num_pages: 344
description: A key emphasis of Brevard Childs's distinguished career has been his effort to show not only that the canon of Scripture comprises both Old and New Testaments but also that the concept of canon includes the way the Christian church continues to wrestle in every age with the meaning of its sacred texts. In this new volume Childs uses the book of Isaiah as a case study in the church's long evolving history to understand its Scriptures.In each chapter Childs focuses on a different Christian age using the work of key figures to illustrate the church's changing views of Isaiah. After looking at the translation of the Septuagint Childs examines commentaries and tractates from the patristic Reformation and modern periods. His review shows that despite an enormous diversity in time culture nationality and audience these works nevertheless display a family resemblence in their theological understandings of this central Old Testament text. It also reveals how the church struggled to adapt to changing social and historical conditions often by correcting or refining traditional methodologies while at the same time maintaining a theological stance measured by faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In an important final chapter Childs draws out some implications his work for modern debates about the role of Scripture in church life and ecumenical endeavors.
language: English
title: The Struggle to Understand Isaiah as Christian Scripture
publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.