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Reception history and history of interpretation

What is reception history and history of interpretation?

Reception history is the study of how biblical texts have been used, understood and reworked across cultures and eras, also called the history of effects or Wirkungsgeschichte. It covers commentary and preaching, the history of interpretation, and also liturgy, art, music, literature and politics. Scholars dispute whether it is a discipline, a method or an enterprise.

  • 123Sources
  • 16Traditions
  • 16Dated entries
  • 13Minutes

Study v1.1, 23 October 2026

Reception history and history of interpretation

At a glance

Why it matters for reading Scripture

How a passage has been read across the centuries and across traditions. It shows where each reading of a text comes from.

What the study found

Most rival readings are ancient, while some, such as dispensationalism, flood geology and King James Onlyism, are recent; a change in how a text is read is distinct from a change in the text.

Where traditions divide

Traditions divide on who holds interpretive authority, the teaching office, holy tradition or Scripture itself; scholars divide on whether reception history is a discipline at all.

How the traditions compare

  • Orthodox Judaism

    Grounds its reading in a chain of transmission: Mishnah Avot opens "Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua", and the Oral Torah was given with the Written.

    A Chabad article says the Torah authorizes the rabbis to protect its word. Interpretation works by stated rules, such as the thirteen principles of Rabbi Yishmael, and by the rule that "a verse does not depart from its literal meaning". No ruling on historical criticism is recorded, but Samson Raphael Hirsch rejected the application of historical methods to the Bible.

    Sources1–5

  • Conservative Judaism

    Emet ve-Emunah (1988) affirms revelation while rejecting "fundamentalism and literalism, which do not admit a human component in revelation", and its foreword says the commission members "all accepted the results of modern scholarship".

    Authority for practice lies with each congregation's rabbi and with the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and revelation is held to continue in the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud and in the Codes and Responsa.

    Sources6–7

  • Reform Judaism

    The Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 holds that the Bible reflects "the primitive ideas of its own age" and accepts as binding only its moral laws.

    The Columbus Platform of 1937 calls revelation "a continuous process", and the 1999 Statement of Principles speaks of bringing "faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship". None of these statements names a body with authority to interpret.

    Sources8–10

  • Roman Catholic Church

    Dei Verbum (1965) entrusts the authentic interpretation of the word of God exclusively to the living teaching office, which "is not above the word of God, but serves it".

    The Council of Trent forbade interpretation "contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers". The Catechism names the literal and the spiritual senses, dividing the spiritual into allegorical, moral and anagogical, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission (1993) calls the historical-critical method "the indispensable method for the scientific study of the meaning of ancient texts".

    Sources11–14

  • Eastern Orthodox Church

    The Orthodox Church in America holds that proper interpretation can be made "only within the living Tradition of the Church", in which the Bible holds the first place.

    Philaret's catechism, approved in 1830, has Scripture read "in such sense as agrees with the interpretation of the orthodox Church" and the Fathers. Ioan Chirilă states that no synodal resolution governs how biblical scholars should relate to the historical-critical method.

    Sources15–18

  • Coptic Orthodox Church

    Bishop Moussa's booklet calls the Bible "part of the tradition delivered to us by the Church" and permits personal reading without the freedom to infer doctrines.

    A 2017 lecture by Bishop Epiphanius separates binding doctrine from interpretation: the Church "accepted the different interpretations of the fathers" where they did not contradict its teaching and tradition. No Coptic statement on historical criticism is on record.

    Sources19–20

  • Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

    Holds a canon of 46 Old Testament and 35 New Testament books, including the book of Enoch, and teaches that the word of God "is not contained in the Bible alone, it is to be found in tradition as well".

    Its commentary tradition, the andemta, sets out several readings of a text for different readers rather than a single reading.

    Sources21–22

  • Assyrian Church of the East

    Its official sites carry no doctrinal statement on Scripture.

    A diocesan catechism of 2006, without synodal approval, directs readers to understand Scripture "as through the eyes of The Church and the Holy Fathers". In the East Syrian tradition Theodore of Mopsuestia is "the Interpreter", and a synod of 605 required acceptance of all his commentaries.

    Sources23–27

  • Lutheran

    The Formula of Concord makes the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures alone the rule and receives other teachers only "as witnesses".

    The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod holds to Scripture alone as the final doctrinal authority and believes the Lutheran Confessions to be a correct interpretation of biblical doctrine. No Lutheran text consulted states a position on historical criticism.

    Sources28–29

  • Reformed and Presbyterian

    The Westminster Confession holds that "The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself".

