Exegesis and Hermeneutics: Critical Approaches to the

Biblical Text

The Light Project

Session 2

Hermen who?

What exactly is ‘hermeneutics’?

How can we define it?

Hermeneutics explores how we read, understand, and handle texts, especially those written in another time or in a context of life different than our own. Biblical hermeneutics investigates more specifically how we read, understand, apply, and respond to biblical texts.

(Thiselton, Hermeneutics: an Introduction, 2009: 1).

Is hermeneutics to be thought of as applying formulaic ‘rules’ of interpretation to the Bible?

What does this notion of ‘rules’ do for those Christians who are committed to a notion of an inerrant (error-free) biblical text, yet who admit that Christians are fallible humans?

• When you read the NT, what exactly are you trying to accomplish?

• Do those answers change if for example you are: – Studying to prepare for a sermon or a

Bible study lesson? – Doing devotional reading alone? – Writing an exegetical essay on a biblical

passage? – Studying the life and ministry of Paul?

• Is it possible (or even preferable) to attempt to read the Bible entirely objectively?

• When you read the NT do you think you bring various expectations (or pre-understandings) to the text?

• How do you think people in different eras have read and understood the Bible?

• For example:– Medieval– Reformation– Victorian– Postmodern

• How has our reading of the Bible changed in the last 200+ years?

• In terms of approaches to the Bible, what shifts have occurred that explains these changes?

Critical Methods of Interpretation

• Luke 1.1-4 is a good example of the different stages of work, sources and types of biblical criticism that have been employed in the writing of the Gospels.

• What does this text reveal regarding how the gospel writers used various sources?

“Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed” (NRSV).

1. Written sources—“others” who wrote about Jesus, “setting down an orderly account.” In the case of the Synoptic Gospels, did the authors share a written source or utilize multiple sources? Did the authors copy each other?

• Source criticism attempts to identify the written sources that were used to put the Gospels together, and looks at the historical contexts from which these sources came (which may have been quite a long time before).

2. Eyewitness testimony—the oldest sources; some of the evangelists were ‘eyewitnesses’ and ‘servants of the word.’ At the very least, the authors had access to stories about Christ—from eyewitnesses—if they were not the primary sources themselves.

• Form criticism is the critical approach that attempts to answer the question: how were the various stories from eyewitness (oral) accounts were passed on and shaped in the time period prior to when the Gospels were written down?

3. Authorial research and editing—the author himself researches materials, checking both oral and written sources; then he organizes the source material into a sequence and puts his own unique authorial stamp on them (an ‘orderly account’). Also we see the theology of the author at work (‘so that you may know the truth.’)

• Redaction criticism is the critical approach that investigates these processes of composition, writing and editing, and also the theology of the author.

What do you think might be the strengths and weaknesses of these critical approaches?

•Source criticism•Form criticism•Redaction criticism

In light of these issues raised by critical methodologies, we have to

raise the question when studying the biblical text: where does meaning

lie?

1) Should we focus on the historical world of the author, or on reconstructing the events described in the text? Is the text a ‘window to the ancient world’?

2) Should we focus on the final canonical form of the text itself? But—is there any place for historical reconstruction?

3) Should we focus on the interaction between the reader and the text? Is the text a ‘mirror’?

•Source Criticism•Form Criticism•Redaction Criticism

•Feminist Readings•Marxist Readings•Ethnic Groups•Reader-Response Criticism

•Rhetorical Criticism•Narrative Criticism

Meaning located in the historical world or context behind the text

Meaning located in the final form of the text

Meaning located in the interaction in front of the text with the reader

Scripture

The New Testament Letters1. Letters from an individual to a church (most of

Paul’s letters; 2 John)2. Letters from an individual to another individual

(1-2 Timothy; Titus; 3 John)3. Circular letters to be read in several churches

(Gal; Eph; James; 1-2 Pet; Jude)4. Documents sent like a letter but lacking key

elements of other letters (such as the identification of the sender; Hebrews; 1 John)

5. An apocalypse distributed as a letter (Revelation)

6. Two letters included within Acts (15:23-29; 23:26-30)

(Travis, Marshall and Paul, 23).

NT Epistle Letter Format• Opening—sender’s name, recipients, and a

greeting (1 Cor. 1.1-3; Col. 1.1-2)• Prayer of thanksgiving—a short prayer giving

thanks to God for his faithfulness and/or that of the church (1 Cor. 1.4-9; Col. 1.3-12)

• Body—the largest section of the letter that conveys its central message. Typically these divide up into two major sections:

– Exposition—theological and doctrinal teachings (Rom. 1-11; Col. 1.13-29)

– Exhortation—ethical exhortations based on the exposition; addressed to individual believers, families, slaves etc. (Rom. 12-16; Eph. 5-6)

• Closing—this may include several elements:

– Greetings—from believers/author to other believers (Rom. 16.3-16)

– Travel Log—discussion of future travel plans (1 Cor. 16.5-9)

– Final blessing—a ‘parting shot’ of blessing (Rom. 16. 25-27)

– Note from Paul—he takes responsibility for the letter though he may not have penned it (1 Cor. 16.21; Gal. 6.11)

– Final liturgical note—to be read to church(es) (1 Cor. 16.20b, 22).

Inductive Bible Study Methods

Ideally our approach would like to have at least three facets:

1. Flexible—rather than rigid; we have not arrived; recognizes the perspectival nature of Bible study in what we as readers bring to the text.

2. Adaptable—open to new changes in biblical studies, etc.

3. Inductive—lets the text set the agenda (as much as is possible); construct a series of questions to ask of the text rather than imposing an agenda upon the text.

Identifying these factors is a key to approaching the text inductively. Why is this important?

“How we read any piece of literature depends completely on what kind of literature it is that we think we are reading…The effectiveness of the message of a biblical book will depend, in part, on which type of literature the author selects in order to communicate.”

(Lubeck, Read the Bible for a Change, 12, 14).