This refreshing collection of essays center upon hermeneutics, but avoids the technical language that makes textbook on the subject so inaccessible. Some of the essays examine particular questions, such as exorcism and speaking in tongues, and how they may be approached. Others examine the varying ways in which particular New Testament passages have been interpreted throughout the history of the church, and why they have been understood differently at different times. Professor Best also considers basic problems in interpretation: is there a central message in the New Testament? Is it the words of the New Testament or the words of Christ that are being interpreted? How do the various writings of the New Testament relate to one another? How did the emphasis on the literal meaning of the Scripture arise and how has the Reformation stress on this developed?