The Four Senses of Scripture: Learning from Ancient Ways of Reading the Bible (A New Testament Scholar’s Guide to the Fourfold Method of Biblical Interpretation) - Softcover

Patrick Schreiner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1540968790 ISBN 13: 9781540968791

Publisher: Baker Academic, 2026

Synopsis

Recovering the Church's Classical Approach to Biblical Interpretation

For nearly 1,700 years, the church read Scripture through four interwoven lenses--literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical--known as the quadriga. Modern biblical hermeneutics has largely set this tradition aside. In The Four Senses of Scripture, Patrick Schreiner argues the church hasn't moved beyond the ancient approach so much as it has lost something essential.

Schreiner doesn't reject the grammatical-historical method--he recovers what it leaves behind. This book

● covers all four senses--literal (grammatical-historical), allegorical (Christological), tropological (moral), and anagogical (eschatological)--with the what, why, and how of each;
● traces why early Christians used this method and makes the case for recovering a medieval mind for modern readers;
● demonstrates each sense in practice with examples drawn from across the biblical canon;
● engages exegetical, historical, and allegorical critiques of the quadriga with scholarly rigor; and
● includes an appendix written specifically for church application with scholars, students, and pastors in mind.

Drawing on patristic and medieval exegesis, Schreiner offers a coherent, historically grounded framework for reading Scripture through all four senses in conversation, a method that better honors the nature, goal, and ecclesial context of biblical interpretation. The book includes a foreword by Jonathan T. Pennington.

About this title

About the Author

Patrick Schreiner (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books, including The Transfiguration of Christ, The Ascension of Christ, The Four Senses of Scripture, Matthew, Disciple and Scribe, and The Kingdom of God and the Glory of the Cross.

From the Back Cover

Recovering an Ancient Method of Interpretation

This book challenges modern hermeneutics, arguing that the patristic and medieval "four senses" approach better respects the nature, goal, and ecclesial setting of reading the Scriptures.

"Schreiner boldly retrieves the quadriga, the ancient fourfold sense of Scripture, not as a flight from literal meaning (or biblical authority) but as its fulfillment. A timely and important proposal to recover a mode of reading proper to the church's Scripture rather than the academy's Bible and to heal the long-standing breach between critical biblical studies and theological interpretation."
--Kevin Vanhoozer, Litfin Divinity School, Wheaton College

"In this fantastic book, Schreiner says we must we recover the medieval four senses of Scripture. Why? Because they uniquely lay out a way of reading that comports with the way God's world is and the way God's Word runs. Because the quadriga puts the Bible back into the hands of the people and helps heal the breach between the academy and the church. And because reading according to the four senses draws us more deeply into communion with the living God."
--Peter J. Leithart, Theopolis Institute

"'Revive the quadriga? Seriously?' Those were my initial thoughts when I got wind of this book. And, confessedly, I did not expect to find Schreiner's ambitious result as persuasive or enjoyable as it turned out to be. Schreiner aptly shows that allegorical, tropological, and anagogical reading strategies do not compete with traditional literal/historical exegesis but flower from within it. Even where you disagree, you will learn something in this book."
--Gregory R. Lanier, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida

"In recent years, the evangelical church is awakening to the intellectual resources of the great tradition. Schreiner's book is an important contribution to this conversation that I hope is read widely. A thorough yet accessible engagement with the quadriga."
--Stephen Presley, Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"This superbly challenging and useful book might make us better, and more honest, readers and preachers by confirming the instinct that we really should see Christ in Scripture, do something with the text, and remember where our lives are headed."
--Ryan M. McGraw, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Edition details

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1540968790
• ISBN 13: 9781540968791
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288