The literary turn, and the postmodern turn with its wild pluralism, brought trenchant critiques to bear on historical criticism. However, to a large extent they left the foundation of human autonomy firmly in place, so that historical criticism remained the default mode of interpretation. Nevertheless, the loosening of the regnant paradigm in biblical studies for over a hundred years – historical criticism of one form or another – did provide the space for the exploration of fresh approaches and for reconceiving biblical interpretation so that it invited us to the feast of Scripture.
