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IB CLESchool Year 2012-2013

29 August 2012

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Interpret a text according to the rules

& conventions of its GENRE--

or you will misunderstand it!

LITERARY INTERPRETATION1st Principle - GENRES

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Before you look

for PERSONALMEANING, makesure youunderstand themore basiclayers of

meaning.

LITERARY INTERPRETATION

2nd Principle - LAYERS OF MEANINGS

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The wider the context, the richer

& fuller the reading!

LITERARY INTERPRETATION

3rd Principle - CONTEXTS

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LITERAL MEANING

AUTHOR MEANING

TEXT MEANING

PERSONALMEANING

the wordsof the text

authors intentions&/or commentaries

from authority

evidence ofmeaning inthe text asaccepted bycommunity

of readers

readers opinionbased on onespersonal experiencesrelativist

relativist

absolutistrationalist

Which is the Relativist, Absolutist, & Rationalist Reading? Why?

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CONTEXTSLAYERS OF MEANING

3CONTEXTS MEANINGSThe World BEHINDthe Text

the historical background

AUTHOR MEANINGthe Authors intention (either obtained directly

or inferred byAUTHORITY

)

The World BEFOREthe Text

the interpretationsof readers

TEXT MEANINGtheEVIDENCEof meaning in the text basedon interpretations by communities of readers

The World of theREADERthe readers

personal experiences

PERSONAL MEANINGthe ReadersOPINIONbased on onespersonal experiences & world history

The wider the context, the richer the meaning!

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readingthe

bible

as

scripture

The Bibleas

Scriptureis to beread

ANDprayed.

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A Pretty Bad

Horror Film

(1999)

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BIBLICALauthority

Inspiration

Inerrancy

Canonicity

The writing of the Bible

The compiling of the Bible

The reading of the Bible

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Problems, Issues, & Questions

Word of God vs. words of men

How can we say that the Bible isthe Word of God when theauthors were obviously human?

Inspiration

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Who compiled the Bible & how?

What if we discover new booksthat should be included?

Canonicity

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If the Bible is the Word of God,is it perfectly free from error?

What about factual, scientic, &historical mistakes found in theBible?

Inerrancy

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Key to understandingthe Bible as Scripture

The Bible is BOTHthe Word of God

ANDthe words of men.

Paradox

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The writing(INSPIRATION),

the compiling(CANONICITY)& the reading(INERRANCY)

of the Bible

BOTHDivine

ANDHuman

Key to understandingthe Bible as Scripture

Paradox

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St. Matthew

the Evangelist

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Moses downloads the10 Commandments

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3 QUESTIONS- What was the writing process?

- What was the role of the humanauthors, if any?- What was Gods role, if any?

Who wrote the Bible?INSPIRATION

3VIEWS- The FUNDAMENTALIST View- The SKEPTICAL View

- The CATHOLIC View

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God wrote the Bibleactively & exclusively.Every word of it was

dictated by God, sothat the role of thehuman author was

very minimal.


FUNDAMENTALIST

PROCESSDictation or

AutomaticWriting

HUMAN ROLEMinimal

& PassiveInstrument

GODs ROLEActive &Exclusive

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The human authors

wrote the Bible justlike any literature.Only later was divineauthorship claimed.At best, Godsauthorship issymbolic.


SKEPTICALPROCESSHumanCreation ofLiterature

HUMAN ROLEActive &Exclusive

GODs ROLEQuestionable

At best,Metaphorical

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PROCESSInstrumental

Causality

GODs ROLEActive &Respectful of

Human

Consciousness

HUMAN ROLEActive &Creative

Both God & the

human authors wereresponsible for writingthe Bible. The human

authors were activeinstruments usingtheir world views &culture.


CATHOLIC

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Gods role

&the role ofthe

human

authors

NOTmutuallyexclusive

NOTinversely

proportional

Its possible for both God & the humanauthors to be involved. Not a case of either/or!

Just because God is more active doesntmean the human authors are less active--orvice versa!

DIVINELY INSPIRED: God is the originatingAuthor. The human writers are the literaryauthors. God is involved in the production of theBible in a unique way. Thats why we say God is

the Author, & the Bible is the Word of God.

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Fundamentalist Skeptic Catholic

PROCESS

HUMAN

ROLE

GODS

ROLE

Dictation +

Automatic

Writing

Human

Creation:

Literature!

Instrumental

Causality

Minimal +

Passive

Active +

Exclusive

Active +

Creative

Active +

Almost Exclusive

Question-able

At best,

Metaphor-

ical

Active +

Respectfulof Human

Freedom &

Conscious-

ness

Inspiration

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Who compiled

the Bible?

Canonicity

Didnt dropfrom the sky

as a completepackage or

handed down

by Christ toHis disciplesas an entire

book.

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Who compiled

the Bible?

Canonicity

The Church isthe CANONIZER,

the institutionthat declared

these 73 books--& ONLY thesebooks--asScripture.

The Bible

underwent ahistoricalprocess.

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Who compiled

the Bible?

Canonicity

Sola Scriptura!Only Scripture!

No Church.No Tradition.No Interpretation.

The Bible wascompiled by theChurch &

declared sacred

by it.

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Who compiled

the Bible?

Canonicity

HISTORICALLYNAIVE: Forgets

that the Churchcreated the Bible.

HERMENEUTICALLYNAIVE: Forgetsthat the Bible, like

any text, cannot

interpret itself.

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The double role of the Church

Canonizer: The Church wrote &compiled the Bible, declaring itsbooks as the Word of God.

Inspired Reader: The Church isthe intended reader of the Bible& its most authoritative

interpreter.

Who compiled

the Bible?

Canonicity

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How do we read

the Bible?

Inerrancy If Scripture isthe

Word of God,then it mustbeperfectly

correct &free fromerror.

But whatabout theproven errors

in the Bible?

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How do we read

the Bible?

Inerrancy

For example:6 days of

creationvs. centuriesof evolution

Inerrancy does not refer to historical,scientific, or factual correctness.

Inerrancy pertains to truths about God

and truths we need for salvation.

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How do we read

& pray with theBible?

The role of Faith

For an intelligent reader,

the Bible is just literature--or even great literature,but thats all. Its notGods revelation.

The Biblebecomes theWord of God only

if read with faith.Without faith, it isonly revelatory,

not yet revelation.

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The role of Faith

Scripture is not

for information,but forexperience.

Use the imaginationto be part of the

story. To let the story

involve & affect you.

How do we read

& pray with theBible?

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How do we pray

with the Bible?

The role of Faith

Not a sourceof answers,

but a sourceof questions.

Not a source

of evidence,but isauthority.

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