Linguistics and New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Discourse Analysis

Written by David Alan Black, with Katharine Barnwell and Stephen Levinsohn (eds) Reviewed By Stanley E. Porter

This is an interesting book, although it must be used with some caution. The volume presents some valuable work in discourse analysis by a number of scholars, but one must realize that the viewpoint is that of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, notably except for the chapter by J.P. Louw, who is almost single-handedly responsible for development of the South African model of interpretation. The book is divided into two parts. The first addresses the issue of what discourse analysis is, and Louw’s chapter is very useful reading. The second part, the bulk of the book, illustrates the SIL approach on a number of specific texts. One notes with regret that much of this work has not apparently kept abreast of recent developments in other areas of Greek linguistics, and tends sometimes simply to reinforce traditional interpretation.


Stanley E. Porter

Roehampton Institute, London