Here's another book review. This book may be a little intense for the average layperson, but it might make a great gift for the pastor of your church. 😏
Review of David R. Bauer and Robert A.
Traina, Inductive Bible Study: A Comprehensive Guide to the Practice of
Hermeneutics, Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, 2011.
Introduction: The Champions of Induction
F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously
noted, “Writing is hard. And if it’s not, you’re doing it wrong.” The same
could be said of reading, at least when it comes to a book as deep and multi-layered
as the bible. If it is easy, it is likely because the reader is mapping his or
her own unexamined presuppositions onto the scriptures. If the reader is a
preacher, this sort of deductive approach leaves the biblical message not only unseen
by the reader but also unheard by the congregation. David Bauer and Robert
Traina wrote Inductive Bible Study to champion, and then to explain
step-by-step, an approach to scripture which seeks to draw plausible inferences
of meaning from careful inspection of the text and context.
The Steps
Before detailing each step of their
inductive process, Bauer and Traina begin by defining induction as a practice
and establishing its advantages over deduction as a method of studying
scripture. They describe the deductive “spirit” as “dogmatic and authoritarian,
absolute and categorical, characterized by a closed mind” (18). The authors
explain that an inductive approach is the opposite, making no assumptions and
seeking to evaluate carefully all textual evidence and only then drawing conclusions
(19). Central to this process is a focus on the “implied author” and what that
author wrote to his “implied audience”. This keeps the meaning of the text itself
front and center (45-46).
Having made their case for the
benefits of an inductive approach to scripture, Bauer and Traina next lay out
the first steps: the reader must observe what is there in the text and then ask
questions about what is observed. The authors urge readers to look closely at
the text, being perceptive, exact, persistent, and impartial (76-78). This
careful inspection and questioning is to be carried out at three levels: the
biblical book as a coherent whole, then the parts of that book, before focusing
on the smaller passage at hand (78). The book is read in its entirety before its
major unit of thoughts are noted and relationships between those units are
described. Then, the reader is to consider the specific type of literary form
at the section level of observation. It is at the passage level, though, where observations
will likely play the greatest role in providing the evidence needed for proper interpretation
of the text (164).
Now that the reader has questioned
the text on all three levels, Bauer and Traina are ready to raise important
considerations for the reader in answering those questions, i.e., interpreting
the passage. Foundational to this step of interpretation is keeping in mind “the
biblical text arose out of cultures that have a profound strangeness to most
modern readers, and the text possesses a depth and thickness of meaning” which
is not necessarily obvious on the surface (178). According to the authors, the
thoughtful interpreter draws inferences in response to the questions he or she
has already posed, selected on the basis of importance and relevancy. This is
to be done in awareness of research into history, etymology, and other relevant
topics. It is at this point in the process that Bauer and Traina give
permission to consult biblical commentaries, as long as they are exegetical in
nature (233). The authors also outline numerous fallacies which interpreters
are prone to commit, fueled by ignorance or over confidence, and how best to
avoid them (249 ff.)
Closely tied to interpretation, in
the authors’ minds, is the successive step of evaluation, which in turn leads to
appropriation (290). Evaluation involves determining a text’s value and relevancy
to the implied audience while appropriation requires discernment of what in the
text is transcendent and how that transcendent meaning may be applied to a present-day
audience (319). This must be done in light of “the central concept in the
Bible”, namely “the lordship of God” over human lives (300).
Bauer and Traina’s final step,
correlation, is the synthesis of meaning either across various books by the
same author or across the biblical canon as a whole (337). Ideally, this is a
process which builds over time with the reader’s ever-growing familiarity with
the bible. In this lifelong pursuit, the authors again warn against falling
into certain fallacies, like overgeneralization (346).
Conclusion: Truly a Comprehensive Guide
In this reviewer’s experience, the
average sermon preached in the average American church, to the extent it is
based on scripture in any meaningful way, is constructed on a shaky, deductive
foundation. As a result, the preacher’s word supplants God’s word, forestalling
the edification and transformation of the congregation, not to mention that of
the pastor.
In Inductive Bible Study,
David Bauer and Robert Traina make a compelling case for studying the bible
inductively. They then proceed to outline each step of their method in detail.
They do not oversell inductive reasoning as somehow guaranteeing arrival at “absolute
certainty” of the Truth, but rather for greater “degrees of probability” (287).
There can be little doubt of the preferability of induction over deduction for
those who hope to discover what message the text itself seeks to convey.
If there is a drawback to the book it
is that Bauer and Traina’s thoroughness is bound to leave the average pastor
feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. For my part, while reading Inductive
Bible Study, I have never felt greater regret over my own ignorance of
Greek and Hebrew. Preaching God’s word is a serious responsibility. Limitations
on time and expertise are a reality and will always negatively impact the
pastor’s ability to carry the Lord’s message to a congregation. Nevertheless,
the Spirit is accustomed to using jars of clay and the authors’ tone is one of
encouragement toward excellence and accuracy. Bauer and Traina have much wisdom
to contribute to any seeking to become “a worker who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15 NIV).
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