Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics :
Foundations and Principles of Evangelical
Biblical Interpretation
By Goldsworthy, Graeme
Intervarsity Press (paperback, 341 pages)

How do we faithfully preach the Old Testament to Christians today? The answer to that is more difficult than it may first appear! Well-worn slogans don’t suffice unless we heavily qualify them. Consider how these well-worn phrases could so easily be abused ...

If we preach the Old Testament “literally,” according to the “author’s intention,” and interpret is as it would have been “understood by its intended audience” we will find ourselves preaching Old Testament sermons to Old Testament saints! Any number of difficult cases could be mentioned in this regard. It’s obvious that if not everyone in your community worships on Saturday, a large number of professing Christians aren’t literally heeding the fourth commandment as it would have been understood by its original audience (Exodus 20: 8ff)!

How then are we to preach the Old Testament?

Our guide, of course, is found in the example of our Lord and in New Covenant scripture as they utilize the Old Testament. But saying “follow that example” is likewise easier said than done!  We see the Apostles engaging in a variety of “typological” approaches to interpretation. If we follow them without self-restraint or serious reflection, any number of odd “interpretations” could be “adduced” to justify any number of doctrines or practices. Goldsworthy notes that this began rather early in the Church’s history (pp. 94 ff).

Alexandrian allegorical interpretation assigned each text a literal meaning as well as “deeper” allegorical meanings. Anyone reading Rabbi Daniel Lapin’s ThouShaltProsper will see Jewish rabbinic allegory at work that produces great volumes of “exposition” totally abstracted from the narrative under consideration. The allegorical method was employed to avoid saying “unworthy things about God” and to avoid inconvenient “literal” meanings of texts such as Psalm 137:8-9.

The question, then, becomes one of proper balance so that we - as modern Christians - can model our Lord and the Apostles without undermining the original meaning of texts. The goal is to legitimately discern the “Gospel Centered” application any given text of Scripture.

The book is large and thorough, suitable as a seminary text. Readers should not consider it a simple “how to” manual on producing sermons. It is not a text on homiletical practice for pastors wondering what to preach next week! Instead it is a historical, theological, and hermeneutical exercise in thinking about how to interpret scripture. Its benefits will be discerned in the long term, not the short term.

The contents of GospelCenteredHermeneutics is summarized well by the publisher:
In Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, Goldsworthy moves beyond a reiteration of the usual arguments to concentrate on the theological questions of presuppositions, and the implications of the Christian gospel for hermeneutics. In doing so, he brings fresh perspectives on some well-worn pathways.

• Part I examines the foundations and presuppositions of evangelical belief, particularly with regard to biblical interpretation.
• Part II offers a selective overview of important hermeneutical developments from the sub-apostolic age to the present, as a means of identifying some significant influences that have been alien to the gospel.
• Part III evaluates ways and means of reconstructing truly gospel-centered hermeneutics.

Goldsworthy's aim throughout is to commend the much-neglected role of biblical theology in hermeneutical practice, with pastoral concern for the people of God as they read, interpret and seek to live by his written Word.

Goldsworthy’s work is consistent with SydneyAnglicanism’s general commitment to interpreting the Bible theologically - not in a wooden, wrongly literal fashion. This volume is not the production of a lone theologian. It might be considered as the ripened “fruit” of not only the author’s career in Sydney. Instead, it reflects the work of a “school” operating along lines similar to other Evangelical Anglicans like J. I. Packer and John R. W. Stott.

To be sure, not every American evangelical will agree with the conclusions Goldsworthy’s method produces. Sydney Anglicans are known for their typological interpretation of significant Old Testament themes such as the Land of Israel and God’s covenant with Israel. Likewise, they are known for their Amillennialism and their rejection of many popular interpretations of the “End Times” and the Book of Revelation still held by many in the US.

On the whole, however, pastors and serious Bible students wanting to responsibly handle the text of scripture will find this a valuable text. It will, though, require a willingness to grapple with scripture, history, and theology. It is not suitable as a “Sunday School” text!

Rev. Chuck Huckaby pastors a church in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

 Also recommended: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament , Beale, G. K. and Carson, D. A., editors