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A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Exegesis: Taking the Fear out of Critical Method, By Richard J. Erickson

A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Exegesis

Taking the Fear out of Critical Method

by Richard J. Erickson

A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Exegesis
Paperback
$33.99
  • Length: 239 pages
  • Dimensions: 6 × 9 in
  • Published: September 15, 2005
  • Imprint: IVP Academic
  • ISBN: 9780830827718

Let's face it. Just the word exegesis puts some of us on edge. We are excited about learning to interpret the Bible, but the thought of exegetical method evokes a chill. Some textbooks on exegesis do nothing to overcome these apprehensions. The language is dense. The concepts are hard. And the expectations are way too high. However, the skills that we need to learn are ones that a minister of the gospel will use every week. Exegesis provides the process for listening, for hearing thebiblical text as if you were an ordinary intelligent person listening to a letter from Paul or a Gospel of Mark in first-century Corinth or Ephesus or Antioch. This book by Richard Erickson will help you learn this skill. Thoroughly accessible to students, it clearly introduces the essential methods of interpreting the New Testament, giving students a solid grasp of basic skills while encouraging practice and holding out manageable goals and expectations. Numerous helps and illustrations clarify, summarize and illuminate the principles. And a wealth of exercises tied to each chapter are available on the web. This is a book distinguished not so much by what it covers as by how: it removes the "fear factor" of exegesis. There are many guides to New Testament exegesis, but this one is the most accessible--and fun!

REVIEWS

"Richard Erickson entitles his book A Beginner's Guide, but he's wrong on that: anyone who absorbs this Beginner's Guide will find that he or she will not begin with it but live with it, for it will shape the home that is built upon it. Here is a book to begin with and to live with--for your entire life."Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University
"Written in a conversational and witty style, A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Exegesis introduces newcomers to the whole field of biblical interpretation, from the techniques of exegesis and the resources in support of it to broader issues of genre, style and analysis of New Testament texts, including a chapter on interpreting the book of Revelation. For me, Richard Erickson's greatest achievement is shifting the emphasis away from exegesis as a mechanical task to the formation of the mind and spirit of the person doing exegesis. He helps his readers become exegetes rather than simply do exegesis!"Rev. James R. Edwards, Professor of Biblical Languages and Literature, and Chair, Department of Theology and Philosophy, Whitworth College
"Don't let the light-hearted humor and user-friendly approach of this book fool you! This is a superb introduction to the classic exegetical method that deserves to be ranked with the very best books on the subject. What separates this book from the others is its stunning clarity. Erickson, himself an experienced scholar-teacher-pastor-exegete, has the gift of making the intrinsically difficult readily accessible to the average person. Beneath the sugar-coating is an exceptional wisdom and maturity of judgment. In this book you will find all the requisite information, instructions, techniques, examples (and encouragement too!) that you need to put yourself on the road to becoming a responsible and reliable interpreter of Scripture."Donald A. Hagner, George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Using a pastoral style, Erickson provides a thorough primer to New Testament exegesis that is seasoned with humor and anecdotes. Beginning students who are intimidated by the exegetical task will find this a welcome and engaging book."Karen H. Jobes, Gerald F. Hawthorne Professor of New Testament Greek Exegesis
"Having read Erickson's Beginner's Guide, I am excited about this book. It is clear, concise, yet covers the bases. It is up to date with the most recent scholarship but retains its character as a guide for beginners. Its many examples increase both its clarity and student interest. This work makes Greek exegesis come alive, while guiding students away from its pitfalls. I predict that this Guide will not only be useful for students but also for teachers who wish to explainexegetical concepts more clearly. My one regret is that I have taught exegesis for thirty years without being able to put this tool into the hands of my students."Peter Davids, Biblical Studies for the Good of the Church
"At last! A truly helpful and realistic book on how to do exegesis of the Greek New Testament! Richard Erickson is a skillful and sympathetic guide who has a knack for explaining the process and encouraging beginners to persevere through the necessary steps, methods and approaches required to do responsible exegesis. This is a first-rate book."Dr. Larry R. Helyer, professor of biblical studies, Taylor University
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CONTENTS