    The Second Helvetic Confession does "not despise the interpretations of the holy Greek and Latin fathers" but modestly dissents where they differ from Scripture. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Confession of 1967 calls the Scriptures words of human beings, conditioned by their times, to be approached "with literary and historical understanding".

    Sources30–32

  • Anglican

    The Thirty-nine Articles give the Church "authority in Controversies of Faith" but forbid it to expound one place of Scripture so that it is repugnant to another, and hold that general councils may err.

    The GAFCON Jerusalem Declaration requires the Bible to be read "in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church's historic and consensual reading".

    Sources33–34

  • Methodist

    The United Methodist Book of Discipline calls Scripture "the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine", to be read "within the believing community, informed by the tradition of that community".

    Its four sources are Scripture, tradition, experience and reason, with Scripture primary, and it welcomes "careful historical, literary, and textual studies of recent years".

    Sources35–36

  • Mennonite

    The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective seeks to interpret Scripture "in harmony with Jesus Christ", led by the Holy Spirit in the church, and its commentary makes the congregation the place where individual interpretations are tested.

    Sources37

  • Pentecostal

    The Assemblies of God (USA) call the Scriptures "verbally inspired of God".

    A 2015 position paper reads them with "careful attention to their literary form" and in light of their historical and cultural setting, holds that the Spirit gives illumination and does not speak through supposed prophets or religious leaders to teach anything not validated in the Scriptures, and rejects any interpretive method that alters their meaning.

    Sources38–39

  • Seventh-day Adventist

    "Methods of Bible Study", voted on 12 October 1986, rejects the classic historical-critical method and holds that "the Bible is its own interpreter".

    It treats the writings of Ellen White as "an inspired guide to the meaning of texts" without replacing exegesis.

    Sources40

  • Evangelical statements

    The Fundamentals (1910 to 1915) attacked modernist theories of biblical criticism.

    The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982) holds that meaning "is single, definite and fixed" and that "Illumination does not yield new truth", and makes no provision for church tradition as an interpretive authority.

    Sources41–42

How the field developed

  1. Second Temple
    2nd and 3rd centuries BCE

    The Septuagint is translated at Alexandria and records interpretations current in Hellenistic Judaism: in Exodus 24:10 they saw the God of Israel becomes the place where the God of Israel stood.43

  2. Early church
    Before 161

    Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho reads the Passover lamb as a type of Christ. It reports that Trypho's teachers read Isaiah 7:14 as speaking of a young woman who shall conceive and apply it to Hezekiah, so the verse is already disputed between Christians and Jews.444546

  3. Early church
    c. 200

    The Mishnah is edited. Its tractate Avot grounds the Oral Torah in a chain of transmission from Moses at Sinai to Joshua, the elders and the prophets.147

  4. Late antiquity
    367

    Athanasius's Festal Letter 39 lists 22 Old Testament books and the 27 books of the New Testament, shaping what was read in the first place.48

  5. Late antiquity
    553

    The Second Council of Constantinople condemns Theodore of Mopsuestia with his writings. In the Church of the East he remains the "Interpreter".4926

  6. Medieval
    605

    A synod of the Church of the East requires that "each of us should receive and accept all the commentaries and writings of the blessed Theodore the Interpreter".27

  7. Medieval
    Late 11th to early 12th century

    The Glossa ordinaria is compiled, on the later view, by Anselm of Laon, his brother Ralph and Gilbert of Auxerre. It becomes the basis for biblical interpretation through most of the later Middle Ages.50

  8. Reformation
    1516

    Erasmus publishes the first Greek New Testament to reach the market, set beside a lightly amended Vulgate.51

  9. Reformation
    1546

    On 8 April the Council of Trent forbids interpretation of Scripture "contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers" and declares the old Latin Vulgate authentic.12

  10. Modern
    1753

    Jean Astruc publishes his Conjectures on the sources of Genesis anonymously at Brussels, distinguishing an Elohim narrative and a Yhwh narrative. The Jewish Encyclopedia says the work started the modern criticism of the Pentateuch.52

  11. Modern
    1893

    Leo XIII's Providentissimus Deus calls higher criticism "an inept method", yet names the study of the Oriental languages and of the art of criticism as the first means of defending Scripture.53

  12. Modern
    1960

    Hans-Georg Gadamer's Wahrheit und Methode is first published. Through it the term Wirkungsgeschichte enters biblical studies.5455

  13. Modern
    1967

    Hans Robert Jauss gives his inaugural lecture at the University of Konstanz, later published in English as "Literary History as a Challenge to Literary Theory". Wolfgang Iser is described, with him, as the founding father of the Konstanz School of Reception Aesthetics.565758

