Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology)

by Zondervan

The ideal reader, however, is the one implied and intended by the discourse itself: one who completely understands not only the explicit message of the text but its implications as well; one who has the linguistic and literary competence to follow all the author’s directions.43 According to Markus Bockmuehl, the ideal reader of the New Testament (1) has a personal stake in the truthful reference of what the text asserts, (2) has undergone an intellectual and spiritual conversion to the gospel, (3) acknowledges the texts as authoritative, (4) belongs to a church, and (5) is illumined by the Holy Spirit.44 In short, the ideal reader is a disciple, one “drawn into an act of reading that involves an active part on stage rather than the discreet view from the upper balcony.”