Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible

Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible. By Daniel

M. Doriani. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1996, 255 pp., n.p.

Doriani, professor of NT at Covenant Theological Seminary, has written technical articles on Biblical interpretation and has presented his "CAPTOR" plan of interpretation in one-day seminars at local churches.

His book provides a method for Bible study intended to help the reader move from "a casual and devotional reading of Scripture to a more theological and exegetical reading" (p. 10). The major chapters of the book relate to "phases of interpretation" and application of the Bible that follow the acronym "CAPTOR" (C = context, A = analysis, P = problems, T = themes, O = obligations, R = reflection). Five appendixes deal with more specialized information.

A major strength of the book is that it is well written and easy to read. Each chapter includes clear explanations, basic principles in interpretation, examples from the Bible and practice exercises. Modern-day illustrations, charts and diagrams are all used to portray key points.

Many useful principles are explained in the book that can help readers become more attentive to details of the Biblical texts. College and seminary students will find more technical guidance related to matters of interpretation in endnotes and appendixes. The author provides many fine interpretations of particular passages. He provides helpful information concerning narrative and discourse analysis.

The author seems to have too many audiences in mind. The CAPTOR method would appeal most to lay people, whereas footnotes and appendixes are more relevant for college and seminary students. The result is a book which is too long (255 pages) for a lay audience, but not sufficiently technical for a college and seminary audience. Although the CAPTOR method is easy to remember, it is problematic as a sequence of exegetical steps. It is inappropriate that application (O) precedes reflection (R).

Doriani divides all Biblical texts into two literary forms: narrative and discourse (p. 61). Little attention is given to the difference between literal and figurative language. Doriani argues that attention to literary genres should be relegated to later more specialized study. He devotes one appendix to applying various genres but does not give much attention to interpreting different genres One wonders how one can do responsible exegesis and theological reflection without attention to literary genres.

Doriani argues for a very Christocentric reading of the whole Bible. He claims that "Every passage in the Bible presents Christ both as the remedy for human fallenness and is the end point of God's plan of salvation" (p. 171). Such a claim is problematic for the OT. It does not emerge from a careful reading of the OT, but is a theological presupposition that the writer assumes but does not prove.

Stephen A. Reed

Jamestown College, Jamestown, ND

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Sep 1999
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