CHRIST AND HISTORY: HERMENEUTICAL CONVERGENCE IN CALVIN AND ITS CHALLENGE TO BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

When we grasp Calvin's emphasis on the covenant history in its theological and Christological aspects and the relationship of this emphasis to Calvin's humanistic understanding of history, then we can understand the convergence of the historical and the Christological senses in Calvin's reading of Scripture. This understanding of Calvin's approach questions modernity's narrow historiographical bounds for discerning Scripture's historical sense, opening us to a consideration of a wider array of practices. Brueggemann's historiographical suggestions about the importance of Israel's witness and practice for reading scripture both historically and theologically fall within this broader frame and are congenial to Calvin's work.