  14. Modern
    1985

    The Kairos Document, its preface dated 25 September at Johannesburg, rejects the use of Romans 13:1 to 7 as an "absolute and definitive Christian doctrine about the State".59

  15. Modern
    1993

    The Pontifical Biblical Commission's The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church places the history of a text's influence among approaches based on tradition and holds that it "cannot constitute a discipline that would be purely autonomous".6061

  16. Modern
    2002

    Christopher Rowland and Christine Joynes found the Oxford Centre for Reception History of the Bible.55

How to study reception history and history of interpretation

The questions it asks

  • Who has authority to interpret the Bible, and what role do earlier interpreters play?
  • Which senses or methods are endorsed, is historical criticism accepted, and how is the Bible read in worship?
  • Which readings of a passage are ancient, and which are recent?
  • Does the history of interpretation cover only commentary and preaching, in which the text stays unchanged, or also works of art that transform the text?62
  • Beyond "What does this text mean?", what can a text do?63
  • Is a change in how a text is read the same as a change in the text itself?64

Its method

Start

  1. Gather the readings of a passage across translation, commentary, liturgy, art, music, poetry and political and ethical discourse65.

  2. State the criteria by which material is selected, since on Jonathan Roberts's account no one and nothing is excluded from reception history66.

  3. Put the same questions to each community: who interprets, what role earlier interpreters play, which senses or methods are endorsed, whether historical criticism is accepted, and how the Bible is read in worship.

  4. Describe what readers in each tradition did in that tradition's own terms and, where they can be opened, from its own documents.

  5. Keep a change in the wording of a text, the province of textual criticism, apart from a change in its interpretation6462.

  6. Read accounts written by opponents as partisan: the Jewish readings in Justin's Dialogue with Trypho appear only as their Christian critics report them4546.

  7. Date each reading from its sources, so that ancient readings can be told apart from recent ones such as dispensationalism67.

  8. Where a tradition's own texts cannot be found, mark the coverage as thin rather than fill the gap.

What to read

Its primary witnesses

  • Reworking inside the Hebrew Bible itself, such as laws recast in later legal codes and the Chronicler's reworking of Samuel and Kings43.
  • The Septuagint, which records interpretations current in Hellenistic Judaism43.
  • The Aramaic targumim, which took on the character of paraphrase and commentary68.
  • The Qumran scrolls, among them parabiblical works such as Jubilees and sectarian commentaries69.
  • Rabbinic midrash, halakhic and aggadic, and the Talmud47.
  • Patristic commentaries, homilies and treatises, among them Origen's De Principiis and Augustine's On Christian Doctrine7071.
  • The catenae of the Greek East and the Glossa ordinaria of the Latin West7250.
  • Medieval Jewish commentary, from Rashi to Rashbam7374.
  • Confessions, catechisms and church documents, such as the Westminster Confession and Dei Verbum3011.
  • Lectionaries, icons, hymns and political speeches, which carried readings to people who never read a commentary757677.
  • Manuscripts of the Ethiopian andemta, dated from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries78.

Standard reference works

  • The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible (2011), whose editors a review gives as Michael Lieb, Emma Mason, Jonathan Roberts and Christopher Rowland7980.
  • The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (De Gruyter, from 2009), which includes Jewish and Muslim commentary on each major entry81.
  • The Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries, edited by John Sawyer, Christopher Rowland, Judith Kovacs and David M. Gunn8283.
  • John F. A. Sawyer's A Concise Dictionary of the Bible and its Reception (2009)55.
  • Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, edited by Magne Sæbø, from 199684.
  • La Bible en ses Traditions, run by the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem since 201085.
  • The journal Biblical Reception, launched by Sheffield Phoenix Press in 201286.
  • Frances Young on the early church, John J. O'Keefe and R. R. Reno on patristic method, Beryl Smalley and Henri de Lubac on the Middle Ages, and Michael Fishbane on interpretation within the Hebrew Bible8788899091.
  • The Visual Commentary on Scripture, which pairs biblical passages with three works of art and a commentary92.

Scholarship referenced in this study

The works below shaped the field and are cited in this study, from the earliest to the most recent. Hover over a book, or select it, to see its author and the sources behind it.

