What Is the Bible Actually For? | Jeff Dryden

How do you read the Bible? Most of us assume we already know: we read to learn what happened, to understand what a passage means, or to find a principle to apply. In this episode, host Dan Hummel is joined by guest Jeff Dryden, professor of biblical studies and department chair at Covenant College, to ask whether Scripture is inviting us to something deeper.Dryden is the author of A Hermeneutic of Wisdom: Recovering the Formative Agency of Scripture (Baker Academic), which argues that the whole Bible — not just its "wisdom" books — is written to shape our deepest loves and convictions, not merely to hand us information or timeless principles. Dan and Jeff talk through why biblical scholars are trained to tell us what a text meant rather than what it means, how that division of labor between biblical studies and theology leaves a formation-shaped gap, and what philosophers like Hans-Georg Gadamer and Michael Polanyi have to offer pastors and everyday readers trying to close it.Along the way: why Paul is a far less systematic thinker than popular imagination suggests, what Mark's Gospel is doing to our idols of Jesus, and why "the Bible wasn't written to us, but it was written for us" is true — and doesn't go far enough.In this episode:Why biblical scholars are trained to ask what a text meant, not what it means — and what gets lost in that division of labor Why the Bible is always "applied theology" — never abstract, formal theology — and what that means for how a sermon should be builtReading Mark's Gospel as an exercise in dismantling our idols of who Jesus isHans-Georg Gadamer's idea of Wirkungsgeschichte ("history of effects") and why we can never step outside the tradition we read fromAugustine's test for biblical understanding: if you haven't grown in love of God and neighbor, you haven't understood a wordWhy the historical-critical and grammatical-historical methods — liberal and conservative alike — share the same modern DNAWhat's next for Dryden: a forthcoming book on evangelical moralism and legalism as counterfeit versions of the gospelAbout the guest:Jeff Dryden (PhD, Cambridge University) is professor of biblical studies and chair of the department at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has taught for nearly two decades. He is the author of Theology and Ethics in 1 Peter and A Hermeneutic of Wisdom: Recovering the Formative Agency of Scripture (Baker Academic).Mentioned in this episode:Jeff Dryden, A Hermeneutic of Wisdom: Recovering the Formative Agency of ScriptureBibleProject and Tim MackieJohn Walton, Old Testament scholar, Wheaton College Graduate SchoolScot McKnight and Hans Boersma, Five Things Biblical Scholars Wish Theologians Knew / Five Things Theologians Wish Biblical Scholars KnewHans-Georg Gadamer, philosopher (Wirkungsgeschichte, hermeneutics)Anthony Thiselton, The Two Horizons / New Horizons in HermeneuticsSandra Schneiders and Michael Polanyi ("personal knowledge")Augustine, On Christian Doctrine (De Doctrina Christiana)Johann Philipp Gabler and Wilhelm Dilthey, on the historical roots of modern biblical studiesSend us Fan MailCONNECT WITH USSubscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace.This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave ConourEdited by Dave Conour