If you want to understand the value of good biblical interpretation, read the story of China’s Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th century. While the US was being torn apart by civil war over slavery, China was being shattered by, of all things, bad theology. As many as 800,000 people died in the US Civil War; the toll in China was upwards of 30 million, roughly equivalent to the entire population of the US at that time.
The Qing dynasty was already experiencing upheaval, corruption, and dysfunction, when a young man named Hong repeatedly failed the civil service exam. Finding a book explaining the basic elements of Christianity, he gave the Bible verses quoted in the book his own interpretation and came up with a mishmash of aberrant religious and political ideas.
Hong declared himself the Heavenly King and set out preaching and attracting a huge following. His religious-political movement became known as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Taipings, as they were called, rebelled against the Qing Dynasty.
14 years later, the Taipings were defeated and Hong was dead, as were millions of his fellow countrymen. The social destabilization reverberated for years, leading to the further weakening of the Qing Dynasty in China and disrupting neighboring nations such as Vietnam and Thailand.
The Taiping Rebellion is Exhibit A of why interpreting the Bible correctly is critical. Hermeneutics, the study of biblical interpretation, can be a matter of life and death, apparently.
Thus, the need for the best of resources in hermeneutics. Which is why I was very excited to discover the collaborative writing efforts of Jacqueline Grey and Paul W. Lewis. The book is Introduction to Biblical Interpretation: Participating in God’s Story of Redemption.
Paul and I have been friends for more than 40 years. Back when I was a young university pastor, Paul was one of my campus ministry interns. At the time, he was working on two master’s degrees (simultaneously, and at two different schools).
Later he earned a Ph.D. at Baylor University in systematic and historical theology. While there, he met and married Eveline Susanto from Indonesia. Eveline was working on an MBA at Baylor – and later earned a DBA at Anderson University.
During one very delightful, if short, period, Paul and Eveline worked with my wife, Kim, and me on some innovative projects in China. Then they left for the Philippines where Paul became the academic dean at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary. More recently they’ve been teaching in Missouri, back where I first met Paul. This time around he is sharing his wisdom and knowledge with students at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
During that short, happy season when we worked together, we were living where access to good preaching was in short supply. Practically nonexistent, really. So, our small team would gather on Sundays and break the bread of life together. That’s where I discovered that Paul was one of my favorite preachers/Bible teachers. In his wholesome downhome folksy style, Paul’s biblical exposition was inspiring and spot on.
From there, our paths diverged. Occasionally, I’d reach out to him on some theological matter or for advice in supervising doctoral students. But years went by without us seeing each other. Until this past March when I had opportunity to attend the Society for Pentecostal Studies’ (SPS) annual conference.
SPS is an academic meeting of the minds for Pentecostals and Charismatics. I know our kind are better known for emotional exuberance than for eggheadedness, but at SPS you will find some of the brightest thinkers in the land.
I hadn’t attended an SPS meeting since I was a doctoral student back in the 1980s. That conference, held at Southern California College (SCC), allowed me to sharpen my pig iron on the finest of scholarly steel. I was out of my league. But that is what SPS does – it throws doctoral students into the theological shark tank so they can hone their concepts. The difference is that the sharks in the SPS tank are rooting for the success of these baby sharks wielding swords of pig iron, to further mangle my metaphors.
My experience 4 decades ago at that event at SCC (now Vanguard University) was both stressful and exhilarating, especially with the likes of Dr. Murray Dempster sitting on the front row at his own school as I was presenting. I was a doctoral student in ethics and Dempster was, in those days, the rare, trained ethicist in Pentecostal-Charismatic circles. Several years before, in a chance encounter in SCC’s parking lot, Dempster had helped me shape my dissertation topic.
Back to the most recent SPS conference, this time at Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington. I attended as an outsider, not having swum in this tank for many years. But there was my old friend, Paul, now a seasoned professor, a dean with creds. More than once at that conference I heard people describe him as both brilliant and humble. I knew he couldn’t put on airs if he tried. And believe me, academicians are known for putting on airs. Which makes Paul even more endearing.
It was a blast hanging out with Paul, just like old times. There he was in his element, helping me understand the lay of the land and letting me know that the lay of the SPS land is not so stuffy as such conferences are thought to be. Not because Pentecostals and Charismatics are not up to speed, but because there’s something enlivening about being a Pentecostal-Charismatic that keeps the head attached to the heart.
It was here I met Paul’s collaborator, Dr. Jacqueline Grey, a scholar from Down Under. Actually, Jacqui has her feet planted globally. In addition to being a professor of Biblical Studies at Alphacrucis University College in Sydney and Director of the Australasian Pentecostal Studies Centre, she’s a Research Fellow at the University of South Africa and the Centre for Pentecostal Theology (US). As I write this, she is presenting at the World Council of Churches Faith & Order conference in Egypt.
