The Living Word of God: Rethinking the Theology of the Bible

by Ben Witherington III

In this final installment of his trilogy on the central ordinances of the Christian faith (baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the proclamation of God's Word), Ben Witherington asks: What does it mean to call the Bible "God's word"? In doing so, he takes on other recent studies which downplay the connection between history and theology, or between historical accuracy and truth claims. The Bible is not merely to be viewed as a Word about God, Witherington argues. Instead, he says, the Bible exhorts us to see the Bible as a living Word from God.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Biblical Studies

291 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and is on the doctoral faculty at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is the author or coauthor of more than thirty books, including The Jesus Quest, The Paul Quest, and The New York Times bestseller The Brother of Jesus. He has appeared on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN.

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was engaging, but frustrating at times. Ben Witherington III is a top-notch New Testament scholar with a great perspective on a lot of interpretive issues. He convincingly shows how if we read the Bible primarily with an attitude of trust that the original authors were using conventions of their time and culture to the best of their abilities, the Bible's so-called errors are not really errors. In fact, the Bible is a rich document of many different personalities, genres, purposes, themes, etc., all with a supernatural cohesion that answers our most basic questions and illuminates humanity's need for a savior.

However, I wasn't entirely comfortable with Witherington's project of the book, nor did I completely understand his purpose. The structure of the book seemed a bit haphazard, as he jumped from criticism of specifics of other scholars to displays of his own opinions on Scripture. At times I felt that he was not giving a fair hearing to certain authors like N.T. Wright and Peter Enns. Also, his title is "Rethinking the Theology of the Bible", but nearly all of his scriptural references and focus was on the New Testament.

I was also especially bothered by his lack of nuance in discussing the nature of the Bible's truth claims. While all Christians agree that the Bible is true and conveys truth, I don't necessarily agree that it is a-historical, universally accessible truth. N.T. Wright's view that the Bible's truth content gains its strength from within its narrative makes more sense to me. Witherington didn't do justice to the critique of foundationalism that many postmodern scholars are taking to the bank.

Outside of the NT scholarship, this book seemed like a lot of ruminations, rather than a vibrant part of the academic conversation on what the Bible is all about.

For a fairer, more comprehensive and frankly, interesting look at the theology of the Bible, check out Kevin Vanhoozer's Is There A Meaning in This Text?

[Brett Marko · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I really enjoyed about it was looking at the Bible in very interesting ways. This book read well and was entertaining and informative in many ways, yet there were two main issues that concerned me. The first issue I had with the book was the chapter concerning Enns' theology. I found Witherington's recounting of Enns' theology to be very confusing to the reader as one had a bit of difficulty figuring out what the difference was between Witherington's and Enns' theologies.

The second issue I had concerned Chapter 9 and his discussion on Postmodernism and his subsequent thrust at those advocating the emergent church. He starts with a critique of Donald Miller, who in reality is just an everyman who has struggled with the demonational dogmas that he grew up with and relate them to a Christ that he could better understand. I know this because I knew Donald Miller before he became a writer. We discussed these things. The other aspect of my concern with Witherington's viewpoint against those who advocate an emergent church that moves to present new contextual ways of embracing the age old Christian message, is that he leans heavily on the D.A. Carson book "Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church". Carson's book unfortunately is fully of quoting emergent church authors out of context in order to show that they are contrary to some biblical precept or are out and out misquotes. One interesting comparison that Witherington did make that I have to give kudos to was his insight that the emergent church people had a lot in common with John Wesley and his Methodist reformers.

This book is definitely worth a read.

[Zach Waldis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witherington seeks to defend the truthfulness of the Bible here, particularly the truthfulness of progressive revelation which culminates in the New Testament canon. Ben seems to be in the "inerrantist" camp but he eschews the label, preferring to speak of Scripture's truthfulness in regards to history, theology, and ethics. The book is a bit idiosyncratic as it moves from light exegesis of various passages and problems to directly addressing the "emergent" church and a few of its authors (showing that the book is a bit dated).

I personally didn't find Ben to be convincing or helpful here, as inerrancy seems to die the death of a thousand qualifications ("It must be frankly admitted and realized that there are various imperfections in the Bible.....This, however, in no way settles the issue of whether there are errors in regard to truth claims..."197). Also unhelpful is Ben's understanding of "progressive revelation" which downgrades the bulk of Scripture, the Christian Old Testament. Incidentally this is where more of the serious difficulties in terms of historical "inerrancy" come into play and thus Ben avoids some of the more difficult historical challenges of the Bible (though he does mention that he believes in a historical Noah and implies a belief in a literal Adam and Eve without arguing his case).

All in all, I think Ben has largely failed to defend the "truth" claims of the Bible to anyone who isn't already convinced. He critiques NT Wright's book and essay on the subject but they are far superior.

[Christopher Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witherington is a bright mind which is great but sometimes I left feeling confused once I read certain chapters.

The best part to me was towards the end where he argues against Postmodernism. You could really feel the passion, and he back up his reasoning extremely well.

Overall, a solid read for anyone in seminary or someone who wants more knowledge about the New Testament.

[Josue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Witherington never fails to write a book that challenges my thinking. This is definitely one of those books. Much of the content had me cheering in agreement; other content had me frowning in disappointment or hesitant to agree with; still other content lit light bulbs above my head.

Aside from my disagreements, Witherington very much maintains a high view of Scripture as the Word of God, and he remains a favorite author of mine to challenge my thinking.

[Abbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good book... and now I'm one-down for my fall semester reading. Next! :)

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, but somewhat disorganized at points. He seems unfair and inaccurate in a few places. Witherington is a wonderful guy and a great scholar, but this is not his best work.