Unit 1 Test

Exegesis

what the text originally meant

Predecessor to Formal Schools of Interpretation

-Justin Martyr (100-165AD) -converted to Christianity, jettisoned philosophy and found scriptures -martyred for his faith -famous for Dialogue with Trypho-> treaties where Justin posits a Jewish inter location and explains how Christ fulfilled OT -known for analogies and hemeuntical approach

Origen (185-253 AD)

-3 layers of interpretation -Body- "literal" meaning -Soul- "non mystical"- morality of life, weight of ethics -Spirit- most profound meaning text can communicate - differences in the gospels (cleansing of temple) -matthew and mark record this at end of Jesus' ministry. John records it at beginning -Biblical authors were not meaning for this to be interpreted literally -Every time there is an appeared inaccuracy, it is not supposed to be read literal -Origen compared temple to church -both sinners in them -need to be purged -The Holy Spirit purified the church -origen view on cleansing -OT needs to be rid of and law of grace in NT -Origen view of Jew -understood "Jew" as bodily sense yielding ethnic group -In spirit, Jesus wants to due away with sacrificial system

First Task

Exegesis involves questions about the context. What is surrounding the text? historical context: -time -culture -political factors -occasion -geographic setting Look "behind the text" and enter the world of author Literary context: -surrounded texts -purpose -what propels the story forward -does it support authors argument content: meaning of the text -meaning of particular word in general -meaning in relation to use in this text -how are sentences relating to each other

Meaning of text

text cannot mean something it could have not meant to the original audience

Form Criticism

-How is it the Jews arranged the Bible in the way it is -assumed passed down orally and then later written down (Psalm 22) pros: here/ now meaning cons: disregards then/ there meaning

Redaction Criticism

A scholarly approach to the study of Scripture that attempts to see how each of the NT writers edited, or redacted, materials to make a point

Form Criticism

A type of literary criticism used by Scripture scholars that analyzes and compares different literary forms used in the Gospels.

Plenary Verbal View *

Plenary-fully Plenary Verbal- God's inspirations extends to individual words themselves, including their tense, mood, person, number, etc. -All contradictions are merely "apparent: and can be harmonized in some way -Every word in Bible is willed by God (Galatians 3:16 and Mark 12:26) Strengths-view of Bible, while allowing for Human contribution, permits us the great confidence of every single word Weakness-challenges harmony

Illumination

The experience by which spiritual discernment of scripture is provided by the Holy Spirit -understanding God's word already made known through scripture

Source Criticism

The study by Scripture scholars to determine what sources the Gospel writers used to compose their works.

Other literary devices

proverbs- brief wise saying intended help people live responsible lives (proverbs 22:8) poetry- distinct expression of emotion and feelings in a rhythm of style (Psalm 18:9) -symbols- sign which suggests meaning rather than starting it (Matthew 12:39) -typology- prefiguring or shadow of something that has fulfillment in a later thing (Romans 5:14 -apocalyptic- highly figurative language making use of external symbolism to portray futuristic events (Daniel 7:6)

Structuralist Criticism

relies heavily on linguistics and linguistic theory to analyze literary work. -identifies the 'deep structures' embedded in the text which transcend the 'historical distance'

Grammatical criticism

Analyzing Text through its language -grammar of text and meaning of words reveal the interpretation of text

Augustinian Interpretation

-Augustine of Hippo (354-430) -Believed the Bible to be inspired and inerrant -the Bible has a simple message of salvation but beyond that it is suprarational -we cannot understand the bible apart from faith -coined phrase "faith seeking understanding" or "believe so that you may be able to understand" -interpretation guided by law of love -learn a pure life (love God and neighbor) -learn sound doctrine (understand God and neighbor) -high views of the church, second only to scripture -church developed the regula fidei rule of faith: based on apostolic teaching, patristic writings, decisions of church councils and creeds -developed a three fold hermenuetic approach -approach Bible in faith -remain within the regula fidei -apply law of love -promoted several interpretive ruled: -read in original languages -discover meaning of words according to contexts -clearer texts explain obscure texts -understand numerology -apply secular knowledge to text if necessary -ascertain the literal and figurative meaning of the text -used the grammatical-historical method to determine the literal meaning but then searched out the figurative sense if the literal meaning didnt remain in his law of love -the figurative sense was permissible if it remained in the regula fidei

