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The Letter & the Spirit: Discerning God's Will in a Complex Word

Author:	David A Brandos
Published By:	Augsburg Fortress (Minneapolis)
Price:	$10.99
ISBN:	0 8066 4935 6

Reviewed by Simon Coupland.

This little book aims to set out problems which need to be recognised rather than to provide answers to those problems. The author, an American Lutheran teaching Biblical Studies and Systematic Theology in Mexico, wants to make the reader aware of the difficulties involved in applying the Bible to situations in today’s very different society. In particular he emphasises the difference between keeping the spirit of the law and obeying the letter: hence the book’s title.

To this end he looks in turn at the Old Testament understanding of Law, Jesus’ reinterpretation of it, Paul’s treatment of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus’ teaching, and some of the issues which arise when we interpret the Bible today. He concludes that Scripture guides us, but does not bind us. For example, he believes that allowing divorce and remarriage may be against the letter of Jesus’ teaching, but is in keeping with the spirit of it. In such a short work, the treatment is necessarily superficial, but he does raise some meaty issues, and will definitely give readers who have not considered these issues plenty of food for thought. To encourage this, each chapter ends with questions for reflection or discussion.