Towards Understanding of the Practice of Proclamation: The Core Element of Russian Baptist Worship, Timofey Cheprasov, 2015

n the dynamic, dialogical life of the community of interpretation, which not only sets the boundaries of acceptable usage and interpretation, but also receives and incorporates new and creative readings in the consensus — a process that is evident in the Bible itself.’ (Charles L. Campblell, Preaching Jesus: The New Directions for Homiletics in Hans Frei’s Postliberal Theology (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1997), p 89). 38 Vandevelde, The Task of the Interpreter, p 104. 199 functioning as interdependent partners.*’ Therefore, sound Scriptural interpretation should encompass all the above mentioned levels of interpretation — it should attempt to address the author’s intent in writing the text, provide a thorough analysis of the meaning of words and sentences, and present the representative content, thus enabling the readers to see their story reflected in the biblical narrative. With this evaluation of the role of a community in interpretation, it might be helpful to turn to Fowl and Jones who, while arguing that it is impossible to discover a context- independent method for reading the Scripture, reject anarchy or subjectivism as an arbiter in understanding the Bible. The context in which the community of believers engaged in reading the Scripture finds itself, contributes to the way the Bible is read and interpreted. Besides, it is through reading in the community that the meaning can be discerned, and only when the communities embody in their lives their Scriptural interpretation: The aim of Scriptural interpretation is to shape our common life in the situations in which we find ourselves according to the characters, convictions, and practices related in Scripture. Because no one interpretive strategy can deliver the meaning of a text, there is no hard and fast method that will ensure faithful interpretation. No particular community of believers can be sure of what a faithful interpretation of Scripture will entail in any specific situation until it actually engages in the hard process of conversation, argument, discussion, prayer and practice.*° The need to live out the interpreted biblical text highlights an important notion of Christian attitude to the Bible, as containing a narrative, which is normative for their lives. That brings an extra dimension into the process of interpretation, which becomes more 39 Ibid. “° Fowl and Jones, Reading in Communion, pp 20 - 21. Similarly, Nancey C. Murphy argues that the church (or the community of the readers of the Bible) must be engaged with the world of the text, practice what the text suggests and appropriate feelings and attitudes that the text prompts, ‘The New Testament churches were not perfect — they were struggling to become the Church. Insofar as we, too, are struggling to become the Church, we will be better able to hear what the texts are saying, and as a consequence better able to “perform the Scriptures.” (Nancey C. Murphy, “Textu