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Overall, Bartholomew’s Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics turns out to be much more than a primer—the depth and breadth of his engagement with scholarship is thorough, supported by his extensive citations across diverse disciplines. Bartholomew’s readers will especially benefit from his cogent and up-to-date presentation of various philosophical and theological schools of thoughts, which have shaped our perceptions of biblical hermeneutics over the years. The most riveting feature of this text is, in my opinion, the author’s realistic and incisive diagnosis of the current state of affairs regarding the reception of Scripture, as well as his restorative prescription for this malady. Bartholomew’s repeated emphasis on the primacy of the synchronic and ecclesial reception of Scripture is akin to a prophetic wake-up call for the hearers of the Word in the 21st century, especially when empty church buildings in the West are going on sale now more than ever before. Bartholomew’s sober conclusion reminds us that spiritual leaders and interpreters of the Bible need to listen to the Word, which was given to the church, the body of Christ, from whom life overflows. It is commendable that, although Bartholomew forthrightly alerts us to the detrimental consequences the Enlightenment’s legacies of historical criticism, as well as those of other academic inquiries, he is not hasty to reject these criticisms’ merits, but rather challenges us to adopt these theoretical frameworks creatively to enrich our biblical interpretations. In this regard, Bartholomew’s vision of rehabilitation is encapsulated in a trinitarian hermeneutic that accounts for all domains of creation as part of God’s realm of sovereignty. As a whole, Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics intensifies John Stott’s solemn call for “double listening”—“one ear to the Scripture and the other to cultures” (p. 15)—by casting the sphere of formative influence of Scripture in all disciplines of human inquiry, as epitomized by Bartholomew’s conception of the “ecology of Christian scholarship.” A lingering question, however, is whether or not the Bible has more to say about what “listening” truly means. For example, does lectio divina fully capture the biblical notion of “listening” on practical levels, let alone the “evangelical” concept of hearing the Word? Does not the biblical mandate of the Shema describe the divine expectation of “listening” in a fuller sense of “holistic obedience,” as the climax of lectio divina, rather than as passive contemplation? Some unresolved questions regarding the comprehensive picture of biblical “listening” notwithstanding, Bartholomew’s Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics will certainly prove to be a long-lasting contribution to evangelical, biblical scholarship, and will continue to stimulate fruitful discussions within the field of biblical hermeneutics.
