"Why do the gospel writers read Israel's history in ways that look funny to modern sensibilities? Is the notion of the fulfillment of Old Testament texts intellectually implausible? The gospel writers summon us to a conversion of the imagination. They summon us to become more interesting readers... the gospel writers are trying to make us more interesting people. They are trying to make us more interesting readers who are not locked into this modernist literalism about everything. I want to suggest to you that we will learn to read Scripture well only if our minds and imaginations are opened up by learning to read the Scriptural texts by learning to read in the 'figural' ways that the four gospel writers actually read Israel's Scripture. The gospels teach us how to read the Old Testament. And at the same time the Old Testament teach us how to read the gospels. There is a circle of interpretation."
Richard Hays, "Do the Gospel Writers Misread the Old Testament?"
Another great quote from this lecture:
"I'm a New Testament scholar, a lot of what I do is spend a lot of time explaining to other New Testament scholars things that are largely obvious to most ordinary Christians in the pew."
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