Book excerpt: Since its publication in 1950, Protestant Biblical Interpretation has been a standard introduction to hermeneutics in evangelical colleges and seminaries. Twice revised, this textbook has sold well over 100,000 copies. Now this venerable resource is available in a paperback edition. "Hermeneutics," writes the author, "is the science and art of Biblical interpretation. . . . As such it forms one of the most important members of the theological sciences. This is especially true for conservative Protestantism, which looks on the Bible as . . . the only authoritative voice of God to man." After surveying the history of biblical interpretation, the author devotes seventy pages to explicating "the Protestant system of hermeneutics." He then discusses the doctrinal, devotional, and practical uses of the Bible. Following a chapter on the hermeneutical dimension of the problem of biblical inerrancy and secular science, he concludes with chapters on the interpretation of types, prophecy, and parables.