This word "hermeneutics" keeps showing up at Light-work, so what does it mean? There are lots of definitions. A basic one is "the art and science of biblical interpretation." This is what we were taught in seminary. We were supposed to follow-up by saying, "It's an art because it requires skill; it's a science because it uses objective principles." You could also substitute this phrase, "method of interpretation," in place of the word, "hermeneutics." Hermeneutics is not limited to the study of the Bible, by the way, but Bible study is where hermeneutics gets a good workout.
"Hermeneutics" is important for what it says but should also be appreciated for what it doesn't say. The word declares that there should be a method to our interpretive endeavors. But by itself, it doesn't identify what that method should be. So this noun is often modified or supplemented by adjectives and phrases that announce the "brand" of interpretation that will be used. Here are some "branded" phrases: "Protestant Biblical Hermeneutics," "The Grammatical-Historical Method," "Literal Interpretation," and "Allegorical Interpretation." If I coin a phrase like "hermeneutics by embarrassment," I am referring to a method of interpreting the Bible in which I filter out anything the Bible says that might put me at odds with the thinking and values of my culture.
Why do we need to spend a lot of time and energy evaluating various methods of biblical interpretation? Why do we even need a method - can't we just read the Bible and go? These questions might seem justified until we peer into an invisible process that is going on right now! At this very moment, you are using a "method of interpretation" to extract meaning from the words in this post. But you don't think about your method. You just USE it. We are communicating, you and I, without having to think much about the process, because we share a culture, a time, and a common language. Our heritage gives us a shared set of rules about how to encode and decode verbal information.
What if we seek to understand a message from a different time and culture, a message written in a foreign language and presented in unfamiliar literary forms? Now we must give conscious attention to a process that we have taken for granted. We have to think about how we should extract meaning from the document, exactly how to get at what the author intended to say. And if that message is from God, then the stakes have gone to the moon that we get it right! Drum roll, please. Enter the different brands of interpretive method, all vying for our acceptance as the best way to get at the goods from God. At a site like Light-work that straddles the intersection of life and truth, discussion of the method by which we get at what God is saying will come up often. Using my level of embarrassment to limit what God may say won't!
THAT'S where I was getting stuck. I was taking it to mean that it IS the method of interpretation, not pointing to the method. In my ignorance, I was thinking it was one thing, not an umbrella statement. Thanks for the help, Alex and Jim!
Posted by: Jeff | November 15, 2007 at 10:19 AM
I can recommend How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. They do a good job of taking a complicated problem and making it easy(er) to understand (after all the Bible was written for knuckleheads like me). Fee & Stuart discuss the different literary genres found in the Bible and a hermenuetic for each. I found it very helpful...
Posted by: MBV | November 15, 2007 at 10:54 AM
Another great book that will get you started on hermeneutics is Living By the Book by Howard Hendricks. He outlines inductive Bible study in pretty good detail and very clear terms. Doesn't get as much into the specifics of the different genres, but it will get you a good ground-work.
If you want something more advanced that really focuses on the genres of scripture, I would recommend checking out Leland Ryken. His hermeneutic strategy focuses on examining the literary techniques employed by the Biblical writers and how that brings out their intended meanings. Very good stuff, in my opinion.
Posted by: Alex Marshall | November 15, 2007 at 12:16 PM