  • 1994Matthew in HistoryUlrich LuzMatthew in History (1994)Ulrich Luz (23 February 1938 to 13 October 2019)Sources93–95
  • 2000Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the BibleMusa W. DubePostcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible (2000)Musa W. DubeSources96
  • 2001The Bible and the Third WorldR. S. SugirtharajahThe Bible and the Third World (2001)R. S. SugirtharajahSources97
  • 2007Perspectives on the Passion: Encountering the Bible through the ArtsChristine JoynesPerspectives on the Passion: Encountering the Bible through the Arts (2007)Christine JoynesSources98
  • 2011The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the BibleChristopher RowlandThe Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible (2011)Christopher Rowland, with Michael Lieb, Emma Mason and Jonathan RobertsSources8099
  • 2011The Rise and Fall of the BibleTimothy BealThe Rise and Fall of the Bible (2011)Timothy BealSources100
  • 2011The Ethiopian Commentary on the Book of GenesisMersha Alehegne MengistieThe Ethiopian Commentary on the Book of Genesis (2011)Mersha Alehegne MengistieSources101–102
  • 2014Reception History, Tradition and Biblical InterpretationRobert EvansReception History, Tradition and Biblical Interpretation (2014)Robert EvansSources103
  • 2018Bathsheba SurvivesSara KoenigBathsheba Survives (2018)Sara KoenigSources104
  • 2020Jeremiah Through the CenturiesMary Chilton CallawayJeremiah Through the Centuries (2020)Mary Chilton CallawaySources105
  • 2022The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox ChristianityEugen J. PentiucThe Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity (2022)Eugen J. PentiucSources106

Listed because this study draws on their published work; no association with or endorsement of Numa Verse is implied. Suggest a correction.

Key terms

The words that carry the most weight in this field, each defined from the sources of this study. Turn a card over to read its definition.

The study of how biblical texts have been used, understood and reworked across cultures and eras107108109.

Interpretation in commentary and preaching, in which the text itself stays unchanged; for Ulrich Luz, a subcategory of Wirkungsgeschichte6255.

From Gadamer, a principle; in biblical studies, the history of a text's effect, including media other than the commentary556261.

For Jauss, a method that can be adopted; for Christina Hoegen-Rohls, artistic works that transform or substitute the text5562.

A text's later life after its first setting, a term shared with classical studies56110.

Jauss's concept that every work of art exists within a social and historical horizon, so that its reception depends on how far it meets or departs from those expectations111.

Plain meaning and interpretation, two forms of early Jewish exposition between which there was "no sense of conflict"43.

The rabbis' stated rules of inference, such as the seven expounded by Hillel and the thirteen of Rabbi Yishmael, beginning with inference from lesser to greater1123.

A chain of comments from several early Christian writers linked together around the biblical text, the characteristic form of commentary in the Greek East72.

The commentary tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which sets out several interpretations of a text rather than a single reading22.

Where it sits

Builds on

Reception history and history of interpretation

Leads to

Questions people ask

Some readings presented as recent are ancient. Justin Martyr calls the Passover lamb a "type of Christ", Origen reads Scripture in a threefold manner, and both non-literal and literal readings of the creation days are found in early writers4570113114. Other readings are recent on the evidence: dispensationalism was first taught among the Brethren in the mid-19th century, flood geology belongs to the modern period, and King James Onlyism gained significant momentum only in the mid-1970s67115116.

The early writers describe their interpretation as received, not made: Irenaeus summarizes a faith received from the apostles, and Vincent of Lérins defines the Catholic faith as "that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all"117118. Rabbinic Judaism makes a parallel claim through the chain of transmission from Sinai119. The record also shows real disagreement within each tradition and decisions by authority, such as the condemnation of Theodore of Mopsuestia in 55311812049. Whether the rule of faith goes back to the apostles is a claim the sources make about themselves, which the evidence does not settle either way.

No. Textual criticism restores wording, while reception history studies changes in reading; Tertullian already distinguished an adulteration of meaning from a corruption of the text, and the Islamic charge of taḥrīf has the same two parts64121122. Some cases bind the two together, as at Genesis 6:2, where Julius Africanus found "the sons of God" in some copies while his own text read "angels"123. Brennan Breed disputes how firm the line is66.

The sources do not agree. The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible calls it "an enterprise (not a method)", the Pontifical Biblical Commission says it "cannot constitute a discipline that would be purely autonomous", Jauss treats Rezeptionsgeschichte as a method, and Robert Evans calls Gadamer's Wirkungsgeschichte a principle79615562.

