This study is the outcome of a summit held at Cambridge University sponsored by The International Reference Library for Biblical Research (IRLBR). The fellowship allowed four scholars (Kathy Maxwell, AJ Culp, Jeff Brannon, and Bryan Babcock) the opportunity to pursue solutions to a current academic debate within evangelical biblical studies to the benefit of the Church. As such, the discussions centered on answering “What qualifies a psalm as messianic?” To answer this question, the team of four young scholars debated various positions while exploring Psalms 2, 22, 45, and 110.
To identify the intended meaning of the psalms it was essential to understand the answers to several questions, including:
• What is the historical context for the writing of the psalm?
• How do the details of the psalm fit into its larger Old Testament
context?
• How would an Old Testament reader most likely have understood
these texts?
• What interpretational trajectories surface in early Jewish
interpretation of these psalms?
• What hermeneutical steps have the New Testament authors taken to
understand the meaning of the psalm?
This analysis works through the hermeneutical process establishing the
historical context of Psalm 110 at the time of its authorship. The study then
follows the interpretive trajectory through the Old Testament and into the
New Testament finding three ways to support the association of the psalm
with the Messiah: eschatological-typology, rhetorical-typological, and
realized-typology. Finally, the project offers four applications for the modern
Church.
The results of the fellowship were published in Crucible 8:2 (November 2017).
Follow this link to a PDF of the Article in Crucible Magazine
Leave a Reply