The Bible, the reader and the morality of literary knowledge
By Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Apollos. 496 pages. £14.99
ISBN 0 85111 463 6
In this essentially scholarly publication, Vanhoozer treats the important issue of contemporary Scripture interpretation. This study involves the field of hermeneutics, and in the introductory chapter the author outlines the topic of 'theology and literary theory'. In this section, he incisively looks at three centuries of literary theory and focuses specifically on the hermeneutics of Augustine.
The ensuing part of the book is divided into two main sections. In the first, Vanhoozer concentrates on trends actually deconstructing the interpretation of a text. In this regard, he defines trends 'undoing the author, undoing the book and undoing the reader'.
