Toward an Exegetical Theology Book

Toward an Exegetical Theology has proved to be a landmark text in the fields of exegesis and exposition. Kaiser endeavors to fill the gap between these two disciplines. Seminaries do a great job at teaching men to exegete the biblical text and thus are given the tools to examine the nature of the original language. They also teach men to preach the Bible with application and conviction. Upon graduation, the men enter the ministry and then attempt to put into practice all that they were taught. This leaves them to either give very exegetical sermons with little present day significance that flies over the heads of his parishioners or to abandon the exegesis all together and simply preach hot topics of the day. Kaiser contends that a proper methodology can be learned that captures the intent of the biblical passage and also speaks powerfully to the modern-day hearers. This book achieves this goal of outlining such a methodology.

There is much to commend in Kaiser’s work, but most prominently is his attitude that undergirds this whole book, being one of worship. He clearly knows and loves God and thus loves his word. This respect and love for the word of God keeps the book from being merely methodological, but makes it doxological as well. He believes in the power of the word of God to not only change the lives in congregation, but also change the life of the preacher. Therefore, his methodology is driven by a submission to the authority of God in his word. He is not trying to help preachers sound more relevant, but he is trying to help preachers communicate the timeless truth of the word of God to a contemporary audience.

Kaiser offers many correctives to the fields of hermeneutics and homiletics. He emphasizes that there is one interpretation of the text. This counters many modern interpreters who want to say that there are many interpretations of a passage. They say that there cannot be simply one meaning, but we must leave the door open for several meanings of the text. Kaiser soundly refutes this through historical and theological analysis.

He also corrects those who say that it is not possible to know the author’s intention in writing. He says that if authorial intent and meaning are unaccessible than the ability to communicate is lost. Therefore, those who say that the meaning of an author’s words are unknowable contradict themselves. They want their intended message to be understood in their words, but they say we cannot understand the biblical authors.

Kaiser also corrects the use of what has traditionally been called the “analogy of faith.” This has been used to push a system of theology upon a text to “test” it. While this practice is helpful to some degree, it does not help bring out the right theology in the text. Therefore, he argues for calling the rule, the “analogy of antecedent Scripture.” This helps by clarifying that the theology that should be brought out in the text is the theology that has come before it in progressive revelation.

The strength of Kaiser’s work comes in his explanation and demonstration of the syntactical-theological method of exegesis, which is his refinement of the grammtico-historical method. This contribution alone is worth the price of the book. He carefully shows exegetes how to respect the divine and authorial intention of the text and bring that out in a powerful sermon to God’s people. This book is now in my top five books on how to study and preach the Bible. May God continue to use it to call a new generation of preachers to the powerful word of God.