Multi methodological view

-God utilized a variety of processes with equal weight of inspiration to reveal His word Strengths-honors the view the authors have of themselves, while taking into account literature they are writing Weaknesses-variety of processes of inspiration affects the overall quality of inspiration and is subject to all the critiques of every other method

School of Antioch (Syria)

-Literal interpretation -gives credence to grammar and history -does not completely through out symbolical meaning if alluded to in text -text has to lend itself to the higher meanings (Galatians 4) -Antioch emphasized plain meaning of text -embedded based on Aristotle and Jewish interpretation -Aristotle-Plato's mentee

Princetonian Orthodoxy

-Princeton Theological Seminary 1812 -Conservative theological training perpetuating the doctrines of Calvin and Reformed hermeneutics -The Bible is trustworthy -The human mind can comprehend Christian truths through reason -verbal plenary view of inspiration -The Bible is inerrant in the original manuscripys -relied upon common sense but subjected philosophical thinking about the scriptures to biblical revelation -emphasized the role of salvation in the interpretive process -The movement sought to defend the Reformed exegetical process and doctrines against the encroachment of modernism

Is the Bible inspired?

-The Bible claimed that it is from God -All the Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17) -The Holy Spirit "moved" men to write the Bible (2 Peter 1:20-21) -The authors themselves know they were writing scripture -The authors recognized others were writing God's word (2 Peter 3:15-16)

Early Church Fathers Interpretation

-This time referred to as Patristic era -Era saw collation of NT documents and the codification of key creeds and statements of faith -Key players include: -clement of Alexandra -Ireneaus -Justin Martyr -Origen -Theodore of Mopuesta -During this time dominant, opposite, formal schools of interpretation arose -school of Alexandria -school of Antioch ....but there were predecessors that acted immediately

literary criticism

-analyzes NT book as a literary piece by applying modern literary analysis techniques to ancient texts -books content and its form? (relationship)

Social Scientific Exegesis

-applies modern social science insights to interpretation of NT -modern sociological behavior applies to the ancients?

Grammatical Historical

-approach to biblical interpretation that takes seriously both grammatical structure and historical setting of text as they come to bear on the intended meaning of author -used by protestant evangelicals -considers also the literary and theological implication of the text to draw out intended meaning

Canon Criticism

-approach which takes into account the texts place within the canon to determine its meaning -knowing how the early church came to regard the book as authoritative and subsequently incorporate it into the canon is key to understanding the book

Traditional Criticism

-assumes several authors wrote down chapters -original text added to, changed, formed until the way we have it today E.g. If Jesus claims Moses wrote book of Deuteronomy who wrote about his death in chapter 32? Pros: method stands on firmer ground than form and source criticism Cons: every book would have to have been tempered with

Historical People

-author:what was his occupation? education? native with this language? help explain why some words are chosen? -recipients:live? Gentile of Jewish background? was Jesus only speaking to believers on sermon on the mount. helps understand then/there meaning -other speakers: what other written sources are alluded to? what does this tell us about the recipients? author? are those sources reliable on the whole or just what is stated? -societies: more we know about culture in vogue during the time of Bible we can make more sense of the tect -canan: child sacrifice was ultimate act of allegiance to God -Assyria: non biblical records of Assyria gives explanation why Jonah did not want to go to Ninevah -Mesopotamia: excavations of zigguarts inform our understanding of tower of babel -extradition- knowing about legal system -Greece: Hellenization explains tensions created between Hebrew and Hellenize in Acts 6

applied exegesis

-been preserved in a body of literature called mishnah -mishnah- recorded traditions of oral law that is a commentary on the written law, which was handed down to Moses on mount Sinai, completed around 200 AD -Mishnah employs hermeneutic called midrash midrash- "seek out" meaning pure exegesis- meaning of words, clauses, phrases, which cause quandary applied exegesis- principles providing a biblical solution to a non biblical issue 7 principles: 1) an argument from minor to major 2) when similar expressions exist in 2 verses whatever the first one applies to the 2nd one applies to the same thing 3)" ' 4) " " 5) specific situations are exclusive if they succeed general laws, conversely specific situations are not exclusive if they precede a general law 6) difficulties in meaning can be resolved the meaning of simpler texts 7)meaning is established by context (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