Preface: Read Me First!
1 Framing Your Mind, or How to Pronounce ZMRSLINA
1.1 Some Assumptions at the Outset
1.2 An Exegetical Frame of Mind
1.3 A View From the Top
1.4 A Look at What's to Come
2 Texts and Tools: Mowing the New Testament Lawn
2.1 The New Testament Text: Originals, Copies, Translations and Editions
2.2 Textual Criticism: Establishing the Text for Exegetical Purposes
2.3 The Tools for the Job
3 Texts and Their Structure: Walls of Stones
3.1 Synthesis: Structure and the Whole
3.2 Analysis: Structure and the Parts
3.3 Top-down and Bottom-up: Inductive and Deductive Decisions
3.4Coming Up for Air
4 Syntactical and Discourse Analysis: Some Dis-assembly Required
4.1 Defining Terms
4.2 Analyzing Sentences
4.3 Analyzing Discourse
4.4 Summing Up
5 History and Culture in Exegesis: You Can't Eat a Denarius
5.1 Meaning as a Function of Place in Context
5.2 Two Types of Historical-Cultural Setting
5.3 Biblical Texts as Culturally Determined
5.4 Cultural "Relevance" and Cultural Transference
5.5 Probabilities, Ambiguities and Alternatives
6 Letters: Reading Someone Else's Mail
6.1 Genres and Subgenres
6.2 Historical Context: Who's on the Other End?
6.3 Argument
6.4 A Simplified Procedure for Epistle Exegesis
7 Narratives I: Telling the Old, Old Story
7.1 The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles as Self-Contained, Coherent Stories
7.2 History or Literature?
7.3 Historical-, Form-, and Source-Critical Approaches to the Gospels
7.4 Redaction Criticism
7.5 Using a Gospel Synopsis
8 Narratives II: Thickening the Plot
8.1 Stories with Plot, Character and Setting
8.2 Type-Scenes and Parallel Accounts
8.3 Old Testament Citations and Allusions
8.4 Speeches and Logia
8.5 Summary Passages
9 Apocalypse: Alternative Education
9.1 What Is It?
9.2 Reading the Apocalypse Now: Avoiding the Extremes
9.3 A Look at Some New Testament Apocalyptic Literature
9.4 Conclusion
10 Moving On: What Do We Do Now?
10.1 Exegesis in Its Context
10.2 Exegesis and the BroaderTheological Context
10.3 Exegesis, Preaching and Teaching
10.4 Exegesis for Life
Glossary
Annotated Bibliography
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Figures
Sidebars

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BONUS MATERIAL

The additional exegetical exercises and supplemental materials below (all in PDF) are organized by chapter. You may download, print and distribute these at no charge. Instructors and students alike are invited to make use of these materials in or out of the classroom; we hope they will enhance the experience of using A Beginner's Guide to New Testament Exegesis.

A Message from the Author on Using These Materials »
Chapter 1. Framing Your Mind, or How to Pronounce Zmrzlina »
Chapter 2. Texts and Tools: Mowing the New Testament Lawn »
Chapter 3. Texts and Their Structure: Walls of Stones »
Chapter 4. Syntactical and Discourse Analysis: Some Dis-Assembly Required »
Chapter 5. History and Culture in Exegesis: You Can't Eat a Denarius »
Chapter 6. Letters: Reading Someone Else's Mail »
More from Chapter 6. Annotated Outline: Romans »
(Word Doc) More from Chapter 6: Annotated Outline: Romans »
Chapter 7. Narratives I: Telling the Old, Old Story »
Chapter 8. Narratives II: Thickening the Plot »
Chapter 9. Apocalypse: Alternative Education »
Chapter 10. Moving On: What Do We Do Now? »

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ABOUT Richard J. Erickson

Richard J. Erickson

Richard J. Erickson is associate professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary at Fuller Seminary Northwest in Seattle, where he has taught exegesis to students for over twenty years.

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