Contribute to reception history and history of interpretation

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  1. 1Pirkei Avot 1:1, Kulp (Sefaria API)https://www.sefaria.org/api/v3/texts/Pirkei_Avot.1.1?version=english (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Naftali Silberberg, What Is the Oral Torah (Chabad.org)https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/812102/jewish/What-Is-the-Oral-Torah.htm (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Sifra, Baraita de-Rabbi Yishmael, Shraga Silverstein (Sefaria API)https://www.sefaria.org/api/v3/texts/Sifra,_Baraita_DeRabbi_Yishmael?version=english (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Shabbat 63a, William Davidson Edition English (Sefaria API)https://www.sefaria.org/api/v3/texts/Shabbat.63a?version=english (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Samson Raphael Hirsch (Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samson-Raphael-Hirsch (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism, Emet ve-Emunah, 1988 (Berman Jewish Policy Archive PDF)https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/stat/STATEMENT%20OF%20PRINCIPLES%20OF%20CONSERVATIVE%20JUDAISM.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism, excerpt (Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization)https://www.posenlibrary.com/node/7393 (opens in a new tab)
  8. 8Declaration of Principles, 1885 Pittsburgh Platform (Central Conference of American Rabbis)https://www.ccarnet.org/rabbinic-voice/platforms/article-declaration-principles/ (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9The Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism, "The Columbus Platform" 1937 (CCAR)https://www.ccarnet.org/rabbinic-voice/platforms/article-guiding-principles-reform-judaism/ (opens in a new tab)
  10. 10A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism, 1999 (Central Conference of American Rabbis)https://www.ccarnet.org/rabbinic-voice/platforms/article-statement-principles-reform-judaism/ (opens in a new tab)
  11. 11Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  12. 12Council of Trent, Session IV (Hanover Historical Texts Project)https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct04.html (opens in a new tab)
  13. 13Catechism of the Catholic Church, paras. 109 to 119 (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PQ.HTM (opens in a new tab)
  14. 14The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, full text (catholic-resources.org)https://www.catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/PBC_Interp-FullText.htm (opens in a new tab)
  15. 15The Orthodox Faith, vol. I: Interpretation (Orthodox Church in America)https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-bible/interpretation (opens in a new tab)
  16. 16The Orthodox Faith, vol. I: Tradition (Orthodox Church in America)https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/sources-of-christian-doctrine/tradition (opens in a new tab)
  17. 17Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church (Philaret) (Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, ROCOR)https://www.holynewmartyrs.org/catechism (opens in a new tab)
  18. 18I. Chirilă, "Patristic-Philokalic Hermeneia" (ROOTS, Babeș-Bolyai University, PDF)https://napocaroots.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/roots/article/download/45/48/188 (opens in a new tab)
  19. 19Bishop Moussa, The Characteristics of Orthodox Teaching, PDF (Coptic Orthodox Bishopric of Youth, hosted by St Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, Seattle)https://www.stmaryseattle.org/Resources/Servants/the_characteristics_of_the_orthodox_teaching_bishop_Moussa.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  20. 20Bishop Epiphanius, Doctrine, Opinion and Interpretation (ACCOT, St Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Theological College)https://www.accot2.stcyrils.edu.au/texts/bepi2017-doctrine (opens in a new tab)
  21. 21The Canonical Books (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, English site)https://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html (opens in a new tab)
  22. 22Scripture and Context in Conversation: The Ethiopian Andəmta Interpretative Tradition, Yimenu Adimass Belay (Conspectus 34:1, 2022; Galaxie abstract page)https://www.galaxie.com/article/conspectus34-1-05 (opens in a new tab)
  23. 23Assyrian Church News, home page (Assyrian Church of the East, official news site)https://news.assyrianchurch.org/ (opens in a new tab)
  24. 24Assyrian Church of the East, official site (assyrianchurch.org)https://www.assyrianchurch.org/ (opens in a new tab)
  25. 25A Catechism (Klutz and Toma, Assyrian Church of the East, 2006) (acoecalifornia.org)https://acoecalifornia.org/files/A-CATECHSM.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  26. 26Theodore of Mopsuestia, GEDSH (Beth Mardutho)https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Theodore-of-Mopsuestia (opens in a new tab)
  27. 27Brock, The Christology of the Church of the East (Religions, MDPI)https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/4/457 (opens in a new tab)
  28. 28Formula of Concord, Epitome, Summary Content, Rule and Norm (Concordia Publishing House)https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/formula-of-concord-epitome/summary (opens in a new tab)
  29. 29The Bible, FAQ (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod)https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/the-bible (opens in a new tab)