Medieval and Reformation Interpretation

-builds upon the alexandrian and antichone schoolings -ranging from 350-1500s

Inerrancy of Scripture

-claim Bible is "free from all falsehood, fraud, and deceit" Arguments: -God's Character-since God is trustworthy, so is His word -Logical reasoning- law of non contradiction and syllogisms and proves the Bibles harmony i.e. God does not err there Bible does not err -Scripture affirmation-John 10:35 and Matthew 5:18 -Church History- those who stray from the inerrant view stray from the church -who has authority? if the Bible is erred, who decides which parts are true?

Formula of Union

-core doctrine on how to interpret scripture -practical outworking resulted in Protestant Scholasticism qualities: -emphasized school of Antioch -The bible is not self-inconsistent -Intellect, not heart, became focus of faith -transpired primarily in the academy not the pew -define and defended interpretation of scripture -canonized Hebrew OT and Greek NT -textus receptus and Masorectic OT

Source Criticism

-critical method of identifying the written sources used by the author (or editor) to produce the final form of the book in the Bible -several factors led to the development of this criticism -Biblical authors appropriated material found in external sources Pros: other sources were written at the time of the Bible which did not make it into the Bible, God can redeem all literature to bring about message of salvation Cons: casts aside spiritual revelation discredits God's commands to Moses to "write down" the words of the Lord

Textual Criticism

-critical method that attempts to determine the exact wording of original text -takes into account all the variants and makes decisions about the priority of one variant over another based upon various factors (eg length, difficulty)

Topical

-examine Bible to discover all texts which address desired topic or closely related subject manner -organize data yielded in search to know what the Bible is teaching directly or indirectly about the topic

Biographical

-examining actions and attitudes of Biblical persons to imitate virtues and avoid failures -collect info about texts -organize data -chart the progress of vice to virtue -apply to life

Theological

-examining doctrines addresses in text -multiple readings of book will reveal theological issues are addresses either repeatedly or thoroughly

Ancient Jewish Interpretation

-examining methods of Biblical Interpretation from 400 BC to 200BC -no individual treasures produces at the time on how to interpret we have to examine work ourselves key players: -philo: alexandian Jewish philosopher -Josepus: Jewish Roman historian -Essenus: secretian communing living around dead sea at Qumran key texts: -OT -Dead sea scrolls: community rules, copies of OT books, apocryphal texts -Mishnah: Jewish commentary of the OT law, a record if OT tradition

Early Medieval Interpretation

-from 500s-1100s -bible was viewed as a guide to explain natural events -words of the bible symbolized God's truth -four lenses to view each text: literal, moral, allegorical, anagogical -anagogical-application to salvation -era moved to theology based on patristic writings -Pope Gregory 1- tropological approach to the bible interpretation the moral sense -venerable bebe- excessive spiritualizing of text -monasteries-spiritually interpreted bible to develop spiritual life -peter abelard- approached bible with suspicion, separated the word of God from within the Bible and focused on literal sense, he wrote Sic of Non which challenged the teachings of the church by stringing together a list of proof texts -Bernard of Clairreaux- mystic, conservative monk, studied the bible to love god more, followed platonic thought and allegorc interpretation

Historical Places

-geography: physical sites of cities and natural landmarks in relation to another -crossing Jordan river: city of Adam was 15 miles from jericho -Women at well: Jesus didnt have to go to Samaria to go to sea of galilee

Narrative and Reader Response Criticism

-how would audience have understood it? -intentional and phrase of author doesnt matter -audience is focus

Allegorical exegesis

-interpreting a text to mean something other than the literal meaning of the text (Pilgrims progress and Animal Farm) -literal meaning of text does not make sense, must seek out hidden meaning of text E.g. Philo sought to interpret the OT in light of Greek philosophy for a Roman palate -when did Philo allegorize? -when the text seemed immature or too simple -when spoke about God in anthropomorphisms -when there were apparent contradictions

