A review by condorhanson
Slaves, Women Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis by William J. Webb

4.0

A well nuanced hermeneutic beginning to bridge the seemingly unbridgeable gulf between the culture surrounding scripture (OT and NT) and 21st century culture while allowing it to speak to the church today. Neither the stodgy, isolated-words-on-the-page, "static hermeneutic" of more conservative types, nor the dismissive "it's-just-culturally-relative-so-we-don't-have-to-listen-to-it" liberal hermeneutic do justice to the biblical text; both are naive and reductionistic. Webb points a way out of such a deadlock, though a further discussion of who Christian ethics are for (the church of course!) and why, as well as a theological reading of scripture within the Christian community are necessary (Outside of Webb's concerns in this book). I found myself bristling at the simplistic "culture-bound" vs "transcultural" distinction, though proposing an alternative is something I'm still thinking through. Overall the book is clearly written, scholarly, and faithful; a good immersion into cultural factors affecting the interpretive process of scripture.