Mortificatio et Vivificatio: The Baptismal Shape of Scriptural Reading in John Webster

AbstractFor John Webster, faithful reading of Holy Scripture occurs in the wake of the mortifying and vivifying grace of the triune God. This baptismal movement from death to life is doubly characterized: it refers to, first, the missions of the Word and Spirit to slay and make alive, and, second, the mortifying and vivifying readerly activity of human creatures. As the extension of baptism into the Christian life, the ecclesial task of reading Scripture is a moral‐spiritual undertaking, forming an integral part of the covenantal fellowship between God and creatures. The burden of Webster’s teaching, however, calls the significance of Scripture’s contingent origins into question; that is, the intrusive, initiatory character of divine grace risks undermining the historicality of Holy Scripture and so the faculty of historical‐critical methods. This article first outlines Webster’s theology of scriptural interpretation. Next, it responds to the recent criticism that Webster fails to integrate sufficiently Scripture’s theological function as an instrument of divine speech with its contingent, historical character. I show that, far from suspending hermeneutical activity, the baptismal shape of exegesis underwrites a ministerial use of historical and literary tools. Furthermore, the ascetic character of scriptural reading thwarts phenomenalism and naturalism, which, on Webster’s view, are forms of idolatry.