Provides a principled way of moving from Scripture to its contemporary understanding and application. How can Christians today move from what the Bible writers said to what we must say in contemporary theology? How can we think theologically in ways that are deeply grounded in an authoritative Scripture but not simply repeating what the biblical theologians said into their own contexts? In this book respected New Testament scholar I. Howard Marshall makes some creative and important proposals to help us move 'beyond the Bible' without leaving the Bible behind. He examines how principles can be established from Scripture, whether explicitly or implicitly, and explores how the continuing development of insight can provide us with guidelines for the ongoing task of developing and applying Christian theology. Rather than presenting Marshall's reflections as 'the final word' Beyond the Bible encourages a more dialogical approach to theological reflection by including responses from Kevin Vanhoozer and Stanley Porter. This is an important text for biblical scholars, theologians and preachers. - An intelligent answer to a tricky question - how can we apply the ancient text of the Bible to issues today? - Written by a leading biblical scholar. - Responses from leading Christian thinkers invite readers into a discussion rather than simply presenting 'the answer'.