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Kevin J.l Vanhoozer (ed). Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005. Cloth 896pp $43.95.

One of the helpful trends in theological publishing for the last two decades now has been to produce new and useful reference materials for the scholar, pastor, and student. Prior to this resurgence many of the most important and most used reference works were 30 to 50 years out of date. The expansion of theological categories, the increased specialization, and new avenues and methodologies of exegetical investigation have also increased the need for clear and concise definitions and explanations.

The editor of the Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, the Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, has led the effort in this work to produce one of the most useful and well-conceived new reference works for Biblical studies.

The general layout and formatting of the work at typical of a standard reference work. There is an excellent Scripture index and a list of articles by category. There is also a very helpful “Topical Index” (869–77). The articles are generally longer and more detailed than most reference works and the Bibliographies included for each article are extensive. The generous use of “see” and “See Also” notations a great aid to the user.

The articles reflect some helpful work on more recent topics of controversy, such as the "New Perspective on Paul" located in the article on "Justification by Faith" (417–9). Oddly though, some important articles that might have been included were ignored, such as the New Covenant. Each book of the Bible has an individual article in which there is a discussion of the theological import of the book and the "theological interpretation" of that book as a whole or in significant sections.

There are many excellent articles in this work and there is not space in a review such as this to do justice to all of them. However, several are particularly noteworthy. John H. Walton’s article on "Etymology" (200–202) is excellent. The discussion of the theological and interpretative import of "Geography" (253–56) by John A. Beck is an important and often neglected or misused aspect in the hermeneutical process. Craig Bartholomew’s article on "Postmodernity and Biblical Interpretation" (600–606) is quite helpful sorting out a mass of information and the directions this thought is going.

The direction for the entire work though is begun by the editor’s Introduction, “What is Theological Interpretation of the Bible” (19–25). He explains what the process is and more importantly is not. He notes, “Theological interpretation is not an imposition of a theological system or confessional grid onto the text of the biblical text. . . Theological interpretation is not simply what dogmatic theologian do when they use the Bible to support their respective doctrinal positions) (19). He goes on to state this works main purpose:

The dictionary editors believe that the principle interest of the Bible’s authors, of the text itself, and of the original community of readers was theological: reading the Scriptures therefore meant coming to hear God’s word and to know God better. DTIB therefore aims not to impose yet another agenda or ideology onto the Bible, but rather to recover the Bible’s original governing interest” (22).