David Bebbington, in his classic book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (1989) argued the diverse and amorphous movement called Evangelicalism was characterized by four ideas: the Bible, the cross, conversion, and activism. This became known as the “Bebbington Quadrilateral.” Every Leaf, Line, and Letter, collection of twelve essays, by former students and colleagues, began as conference to honor David Bebbington. Clearly, his ideas have been fertile ground for a rich, diverse, and expanding fields of scholarly research and inquiry. Of the four elements of the “Quadrilateral,” the Bible is arguably the most important in the lives and faiths of Evangelicals. All Evangelicals have been united by their common belief that the Bible is the inspired word of God. However, the essays in this volume complicate the picture. How evangelical interpret the Bible is diverse and varied. Changing historical circumstances and needs alter the way they interpreted the Bible and they have often marshalled the Bible to conflicting ends.

For example, typological and figural interpretations, which was more line with medieval hermeneutics, was central to Jonathan Edwards interpretation of the Bible. Interestingly, later Evangelicals are often associated with a more literal interpretations and a ridged biblicism. Evangelicals of the same era did not agree on the methods of hermeneutics. Jonathan Edwards and John Erksine, both evangelicals of the eighteenth century, had conflicting views on the nature of free will. Their differences are rooted in the different ways they incorporated enlightenment ideas into their biblical hermeneutics. In the United States, during the 19^th century, tragically, many interpreted the Bible to defend slavery and racism. However, Denmark Veysey used the Bible to condemn slavery. Francis Grimke interpreted the Bible to condemn lynching. And yet the Bible has also been used in the 21^st century to defend a version of white Christian nationalism that minimized this history of slavery and the role of people of color in the history of the United States.

The history of evangelical uses of the Bible is complicated, diverse, and fascinating. Every individual essay in this volume is interesting. However, as a collection, to use as cliché, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.