From Literature Review to Scriptural Review: Reclaiming the Biblical Foundation of Theological and Biblical Research
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In contemporary theological and biblical scholarships, the literature review has long served as a foundational element in research methodology. While literature reviews rely on secondary human sources for authority, scriptural review restores the primacy of divine revelation as the principal source of theological knowledge. The paper aims to explore the need to shift from the conventional literature review model used in secular academia to a scriptural review model that reclaims the biblical foundation of theological and biblical research. This paper argues for the recovery of a Scriptural Review—a biblically grounded method of examining theological questions through the lens of the Holy Scriptures as the ultimate authority of truth. Scriptural Review calls the researchers to engage the Word not merely as text but as living revelation. This study adopts a sola scriptura methodology, qualitative theological approach integrating Scriptural Review, exegetical interpretation of key biblical texts relevant to the work, and comparative analysis with the traditional Literature Review method. The study also offers theo-theoretical model that situates Scriptural Review within biblical praxis, and proposes a pneumagogical framework and Scriptural Review as a foundational methodological paradigm for biblical and theological education in the 21st century. The study finds that biblical or theological research grounded in Scriptural Review produces more biblically faithful, spiritually edifying, and doctrinally sound outcomes. Therefore, the paper recommends and concludes by urging biblical researchers to love and defend their own (Scriptural Review) with the same passion and dedication that the world shows for its own (Literature Review). Keywords: literature review, scriptural review, biblical and theological research, pneumagogical framework, the-theoretical framework, theo-theory.
Author: Ilesanmi, Dele Alaba
Institution: Testament Theological Seminary
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7103139709
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