  30. 30Confession of Faith (Orthodox Presbyterian Church)https://opc.org/wcf.html (opens in a new tab)
  31. 31The Second Helvetic Confession (CCEL)https://www.ccel.org/creeds/helvetic.htm (opens in a new tab)
  32. 32The Confession of 1967, inclusive-language text (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), hosted at creeds.net)https://www.creeds.net/reformed/confess67.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  33. 33Schaff, Creeds of Christendom vol. III, The Thirty-Nine Articles (CCEL)https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3/creeds3.iv.xi.html (opens in a new tab)
  34. 34The Jerusalem Declaration (Gafcon)https://www.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-declaration (opens in a new tab)
  35. 35Theological Guidelines: Scripture (The United Methodist Church)https://umc.org/content/theological-guidelines-scripture (opens in a new tab)
  36. 36Theological Guidelines (The United Methodist Church)https://www.umc.org/content/theological-guidelines (opens in a new tab)
  37. 37Confession of Faith, Article 4: Scripture (Mennonite Church USA)https://www.mennoniteusa.org/who-are-mennonites/what-we-believe/confession-of-faith/scripture/ (opens in a new tab)
  38. 38Statement of Fundamental Truths (Assemblies of God USA)https://ag.org/Beliefs/Statement-of-Fundamental-Truths (opens in a new tab)
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  40. 40Methods of Bible Study (Biblical Research Institute, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists)https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/methods-of-bible-study/ (opens in a new tab)
  41. 41The Fundamentals (Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Fundamentals (opens in a new tab)
  42. 42The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (Dallas Theological Seminary library PDF)https://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_2.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  43. 43Biblical literature: The development of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics in Judaism (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Robert L. Faherty)https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-development-of-biblical-exegesis-and-hermeneutics-in-Judaism (opens in a new tab)
  44. 44St. Justin Martyr (Catholic Encyclopedia 1913, New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08580c.htm (opens in a new tab)
  45. 45Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho chapters 31 to 47 (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/01283.htm (opens in a new tab)
  46. 46Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho chapters 69 to 88 (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/01286.htm (opens in a new tab)
  47. 47Midrash 101 (My Jewish Learning)https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/midrash-101/ (opens in a new tab)
  48. 48Athanasius, Festal Letter 39 (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806039.htm (opens in a new tab)
  49. 49The Second Council of Constantinople, A.D. 553 (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3812.htm (opens in a new tab)
  50. 50New Acquisition: 15th Century Glossa Ordinaria (Pitts Theology Library blog, Emory)https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/pittsblog/?p=2201 (opens in a new tab)
  51. 51Desiderius Erasmus (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Eric MacPhail)https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/erasmus/ (opens in a new tab)
  52. 52Astruc, Jean (Jewish Encyclopedia 1906)https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2058-astruc-jean (opens in a new tab)
  53. 53Providentissimus Deus (1893) (Holy See)https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_18111893_providentissimus-deus.html (opens in a new tab)
  54. 54Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jeff Malpas (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gadamer/ (opens in a new tab)
  55. 55Joynes, "Changing Horizons" JBR 2014 (PDF on CRHB site)https://crhb.theology.ox.ac.uk/files/changinghorizons-2014-0007pdf (opens in a new tab)
  56. 56Monument to the End of an Era, Oliver Taplin (The New York Review of Books, 1987)https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1987/01/15/monument-to-the-end-of-an-era/ (opens in a new tab)
  57. 57German Theory and Criticism reading guide (UC Irvine Libraries, Critical Theory)https://special.lib.uci.edu/resources-research-critical-theory/schools-thought-reading-guides/german-theory-criticism (opens in a new tab)
  58. 58Wolfgang Iser papers, finding aid (Online Archive of California, UC Irvine)https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf9d5nb5jw (opens in a new tab)
  59. 59Challenge to the Church: The Kairos Document 1985 (South African History Online)https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/challenge-church-theological-comment-political-crisis-south-africa-kairos-document-1985 (opens in a new tab)
  60. 60The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, outline (Catholic Resources, Felix Just)https://catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/PBC_Interp.htm (opens in a new tab)
  61. 61The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, full text (Catholic Resources, Felix Just)https://catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/PBC_Interp-FullText.htm (opens in a new tab)
