This book is both an introduction to how leading Christians from the first seven centuries of the church read the Bible and a guided invitation to read their works. Hall’s aim is to present the method and content of eight representative patristic fathers, four from the eastern church (Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and John Chrysostom) and four from the western church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great).
He begins by pressing into the modern milieu in order to expose and diminish obstacles that stand in the way of fruitfully reading these ancient texts. He specifically identifies the issues of Enlightenment and postmodern hubris, as well as the Protestant overreaction against church tradition. The necessary response to these obstacles must be a humility that is self-critical and willing to listen to ancient authors on their own terms, in as much as that is possible. Hall then moves on to consider the works of the eight fathers listed above, followed by a treatment of the debate that arose between the schools of Alexandria and Antioch.
He concludes by offering a middle way between the naïve acceptance of patristic methods and content, and the outright rejection of the same. Specifically, he encourages modern exegetes to follow the fathers in four ways: read the Bible holistically as one book in two testaments, read the Bible Christologically, read the Bible in community (both past and present), and read the Bible within the context of a life of prayer, worship, and spiritual formation. This work is an excellent introduction to the subject, and offers helpful insight for pastors and scholars alike.
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