A Historical and Semantic Analysis of Methods of Biblical Interpretation as They Relate to Views of Inspiration

Authors

Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, Olivet Nazarene University

Files

Author Biography

Mildred Bangs was bora in Seattle, Washington, September 9, 1905, into the Christian home of Carl diver and Mary Dupertuis Bangs. She attended Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho, and then attended Pasadena College in Pasadena, California, where she received the A.B. and Th.B. degrees. While there she met and married Ralph Carl Wynkoop, a minister in the Church of the Nazarene. In 1934 she was also ordained an elder and led an active ministerial life with her husband. Then in 1952 she received a B.D. degree from the Western Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and in 1953 an M.Sc. degree from the University of Oregon in Eugene with a major in philosophy, followed in 1955 by a Th.D. from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. This is her dissertation for that Doctor of Theology degree.

Wynkoop first taught at Western Evangelical Seminary, which later became George Fox Evangelical Seminary, in Portland, Oregon, as Professor of Theology from 1956 to December 1960. She then taught in Japan from 1961 to 1966 where she was the founding President of Japan Nazarene Theological Seminary. After serving briefly in Taiwan, she taught at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1966 to 1976 as Professor of Theology and Director of the Department of Missions. From 1976 to 1979 Wynkoop held the position of Theologian-in-Residence at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. She died on May 21, 1997 in Lenexa, Kansas. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism was her magnum opus.

Description

This study seeks to understand the historical and contemporary Christian views of Scripture, particularly in regard to the relation of theories of Inspiration to the various methods of interpretation which have been and are employed by the Church. Though the question is never directly asked, the whole research has centered about the tacit question, what do we mean when we say that the Bible is the Word of God? The theology of inspiration is not under consideration but only an analysis of the various expressions regarding it. In this sense it is a semantic approach. The study is directed toward the goal of uncovering principles of interpretation which are historically, philosophically and semantically sound, which do justice to the uniqueness of the Bible and which will demonstrate the relevance of the Bible to the needs of today.

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

5-1955

Publisher

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

City

Lombard, Illinois

Keywords

inspiration, Bible, interpretation, scripture, Wesleyan theology, semantics

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery

Disciplines

Christianity | History of Christianity | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Comments

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Theology, May, 1955.

Recommended Citation

Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs, "A Historical and Semantic Analysis of Methods of Biblical Interpretation as They Relate to Views of Inspiration" (1955). Wesleyan Holiness Books. 1.
https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/arch_wesleybk/1