Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching

Renowned biblical scholar Stanley Porter offers an accessible introduction to hermeneutics to help students and pastors better interpret and understand God's Word.

Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching focuses on various levels of interpretation and proclamation, which are arranged in a necessary hierarchy: language and linguistics, the biblical text, biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics. Stanley Porter grounds the discussion within a conversation of biblical authority and offers a fresh examination of the key issues. The result is a workable method that introduces each of the major topics of interpretation and addresses some of the complexities of their use.

This book provides the basics for a Bible interpreter to move from fundamental questions about the task of biblical interpretation to understanding a text and its theology to creating and delivering a sermon. It offers valuable guidance for professors and students of hermeneutics and equips pastors and Bible teachers to deliver a relevant message to those who rely on them to be faithful interpreters.

1. What Is Hermeneutics, and Why Are so Many Talking about It?
2. Hermeneutics and the Authority of Scripture
3. Hermeneutics at the Level of Language and Linguistics
4. Hermeneutics at the Level of Text: Part 1
5. Hermeneutics at the Level of Text: Part 2
6. Hermeneutics at the Level of Biblical Theology
7. Hermeneutics at the Level of Systematic Theology
8. Hermeneutics at the Level of Homiletics
Indexes

Endorsements

"Stanley Porter has written numerous works covering just about every development in the study of advanced linguistics and hermeneutics. Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone digested and made accessible a number of the best of Porter's ideas for people who just want to teach and preach the Bible well? How about that! Porter has done it himself. This is no how-to manual filled with formulas to apply unthinkingly. But in under two hundred pages it ranges widely in the areas of use of language, flow of thought, literary genre, and biblical and systematic theology, complete with numerous examples from the underappreciated little letter to Philemon. Thanks for this gift, Stan, to the rest of us!"

Craig L. Blomberg, coauthor of A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis

"This book is a must-read for pastors and teachers because it will help them think more clearly and rigorously about the hermeneutical process and its practice. Stanley Porter leads the reader deftly through the complexities of theoretical hermeneutical discussions in a readable manner, offering examples along the way. The valuable 'Study and Practice' sections at the end of each chapter provide guidance for applying the concepts discussed. This book will stimulate and sharpen the thinking of any pastor or teacher who takes the time to digest it, and a careful reading will pay huge dividends. As a bonus, one also gets insights into Porter's reading of key New Testament texts throughout the book. I wish I would have had this book during my time in pastoral ministry!"

David L. Mathewson, associate professor of New Testament, chair of the New Testament Department, Denver Seminary