This introductory text on the interpretation and use of the Bible is unique. Com- bining learned discussion of the central issues of scriptural interpretation with reflections drawn from nearly thirty years in active ministry, this volume succeeds on two levels - the scholarly and the pastoral.

Ronald S. Wallace describes here how his early concern over the origin, inspiration, and contents of the Bible gradually gave way to more important questions about the purpose it was meant to fulfill in the life of the church, and about the nature of the task that each of us has to face as we listen to what God says to us through the Scriptures.

After describing his own introduction to the Bible and the presuppositions needed to approach Scripture correctly, Wallace explores in a very personal way several of the key themes in biblical interpretation: the unity of the Old and New Testaments, the concept of "salvation history," major approaches to the text, questions of appli- cation, the use of typology and allegory, and the structure and integrity of the biblical witness.