  62. 62Rezeptionskritik und Rezeptionsgeschichte des Neuen Testaments, Christina Hoegen-Rohls (New Testament Studies, Cambridge University Press, PDF)https://core-cms.cambridgecore.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/32C1A155A34D8D4F0C6BDE7F4CB7D0F9/S0028688523000036a.pdf/rezeptionskritik-und-rezeptionsgeschichte-des-neuen-testaments-eine-methodologische-skizze.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  63. 63Nomadic Text: A Theory of Biblical Reception History (Project MUSE, Indiana University Press)https://muse.jhu.edu/book/29514 (opens in a new tab)
  64. 64Textual criticism, E. J. Kenney (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/topic/textual-criticism (opens in a new tab)
  65. 65Susan Gillingham, people page (Oriel College Centre for Bible, Oxford)https://www.centreforbible.oriel.ox.ac.uk/people/susan-gillingham/ (opens in a new tab)
  66. 66Biblical Reception History: A Dangerous Supplement, Brennan Breed (The Bible and Interpretation)https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/2014/10/bre388022 (opens in a new tab)
  67. 67Dispensationalism (Encyclopaedia Britannica topic page)https://www.britannica.com/topic/dispensationalism (opens in a new tab)
  68. 68Targum (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/topic/Targum (opens in a new tab)
  69. 69Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leon Levy DSS Digital Library, Israel Antiquities Authority)https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction (opens in a new tab)
  70. 70Origen, De Principiis, Book IV (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04124.htm (opens in a new tab)
  71. 71Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Book III (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/12023.htm (opens in a new tab)
  72. 72Manuscripts 101: Greek New Testament Catena Manuscripts (CSNTM, Andrew J. Patton)https://www.csntm.org/2022/12/01/manuscripts-101-greek-new-testament-catena-manuscripts/ (opens in a new tab)
  73. 73Rashi on Genesis 3:8, Rosenbaum and Silbermann (Sefaria API)https://www.sefaria.org/api/v3/texts/Rashi_on_Genesis.3.8?version=english (opens in a new tab)
  74. 74The Commentary of Rabbi Samuel Ben Meir (Rashbam) on the Song of Songs (Magnes Press)https://www.magnespress.co.il/en/book/The_Commentary_of_Rabbi_Samuel_Ben_Meir%2C_%28Rashbam%29_on_The_Song_of_Songs-5372 (opens in a new tab)
  75. 75Haftarah (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906)https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7017-haftarah (opens in a new tab)
  76. 76Second Council of Nicaea 787 (Papal Encyclicals Online, text of the decrees)https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum07.htm (opens in a new tab)
  77. 77Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln (Avalon Project, Yale Law School)https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln2.asp (opens in a new tab)
  78. 78EAP336, Preserving the lay bet andemta (British Library Endangered Archives Programme)https://eap.bl.uk/node/2851 (opens in a new tab)
  79. 79The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible, landing page (Oxford Academic, OUP)https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34393 (opens in a new tab)
  80. 80Review of The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible, David Lyle Jeffrey (Modern Philology, University of Chicago Press)https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/reader/10.1086/673343 (opens in a new tab)
  81. 81Critical review of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Bergant and Dunkly (Theological Librarianship, ATLA)https://serials.atla.com/theolib/article/download/2702/3426/12441 (opens in a new tab)
  82. 82Chronicles Through the Centuries, front matter (Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries, e-bookshelf preview)https://download.e-bookshelf.de/download/0008/3525/06/L-X-0008352506-0017009555.XHTML/index.xhtml (opens in a new tab)
  83. 83Blackwell Bible Commentaries, series page (Wiley)https://gov.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-398210.html (opens in a new tab)
  84. 84Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: The History of its Interpretation, I/1 (Finding Augustine catalogue)https://findingaugustine.org/Record/9249 (opens in a new tab)
  85. 85École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, home page (EBAF)https://www.ebaf.edu/ (opens in a new tab)
  86. 86Biblical Reception 1 (Sheffield Phoenix Press)https://sheffieldphoenix.com/?p=5374 (opens in a new tab)
  87. 87Frances Young, Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture (Cambridge Core)https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/biblical-exegesis-and-the-formation-of-christian-culture/42987FBED855A642830E449A9212FCE6 (opens in a new tab)
  88. 88O'Keefe and Reno, Sanctified Vision (Johns Hopkins University Press)https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/3266/sanctified-vision (opens in a new tab)
  89. 89The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, Smalley (Ingram Academic, University of Notre Dame Press listing)https://ingramacademic.com/products/the-study-of-the-bible-in-the-middle-ages-9780268002671 (opens in a new tab)
  90. 90Review of de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis vol. 1 (The Medieval Review, IU ScholarWorks)https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/tmr/article/view/14822 (opens in a new tab)
  91. 91Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, record 110884 (Orion/RAMBI bibliography, Hebrew University)https://orion-bibliography.huji.ac.il/orion_editor/node/110884 (opens in a new tab)
  92. 92About the VCS (Visual Commentary on Scripture, King's College London)https://thevcs.org/about (opens in a new tab)
