Interpreting the Bible and the Constitution (John W. Kluge Center Books)

Law and Theology

Interpreting the Bible and the Constitution by Jaroslav Pelikan

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I am a lawyer with an interest in theology. My approach to matters theological has always been my approach to matter jurisprudential. I look for precedents and follow the back and the forth of the dialogue to see how theological concepts develop over time. I apply concepts used for contract interpretation, such as favoring the interpretation that existed before a controversy arose. Given my legal training, these are common-sense approaches. Now, I have scholarly confirmation to go along with my common sense.

Jaroslav Pelikan was a distinguished scholar of church history. As I recall, he started out as a Lutheran and then converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, which is to say that he had intimate experience with two species of tradition. This book lines up legal texts with religious texts to discuss the similarity of legal and theological analysis. Both have their foundational texts or canon - the Constitution and the Bible. Both have “cruxes of interpretation” - passages difficult to interpret because of obscure words or conflicts with doctrines, such as, for example, whether the Second Amendment applies to individuals or organizations. Both look to the sensus literalis or original intent. Both involve an idea of the development of doctrine.

The book shifts perspective from legal text to religious text to make the comparisons crisply and directly. This can be confusing. It certainly makes for a great density in writing as it deals with a lot of concepts rapidly coming at the reader without pause. Pelikan makes a lot of interesting points along the way that is worth meditating upon. I think the book is a useful text for those who are interested in theology. It may be confusing to Evangelicals and to those who think that they are not engaged in interpreting the text. It will be especially alarming to anyone who would be shocked at the prospect of comparing sacred texts with human laws. Such people should read this book to get more informed about what they are actually doing if they are reasoning beings.