In writing Introduction, Jacqui and Paul made a great team. I listened to them share in a SPS workshop on how they’d developed their book – working intercontinentally and virtually, sorting out time zones, barely making publisher deadlines, finding the balance between big words and speaking normal English. To put it simply, Jacqui and Paul have put together one fine book, part of the Foundations for Spirit-Filled Christianity series by Baker Academic, for which Paul also serves as a series editor.
As I was reading Introduction, I fell in love with its cadence. Each chapter, especially after the introductory ones, follows a simple pattern. Take chapter 7 on reading stories, one of several genres or types of writing in the Bible. The chapter begins with the Old Testament story of Samuel as an example of the genre. Then it discusses what makes a story and the types of stories in the Bible. Concluding sections are “What do I do now,” a prayer, and a couple of questions to help you dig a bit.
The book deals with both theoretical and practical concerns related to interpreting the Bible, including whether the Bible can be trusted, how Christians have wrestled with hermeneutics throughout history, and how the Spirit and the scriptures and we humans interface. And there’s a great final section on moving beyond interpreting to living biblical truth. I especially like the chapters on “Living the Word” and “Cross-Cultural Hermeneutics,” including ideas on studying the Bible when resources are in short supply.
Introduction is an academic book targeted for college undergrads – whether at Christian colleges or secular schools (think Chi Alpha groups and other campus ministries). It’s also suitable for people with degrees and professions outside of theology, people who want to grow in their understanding of how to interface with the Bible. Pastors will find it a ready tool on their bookshelves.
Paul tells me Introduction can also be used in the local church in Bible study groups or classes. However, an in-person (or virtual) and knowledgeable guide would be helpful in most settings, whether on campus or in the local church. With the book not being totally “Hermeneutics Lite,” some of the vocabulary and concepts can at moments get a bit thick for the uninitiated. But a pastor or trained lay leader could easily help a broader audience navigate the occasionally denser words and ideas.
I read the book so I could recommend it to others, only to discover that I too benefited from it. I had barely started reading Introduction when I found something to add to my daily devotional practice. There it was, a couple of verses in the Psalms I’d read who knows how many times. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, so it is understandable that verses 15 and 16 might get lost among the 174 other verses. As a pull quote right there at the beginning of chapter 1, however, they stood out:
"I meditate on your precepts
And consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word."
Now I read it almost every day as part of my morning devotional routine. It is what I recite before I dive into whatever biblical texts I am reading for the day. I find myself saying those last 6 words with an emphatic flair. “I will not neglect Your word.”
I should note that, on the vast spectrum of Christian thought, Introduction leans decidedly Pentecostal-Charismatic. Unapologetically so. Don’t get scared off. You won’t be swinging from the chandeliers, to reference an old stereotype about Pentecostals. No, Introduction couches its Pentecostal hermeneutic firmly in the grand universal and historic Christian tradition of the past 2,000 years.
And while avoiding going too deep on any specific topic, the book doesn’t oversimplify the work of biblical interpretation. It thoughtfully raises issues that have divided the Christian faith and avoids pat, glossed-over answers. At times, it just leaves options on the table for you, the reader, to sort out, with lots of footnotes to take you further if you are interested. That’s what I like about it. It takes the reader seriously.
At the same time, the book inspires. More than once, I found myself having an “aha” moment. One of the more well-known biblical passages is where the prophet Isaiah is commissioned. I’ve read Isaiah 6:1 many times. I’ve preached and heard many sermons about how Isaiah had this vision where he saw God’s “train” filling the temple. So, I already knew “train” referred to the robe of God, an anthropomorphic imagery, not something that runs on tracks.
Isaiah was feeling totally inadequate to the assignment God had given him. He felt most unworthy. Thus, God gave Isaiah a vision like none other – to see God “the sovereign Creator” as “perpetually on the throne.” And what does Isaiah see that is so inspiring? As Introduction phrases the imagery of the text, “God is so gigantic that only the edge of his robe fills the temple.” That imagery overwhelmed me.
If only Hong in China could have gotten his hands on this book, he might have seen the vast difference between himself and the real King of heaven. It’s an all-too-common mistake.
I firmly believe anyone can understand the Bible, given the right tools and training. Hong didn’t have either, in spite of one missionary’s noble try. Even the best of tools can fail if the student is not willing to learn. In Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, you have a worthy tool for any willing learner.
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation: Participating in God’s Story of Redemption (2024) by Jacqueline Grey and Paul W. Lewis is available through Baker Academic. You can find it in paperback on Amazon for $16.49 and it’s also available on Kindle.
For more of my story on Murray Dempster and SPS, see As iron sharpens iron: hanging out with the SPS.
I occasionally review books on my weekly blog, On a journey in the borderlands, where I tackle issues on ethics, faith & politics, intercultural concerns, justice and compassion, leadership, and the life of faith. Sign up at Contact Us! to get regular as well as exclusive posts right to your inbox.