It has now been over 160 years since Johann philipp Gabler (1753–1826) was first credited with having ‘founded’ biblical theology as a discipline in its own right. Some ten years ago, as his 1787 inaugural address at Altdorf was being remembered, several scholars wrote articles which attempted to explore ways in which Gabler's proposals for biblical theology may be retained or, at least, may be interpreted as still relevant for current reflection. As these publications demonstrate, Gabler's methodological proposals have been capable of being interpreted with differing shades of emphasis. Behind such variance may well lie the likelihood that in coming to terms with the significance of forebearers out of the past, contemporaries in the biblical disciplines have found themselves articulating their own nuanced understandings concerning what ‘biblical theology’, if it denotes a task at all, should involve. The present article is no exception, as here I would like to propose a particular way of understanding Gabler. I shall thus (1) rehearse briefly some of the more basic antecedents to Gabler's formulations; (2) describe the contours of his proposals, beginning with his Altdorf address (Antrittsrede); (3) attempt to situate him within the context of late 18th-century German theology; and (4) comment briefly on the significance of his ideas in relation to the task of biblical theology.

In choosing the title for these reflections, I have attempted to note not only a transition in the occupant of the Chair of New Testament Language, Literature & Theology in the University of Edinburgh, but also the historic period in which this transition takes place, in the closing years of one millennium, approaching the threshold of a new one. In an effort to engage the interests of a wide circle of readers in various scholarly specialities, I have also chosen to discuss (though only in very limited depth) several major questions, each of which could occupy us for much longer than space here permits. I hope at least to underline their importance, and to sketch a rationale for the positions I shall advocate. I cannot hope that this sketch will persuade anyone not already inclined to my views, but I can perhaps indicate that they are not without reason. If a thorough treatment is not possible here, I shall at least endeavour to be clear, and this may better stimulate the reflections of others.

In recent study of the nature of NT interpretation, considerable attention in certain circles has been given to the possibility that there is one metaphor that is particularly appropriate for articulating what NT interpretation involves. It is the metaphor of performance. The purpose of this paper is to describe and develop this proposal and to give an assessment of it. To my knowledge, this is a task in biblical hermeneutics that has only just begun. If we ask why this is so, one possible answer lies in the fact that the proposal comes in the main from systematic and patristic theologians and therefore from outside the guild of biblical scholars. The consequence is that our customary division of labour inhibits us from attending with sufficient care to what our neighbours are saying even when it bears directly on our own work.