readers. Camery-Hoggatt gives the reasons why solid exegesis matters today by making a compelling case in this book. He proves to be a seasoned scholar by explaining the hermeneutics complexities with clear, straightforward prose and enjoyable accounts from daily life experiences. In all his carefully crafted discussion of the complex tasks of exegesis, the author has woven engaging stories that often involves conversations with biblical critics. The author presents crucial issues he has grasped well with lively creativity. The book contains up-to-date resources and concise summaries at the end of each chapter. This makes “Reading the Good Book Well” an ideal book for classroom use.

However, I would like to point out that the book is not a hundred percent perfect in all aspects. We always find weaknesses in books, and “Reading the Good Book Well” is not an exception. Camery-Hoggatt only cites a few Old Testament references. The title ‘Reading the Good Book Well” is thus unfit for the book because most of the references come from the New Testament. I propose that he could have done best to title the book “A Guide to New Testament Interpretation” or ‘A Guide to the Interpretation of the Gospels” because he hardly mentions the rest of the New Testament. The author uses a statement that the rabbis value theory than practice, which perpetuates stereotypes by Christians about Judaism. This statement is wrong, and I feel that the next edition should omit it. Although Camery-Hoggatt displays enough content, his book is devoid of much practice as contrasted to Duvall and Hays’ hermeneutics textbook, “Grasping God’s Word”. In his book, Camery-Hoggatt fails to encourage the student to do exegesis. Thus, the book behaves as giving finality rather than offering room for the student to explore much on the subject matter. However, these criticisms do not outdo the myriad strengths the book has, and I believe that this book warrants serious consideration.

Bibliography

Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the Good Book Well: A Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007.

[1] Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the Good Book Well: A Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007.

[2] Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the Good Book Well: A Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007.

[3] Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the Good Book Well: A Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007.

[4] Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the Good Book Well: A Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007.

[5] Camery-Hoggatt, Jerry. Reading the Good Book Well: A Guide to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007.