Protestant Modernism

-interpretive movement that emerged in reaction to protestant scholasticism -spearheaded by horace Bushnell -Biblical language is poetic and should not be understood literally since it is used to convey spiritual truths, words are symbolic -rendered obsolete any precisely expressed theology definition -precursor to social gospel movement - his method advocated restating religious truths in terms of human experience and jettisoned the practice of rationally defending objective, doctrinal truths found in orthodox formulations

Modern OT Interpretation

-it is clear that Jesus understood the meaning and relevance of the OT (Luke 24:44-47) as well as his apostles (Acts 2:16) but other religious leaders did not at this time (Mark 12:24) -the apostles employed certain hermeneutics and approached that we might mimic to understand the OT. This includes: Typology, prophecy, multiple fulfillment texts, salvation history, the authority of OT

School of Alexandria (Egypt)

-known for allegorical interpretive approach -founded upon a mixture of Platonism (philosophical framework) and stoicism (interpretive framework) -Platonism-> emphasized ideal and immaterial reality -The earth contains more 'shadows' of original 'forms' -One must turn from material to immaterial -stoicism-> emphasized the material -material itself

figurative language

-language in Bible that is not meant to be taken literal -do not interpret text literally when meant to be taken figuratively -metaphors used are determined by author in his own historical setting - similes -metonymy (Luke 16:31)- using one word for reference of whole meaning -hyperbole (John 21:25)- exaggeration -euphemism- understatement to soften blow (1 Thessalonians 4:14) -long figures of speech: -parables- extended simile ie talents -allegory- extended metaphor conveying spiritual truth (Galatians 4:23-26) -riddle- short saying challenges listener to hear and understand -fables- fictitious story using animals or plants to convey a moral lesson (Judges 19:7-9,14-15) -"hard" saying- confrontational statement that are difficult to understand (Mark 8:15)

Literary Criticism

-method that explores genres of the biblical text but approached the books as mere literary places, not divine works -OT is made up of many genres and sub genres within larger genres. But should modern literacy methods be applied to ancient texts? -Most progress has been made in the area of parallelism within Hebrew poetry. Hebrew parallelism is two lines/ couplets of text that function in several ways Pros: text has a meaning on its own which permits its transferablity across cultures and generations Cons: since the text has meaning apart from the historical reference, it neglects the "then/there" meaning and is in danger of being misapplied

Historical Criticism

-method which reconstructs the history of the NT, both historical accounts recorded with NT and historical process of the book being written -former has gaps and the latter can be found in introduction to commentaries

Classical Fundamentalism

-movement arose out of a need to defend Orthodox Christianity against emergence of European biblical criticism, theological liberalism, scientific claims, and other threats of modernity of Christianity -Some attacks included: -Religion came to be viewed on human recordings on the divine, not diversely given instructions -morals are based upon anthropology -questioning of Bible's authority -rise of social gospel which correlated directly with biblical insights to political reform and translated corporate salvation concepts to equitable economic systems -The movement elaborated its hermeneutics through the concept of "dispensationalism" -default mode of interpretation if literal -held to biblical inspiration and inerrancy (even in scientific and historical matters) -Biblical prophesies addressing actual events -Bible explains human history in 7 eras called "dispensations" -relationship between God and mankind differs in each dispensation -rules of interpretation differ based upon whatever dispensation they are in

Pietism

-movement that arose from "doctrinal correct but spiritually dead" Protestant scholasticism era -moved are from doctrinal conformity to renewal of individual believer by emphasizing -spiritual renewal -personal faith -discipleship -persons individual experience of conversion -only converted persons should be teaching theology -practical application of Bible in ones daily life -encouraging Bible Study among layperson -moved reader away from doctrinal clarity to a personal understanding of text

Charismatic Exegsis

-primarily taken from the pesherim texts of Qumran -Pesherim- interpretations of OT texts which move from the current event to the text in order to show what biblical text spoke towards the current event Note: most other interpretive methods do the opposite; they move from text to current event to draw out the relevance of the text for a specific situation -this can lead to abuses of texts like the "end time" predictions (e.g.blood moons, Saddam Husseins invasion of Kuwait) -biblical example -Peters interpretation of what is taking place on day of Pentecost (acts 2:14-17) _Qumran example: commentary on habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:1-3) -quote, commentary, etc.

