A Hermeneutic Of Imagination

To read the Bible well, we need imagination. This is the first book-length study that takes the Bible's imaginative nature seriously. It integrates insights from disciplines like neuroscience, metaphor theory and cognition, translation theory, the affective sciences, humor studies, and the study of imagination itself into the academic and theological study of the Bible.

Here two experts in biblical poetry show that reading with imagination is a critical hermeneutic of engagement that fosters close, deep, lusciously savored, and pleasurable readings of the biblical texts. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, they show how Scripture employs often subtle literary techniques--including figurative language, emotions, and humor--that require imagination to recognize and interpret. Imagination helps us develop genuinely biblical ideas that get us closer to the originally intended meaning, resulting in more accurate interpretations than traditional approaches.

A Hermeneutic of Imagination shows that imagination is crucial for unlocking the Bible's full potential because it transforms biblical studies into intellectually stimulating, emotionally rewarding, theologically rich, and spiritually transformative adventures of the mind that contribute to problem-solving and human flourishing today.