This chapter examines the use of the Bible from the perspective of the relatively recent revival of interest in pre-modern biblical interpretation. Without ignoring the great variety of views and uses of Scripture by pre-modern theologians, recent scholarship has identified several characteristic hermeneutical conventions, each one of which has been contested, or has simply withered away in the modern era. Hermeneutical consensus dissolves in the modern era, with profound consequences for Christian theological interpretation of the Bible. The Bible was a textbook, propounding ideas about God's nature and that were vouchsafed by God to its authors so that what they taught, God taught. Scholars pursuing biblical criticism's diachronic forms often share certain presuppositions with those whose work has been described thus far. Whether they are employing the critical methods to encourage or to undermine Christian devotion to God, diachronic critics assume that biblical meanings are referential and univocal.