Traditional Criticism

-probes whether or not the author has used pieces of tradition to create the text

Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428AD)

-promoted consistent and connected interpretation of texts -John leaves at certain key details because he isnt worried about when it happened -interpreted cleansing of temple literally -his disciples remembered that it was written -spiritual exegesis allowed when text warrants it -honor metaphors for what they are and view text metaphotically

Devotional

-reading Bible with heart's posture to hear God speak personally for the purpose of changing behavior -because there is a desire to "hear God speak to me" abuses of this type of reading neglect the grammatical historical meaning To safeguard against abuse, keep principles -The Bible is more than a collection of moral principles -Bible has theological principles that are generic and can be applied to many contexts -the Bible texts must be correlated with other Bible texts to ensure accurate interpretation

Intertextual Exegesis

-recorded interpretation: people in OT who are reading scripture and explaining it to people (Ezra 7:10, Nehemiah 8:7-8) -Joseph understood and interpreted the events of his life in the light of God (genesis 50:19-20) -written interpretation: reworking themes of a text or subtext in a newly written text -intertextual exegesis stems from commands to mediate to meditate on scripture (joshua 1:8) -imbeding fragments, images or echoes of one text within another (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Post Reformation Protestant Interpretation

-saw advancements in science, math, medicine, geography, etc. In addition to advancements in exegesis -(1600s-2000)

6 strategies to interpreting a text

-setting -structure -syntax -semantics -summnation -significance

Protestant Scholasticism

-several events created protestant scholasticism -Lutheran theology worked out the essential doctrine secondary matters of faith not directly correlated to salvation TWO CAMPS: -Melanchthon Camp and Calixtus -emphasized primary doctrinal issues -reason was vital to understanding theology -Jettisoned tradition not found in Bible -focused on core doctrines of scripture

Sentences

-syntax is study or relations within sentences -how does meaning of word change when in different clauses? how does clause relate to other clauses in the sentence? - clauses and words can take on important parts of sentence structure

Historical Topography

-temptation of Jesus knowing rocky terrain of desert gives us more understanding of how Jesus was tempted -Parable of good samaritan- Levi and priest going down from Jerusalem indicates that they just came from church -Flood Jordan river banks- much greater volume of water than one might expect once a knowledge of the original river banks is taken into consideration

Evangelicals high view

-views Bible as authoritative in all -internal- claims to be God's word- carrying intrinsic value -external- affect the Bible had had on person and shaping of history over millennium, carrying extrinsic value -views bible as faithfully and infallibly true in all it affirms and addresses -assumes confessional stance of affirmation, not suspicion -takes divine and human authorial intent seriously -does not impose modern views of precision on ancient methods of recording -affirms apparent contradiction can be harmonized -views Bible as both divine and human book

Words

-words carry meaning which can change with our time -honor meaning of the word in the era used -study of individual words- lexicology -if studying an original language use lexicons -studying words in different translations use bible dictionary approaches to word study -etymological- discovering root meaning of word and drawing out implication of current text -comparative- how were other author using the word at the time -knowledge of original languages is helpful in drawing out meaning -verb tense -verb mood- indicative (reality), subjunctive (theoretical) imperative (likely possible) -verb voice- active. middle (speaker acts on himself), passive (something acts on speaker) Ephesians 6:11

Late Medieval Interpretation

1200-1300s emergence of: -scholars, literalism, scientific inquiry, Aristotelian logic -era centered around literalists (antiochene) and allegorical (alexandrian) Literalists: -Nicholas of lyra: placed specific emphasis on historical context -waldenses- group following peter waldo-educated simple life from gospel -franciscans- monks obeyed literal mandated of NT discipleship Allegorical Interpreters Joachim of Fiore- apocalyptic interpreting numbers as symbols Cathari- dualists sect. promoting allegorical William of Occam- theological truths only ascertained through faith in response of revelation Combined hermeneutics- Thomas Aquinas-combined rationalism with faith, natural truth in scripture can be explained by philosophy while supernatural truth comes only through revelations'still metaphorical interpretation is allowed when text intended Albert Magnus-spiritual text by ascertained only after literal meaning

