No One So Disturbing
April 6th, 2010 by J.W.M.
“Hence, for my money, here is the premier presupposition that should undergird all our biblical interpretation: God has given his word as a revelation of himself; if then I use his word rightly, I will long to see him, and he will be the focus of my study. And so we must read Old Testament narrative with a theocentric focus. In all our reading we should keep our eye on God - what he is revealing about himself and how he is working. We should feast our eyes on the triune God. Some may immediately object: Don’t we need to start at the other end? Don’t we need to begin with the needs of people? Shouldn’t we be ‘existential’ before we get ‘theological’? Must we not ensure that our biblical study is relevant? I don’t even care to argue. I will only assert: if you keep your eye on God you will address the needs of (his) people. It happens in the process. And my way is far more interesting, because there is no one so disturbing, so surprising, so steadying, so fascinating as the God of the Bible. So if I had one piece of hermeneutical advice to give it is: keep your focus on God if you want your biblical interpretation to be accurate, interesting, nourishing, and relevant.”
(Dale Ralph Davis, The Word Became Fresh, 121-122)
