BY WYATT GRAHAM on March 24, 2019
Iain Provan has picked a fight with retrieval theology and certain forms of conservative Christianity (e.g., with Norm Geisler). While making his case for the right reading of Scripture (i.e., in line with the Reformation), he covers almost every area of biblical studies. Surprisingly, despite the wide-ranging argument, Provan writes consistently at a high level with mostly persuasive arguments.
At its core, The Reformation And the Right Reading of Scripture is a historical study of how Christians have read the Bible through the ages. Yet Provan argues historically for a particular kind of reading the Bible, namely, the kind of biblical interpretation practiced during the Reformation.
Four Wrong And One Right Way of Reading Scripture
Provan defines four wrong ways of reading Scripture. The ways are (1) historical criticism, (2) postmodern reading, (3) the Chicago constituency, and (4) counter-reformational Protestantism (13–19). The last view Provan calls the seriously literal interpretation of Scripture, and he advocates for this way (20).
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