<p>In this new edition of her major study of the New Testament, Sandra Schneiders proposes a comprehensive hermeneutical theory for New Testament interpretation, which takes full account of the Bible as both sacred Scripture and as a historical-literary classic. Designed to spur reflection on the role of Scripture as revelatory text in the life of the Church and in the lives of individual believers, <em>The Revelatory Text</em> shows that an integral hermeneutical theory can ground a transformational hermeneutical praxis to make the biblical text available as a faith resource to the oppressed as well as to the privileged.</p><p>Schneiders investigates the meaning of the theological claim that the Bible is the 'Word of God' and the 'Church&#39;s book,' along with the implications of these claims for biblical interpretation. She then examines the historical, literary, and religious-spiritual dimensions of the New Testament, highlighting the implications for interpretation theory and methodology, and concludes by putting her theory to the test in a feminist interpretation of John 4.</p><p>The author argues that the comprehensive object of biblical interpretation is not merely information but transformation. She suggests that an adequate hermeneutical theory must include a wide range of exegetical and critical methods within a theologically and philosophically adequate understanding of Scripture as sacred text. She writes specifically to educated believers who wonder how sound biblical criticism can be incorporated into a faith- filled reading of the New Testament; biblical scholars who struggle with the question of whether or how faith can function legitimately in biblical scholarship; and those whose task it is to teach and preach the faith that looks to the New Testament as source and norm.</p><p>Chapters are 'The Problem and Project of New Testament Interpretation,' 'The New Testament as Word of God,' 'The New Testament as the Church&#39;s Book,' 'The World Behind the Test: History, Imagination, and the Revelatory Text,' 'The World of the Text: Witness, Language, and the Revelatory Text,' 'The World Before the Text: Meaning, Appropriation, and the Revelatory Text,' and 'A Case Study: Feminist Interpretation of John 4:1-42.'</p><p><em>Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, is professor of New Testament studies and Christian spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p>