Renaissance

1400s -rise of humanism -consequently, interest for original languages emerged - humanism generated 4 interpretive developments textual criticism- study of author, recipients, dating, quality of manuscripts -literal in interpretation- understood essential, meaning of text Bible translations-gave rise to individual interpretations other than established dogma from church -original languages-theologies were developed and bibles read from original languages Hebrew 1488, Greek 1516, Latin 1519 -Biblical Interpretation grounded in rhetoric and grammar theology developed from sound exegesis -faith ver reason; plain truths of salvation over convoluted theological conecepts

Reformations

1500s -perfect convergence of several strains of interpretation -Augustine's view of inductive reasoning grounded in faith as well as constructing theology from sound exegesis -Pietism's views of devotional hermeneutics -humanisms critical view of text from original languages -collective ideas of catholic church -scripture focus on christ -bible was for salvation -christian doctrine is found in text -individual interpretation guided by holy spirit -'analogy of faith' -obscure texts are interpreted by clearer texts -exegesis must remain faithful to context of the text -Christological unity and focus on bible -analogy of faith- theological concepts -sola scripture-scripture alone -sola fide-faith alone -sola gratia-grace alone -solus christus-christ alone Key players- -martin luther -john calvin -william tyndale -anabaptists- free church movement and freedom of religious conscience

Second task

Hermeneutics involves questions about the meaning of text today - the aim is to get in front of the text -contemporary relevance of meaning -it cannot mean something for us that stands in contradiction to other teachings in scripture -it cannot mean something it never meant to original readers

The goal of Interpretation

NOT uniqueness- this leads to heresy and is propelled by pride -IS to draw out the plain meaning of the text which is authors intended meaning

Illumination View

Scripture contains "noble insights" of great people of faith -The contents of the Bible are inspirations to the reader, but not written by divinely inspired authors Strengths-appeals to secular world and honors Bible Weaknesses-Bible says that it is inspired word of God

Dynamic View

Scriptures house the "word of God: in the same way a kernel is housed in a husk -while authors are inspired, not necessarily everything they wrote is -God therefore inspired the authors, who then wrote from this reservoir of inspiration and communicated God's message "thought for thought" rather than "word for word" Weakness- portrays Bible as very inconsistent

Dictation View

The authors of Scripture are views as scribes. through when God spoke, recording verbatim what God said Strength-Bible is consistent Weaknesses-this did not actually happen because authors varied in tones, writings, and personalities

Synthetic

gather info about the general context in the entire book of the Bible synthesize the book by: -reading it continuously without reference to divisions -establish theme of book -discover how the theme is developed by author in book -draft an outline of the book based on themes -flesh out the outline with statements in own street language

Analytical

gathering info about the context of a verse or paragraph -dividing the whole into individual parts to examine more precisely -diagram the structure of the sentences or paragraph -transfer the diagram into an outline for exegetical work -reassign wording of outline to align with method of delivery

Hermeneutics

how the original meaning of the text can be understood in a variety of contexts today

Rhetorical Criticism

method analyzes the NT against the backdrop of ancient rhetorical patterns

Inductive Bible Study

moves from particular to the general: trees to a forest -we draw conclusions about meanings and applications of texts

Various views on inerrancy

propositional- every sentence is true proposition including history and science -Pietistic-non critical approach assumes truth -Nuanced- depends on Biblical genre -Critical- truth extends to what author intended it to be there (round numbers, inexact quotes) -functional- inerrant in all matters of faith and practice

Inspiration

the process God used to communicate His message which resulted in written word

Revelation

unveiling that which is hidden, whether through visions, dreams, angels, Jesus, or directly to the authors of scripture -propositional truth-revelation provides accurate information about God -Personal truth- revelation provides opportunities for a relationship with God