Keith D. Stanglin has written an excellent intermediate introduction to the theological reading of Scripture. His style is engaging and warm, keeping away from the stale, rigid prose of some academic texts. He does not spend time developing the technical debates within the movement of theological interpretation in the way that someone like Darren Sarisky does with his recent book Reading the Bible Theologically (Cambridge University Press, 2019). In fact, Stanglin notes that his book is intended for those who have taken one course in church history and one in biblical interpretation (p. ix). It is important that readers have some background in theology, but this book may serve as the next step for many interested lay people, second-year seminarians, and clergy who are looking to enrich their approach to the Bible.

In his introduction, Stanglin begins with a provocative exploration of Psalm 137, focusing especially on its imprecatory nature that so many find problematic. It is by pointing to the problematic nature of the psalm that Stanglin opens the fruitful possibilities of ressourcement. He writes, ‘The chief motivating question behind this study may be summarized thus: “How, then, do we learn from modern historical interpretations of Scripture while also drawing on the church’s premodern traditions of biblical interpretation?”’ (p. 8). Stanglin then offers an overview of the text before moving into studies of particular historical epochs.

Chapter 2 tackles the first centuries of Christian exegesis. It focuses on New Testament exegesis of the Old, the Epistle of Barnabas, and Irenaeus of Lyons. Chapter 3 examines ‘later’ patristic exegesis, including Origen, Antiochenes such as Diodore of Tarsus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Dionysius the Areopagite. One might be surprised upon not finding any reference to Augustine in this chapter, but he takes up a significant space in the fourth chapter, on medieval exegesis. Also included in the medieval chapter are sections on John Cassian, Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Lyra, and a discussion on the development of the quadriga, or fourfold interpretation of Scripture. Chapter 5 covers early modern exegesis, including Erasmus, Luther, and Calvin, along with some post-Reformation work. Chapter 6 picks up with the rise of the historical-critical method, looking at the Remonstrants, Spinoza, and Lessing, before taking a more thematic approach to the development of historical-critical exegesis in Europe and North America.

At the end of each of these chapters, Stanglin offers summaries of exegetical principles that were prevalent during specific epochs. These summaries are very helpful to the reader and are useful for tracing the trajectory of interpretation from the earliest days of Christianity into the modern period. Generally, Stanglin tracks with F.W. Farrar’s characterization of the history of interpretation, which can be portrayed as a movement away from a relatively open-ended and undefined engagement with the totality of Scripture, including both more literal and figurative readings, to a more tightly control, principled reading that sought to uncover the singular intent of the human author of a given text. Farrar saw this as the inevitable march out of darkness into light, while Stanglin’s reading is much more nuanced and appreciative of both the contribution of premodern interpretation as well as the turn to the historical-critical.

In Chapters 1 through 6, the book aims to be analytical and descriptive for the most part, but in Chapter 7, Stanglin lays out his prescription for reading Scripture rightly in view of the history of interpretation. His thesis is that if one is to contrast premodern readings as ‘allegorical’ and modern as ‘historical-critical,’ instead of embracing one to the exclusion of the other, there is a path toward balancing both. If these two approaches, that might be designated as the ‘spirit’ and the ‘letter’ of interpretation, ‘are reunited and accompanied by the proper controls, then the approaches need not be antagonistic but rather complementary’ (p. 192). Essentially, Stanglin argues for an openness to a spiritual reading that begins with a grasp of the historical sense of the text. He argues that this will chasten both spiritual and literal readings.

The last chapter, ‘A Way Forward’ is a distillation of principles gleaned from interpreters past about how to read Scripture well. To make these principles more concrete, Stanglin applies them to several biblical texts, putting them into practice with actual exegesis. These principles include the idea that Scripture has at least two senses, the letter and the spirit, that the interpreter should be virtuous, and that asking the questions of the quadriga (what the text says, what is to be believed, what is to be done, and what is to be hoped) is a good practice of reading the Bible in the Church (p. 220).

One of the strange features of Stanglin’s book is that it falls somewhere between a monograph with a single argument, and handbook that is meant as a reference tool. Stanglin does not have a coherent argument throughout the text, yet it reads fluidly throughout. It might be better to think of The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation as a guided tour of one element of scriptural interpretation. Throughout the text Stanglin points to interesting features and developments almost as if he were pointing out significant architectural features within a building. He then offers advice to interpreters about how to read well, based on the contributions of Christians from earlier periods, much like a skillful architect might encourage her students to study the great edifices of the past for inspiration about how to move forward in their own work.

Due to the nature of Stanglin’s book as primarily descriptive, with some prescriptive suggestions at the end, it does not make any real pointed contribution to Anglican studies. Though Stanglin does reference Anglican theologians such as Richard Hooker, Benjamin Jowett, and F.W. Farrar, his treatment of them is not novel. The real contribution of The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation has to Anglican studies is the potential impact it will have on Anglican seminarians. Stanglin provides a road map with expert directions for the burgeoning field of theological interpretation. This introduction to reading Scripture with the tradition of the Church (though not uncritically) has the power to reinvigorate scriptural interpretation and its fruit in the sermons and scholarship that will be forthcoming from Anglicans throughout the Communion.