  93. 93Ulrich Luz † (University of Bern, Institute of New Testament Studies)https://www.neuestestament.unibe.ch/research/emeriti/ulrich_luz_/index_eng.html (opens in a new tab)
  94. 94Ulrich Luz in Memoriam, Voices from the EELC (billloader.com PDF)https://www.billloader.com/UlrichLuzinMemoriam.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  95. 95Matthew in History, Ulrich Luz (Fortress Press)https://fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800628338/Matthew-in-History (opens in a new tab)
  96. 96Musa W. Dube, faculty profile (Candler School of Theology, Emory University)https://candler.emory.edu/faculty-profiles/musa-w-dube/ (opens in a new tab)
  97. 97Professor R. S. Sugirtharajah, staff profile (University of Birmingham)https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/sugirtharajah-rs (opens in a new tab)
  98. 98Dr Christine Joynes (Regent's Park College, Oxford)https://www.rpc.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-christine-joynes/ (opens in a new tab)
  99. 99People (Oxford Centre for Reception History of the Bible)https://crhb.theology.ox.ac.uk/people (opens in a new tab)
  100. 100Timothy Beal, author page (Bible Odyssey, SBL)https://bibleodyssey.com/author/timothy-beal/ (opens in a new tab)
  101. 101Mersha Alehegne Mengistie profile (Universität Hamburg, HLCEES)https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/en/ethiostudies/team/mersha.html (opens in a new tab)
  102. 102Mersha Alehegne, The Ethiopian Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Harrassowitz)https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/title_4032.ahtml (opens in a new tab)
  103. 103Reception History, Tradition and Biblical Interpretation, output record (REF 2021)https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/outputs/f86a7ac3-9ca5-421e-9a21-6cb941f0c1e8?page=1 (opens in a new tab)
  104. 104Sara Koenig, faculty page (Seattle Pacific University)https://spu.edu/academics/seattle-pacific-seminary/about/faculty-staff/sara-koenig (opens in a new tab)
  105. 105Mary Chilton Callaway (Fordham University)https://www.fordham.edu/academics/departments/theology/faculty/mary-chilton-callaway/ (opens in a new tab)
  106. 106Rev. Dr. Pentiuc publishes The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity (Hellenic College Holy Cross)https://www.hchc.edu/rev-dr-pentiuc-publishes-the-oxford-handbook-of-the-bible-in-orthodox-christianity/ (opens in a new tab)
  107. 107A Theory of Biblical Reception History, Brennan William Breed, dissertation (Emory University ETD)https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/dv13zv07k (opens in a new tab)
  108. 108Editorial, Deane Galbraith (Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception)https://relegere.org/relegere/article/view/533/493 (opens in a new tab)
  109. 109Review Essay: Biblicism, Reception History, and the Social Sciences, Ibrahim Abraham (New Directions, University of Edinburgh)https://www.new-directions.sps.ed.ac.uk/abraham-review-essay-biblicism-reception-history-and-the-social-sciences/ (opens in a new tab)
  110. 110Oxford Centre for Reception History of the Bible, home page (University of Oxford)https://crhb.theology.ox.ac.uk/ (opens in a new tab)
  111. 111Hans Robert Jauss, topic page drawing on the art criticism article (Encyclopaedia Britannica)https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Robert-Jauss (opens in a new tab)
  112. 112Avot de-Rabbi Natan 37, A. Cohen, Soncino 1965 (Sefaria API)https://www.sefaria.org/api/v3/texts/Avot_DeRabbi_Natan.37?version=english (opens in a new tab)
  113. 113City of God Book XI (Augustine) (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120111.htm (opens in a new tab)
  114. 114Anthony Maas, "Hexaemeron", Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07310a.htm (opens in a new tab)
  115. 115The Creationists, expanded edition (Harvard University Press)https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674023390 (opens in a new tab)
  116. 116KJV Only? How a Translation Became a Litmus Test for Orthodoxy, Jeff Straub (Sharper Iron)https://sharperiron.org/node/19801 (opens in a new tab)
  117. 117Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book I, ch. 10 (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103110.htm (opens in a new tab)
  118. 118Commonitory (Vincent of Lérins), chapters 1 to 19 (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3506.htm (opens in a new tab)
  119. 119Pirkei Avot chapter 1, English (Sefaria API text, Mishnah Yomit by Joshua Kulp)https://www.sefaria.org/api/texts/Pirkei_Avot.1?context=0 (opens in a new tab)
  120. 120Eruvin 13b, English (Sefaria API, William Davidson Edition)https://www.sefaria.org/api/texts/Eruvin.13b?context=0 (opens in a new tab)
  121. 121Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0311.htm (opens in a new tab)
  122. 122Anti-Christian Polemics of Ibn Taymiyyah: Corruption of the Scriptures, MA thesis (Central European University)https://etd.ceu.edu/2011/grigoryan_sona.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  123. 123Julius Africanus, Extant Fragments of the Chronography (New Advent)https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0614.htm (opens in a new tab)

Page record

Reviewed and approved by Duane Herholdt, BA (Theology), Chief Executive Officer, Numa Verse

Study version: v1.1, 23 October 2026 (theology map v1.27)

Last reviewed: 7 November 2026

How these pages are made

  • 7 November 2026: First draft from the approved assessment v1.1.