Bible
A Hermeneutic of Imagination Unlocking Scripture’s Full Potential Knut M. Heim with Jeffrey R. Oetter
To read the Bible well, we need to employ our imagination. This volume is the first book-length study that takes the Bible’s imagi - native nature seriously. It integrates insights from disciplines like neuroscience, metaphor theory and cognition, translation theory, the affective sciences, humor studies, and the interdisciplinary study of imagination itself into the academic and theological study of the Bible. Knut Heim and Jeffrey Oetter show that reading with imagination is a critical hermeneutic of engagement that fosters close, deep, lusciously savored, and pleasurable readings of the biblical texts. Bringing current scholarship from a variety of disciplines to bear on biblical interpretation, this book explains that Scripture employs often subtle literary techniques—including figurative language, emotions, and humor—that require imagination to recognize and interpret. Imagination helps us develop genuinely biblical ideas that get us closer to the meaning intended by the Holy Spirit and the original authors, resulting in more accurate interpretations when paired with traditional approaches. Even textual aspects that have until now remained odd, foreign, and confusing can become occasions for imaginative engagement that reveal new meaning and significance. A Hermeneutic of Imagination makes the case that reading with imagination is crucial for unlocking the Bible’s full potential be- cause it transforms academic study of the Bible into aesthetically inspiring, intellectually stimulating, emotionally rewarding, theo- logically rich, and spiritually transformative adventures of the mind that contribute to problem-solving and human flourishing today. CONTENTS 1. Imagination and What It Has to Do with the Bible 2. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Allows Us to Enjoy the Literary Quality of Scripture 3. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Reveals the Theological Power of Scripture’s Figurative Language 4. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Attunes Us to the Emotional Intentions of Scripture 5. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Draws Attention to the Humoristic Dimensions of Scripture 6. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Informs Our Translation Theory and Practice 7. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Inspires Us to Conduct Our Academic Study of Scripture Theologically and to Undertake Our Theological Study Academically 8. A Hermeneutic of Imagination Expands Our Vision So We Embody the Moral Imagination of Scripture Conclusion Indexes
AUGUST 2025 • 224 pp. • paper • $28.99 • 9781540969101
Knut Heim (PhD, University of Liverpool) is professor of Old Tes- tament at Denver Seminary and the pastor at Deer Park United Methodist Church in Bailey, Colorado. He previously taught at The Queen’s Foundation, University of Birmingham, and Trinity College, University of Bristol. Jeffrey R. Oetter (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is the pastor at New Hope Community Church in Aurora, Colorado, serves on the staff for Young Life, and is an adjunct professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary.
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