Hermeneutics - What Does This Academic Word Mean, and How Does it Relate to Study of the Bible?
Hermeneutics projects a system of interpretation that is not limited to the simple orthodox precepts of relying on the gifts of the Holy Ghost and using Scripture to interpret Scripture.
Sometimes scholarship objects to hermeneutics being picked on by fundamentalism, by complaining: "It's only a word that means interpretation.
" But this objection is an insincere and light hearted effort designed to disarm unwitting Bible students into putting their ability to study and to understand in the control of those who wish to manipulate them with interpretive systems that are unbiblical or at the least, extra-biblical.
While interpretation may be the simple, literal meaning of the word, it does not describe the hermeneutics of the world of religious scholarship.
A much more complicated and exclusive system is being projected that includes, among other things, proper formal training, some systematic theological scheme that is described in academic terms and cannot be explained as simply what the Bible says to any given reader, interpretation in the light of modern times, a system of apologetics, and so on.
Hermeneutics takes interpretation that is meaningful and is to be regarded seriously, out of the hands of the layman and puts it into the exclusive domain of the professional.
One online dictionary gives the following revealing definitions of Hermeneutics: 1.
science of interpreting texts: the science and methodology of interpreting texts, especially the books of the Bible the branch of theology that is concerned with explaining or interpreting religious concepts, theories, and principles 2.
theology of religious concepts: Wikipedia gives this definition: "Biblical Hermeneutics is sometimes divided into two sub-categories - general and special hermeneutics.
General hermeneutics is the study of those rules that govern interpretation of the entire biblical text, including grammatical, historical-cultural, contextual, lexical-syntactical, and theological aspects.
Special hermeneutics is the study of rules that apply to specific genres, such as parables, allegories, types, and prophecy.
Biblical hermeneutics is often defined as both a science and an art.
It is considered a science with regard to its prescribed set of rules, and an art because meaning is not found in a mechanical and rigid application of rules.
" Answers.
com gives this meaning of Hermeneutics: "Hermeneutics is the art and science of biblical interpretation.
It is art because it calls for nuance and craft; science because it demands technique and skill.
There are accepted academic rules to follow that protect students from falling into the subjective trap of saying, "It seems to me..
..
" The Bible was written within a contextual and social tradition.
It is easy to buttress one's present-day prejudices with verses that, taken from their textual and historical context, really do not pertain to situations their authors could never have conceived.
A consistent position guards against that very common problem.
" From these scholarly definitions it is clear to see that in the modern world of religious scholarship, hermeneutics is not a spiritual but an academic word that partakes generously of philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, and geology.
Hermeneutics is, always has been, and always will be anathema to Historic, Orthodox Christianity.
Sometimes scholarship objects to hermeneutics being picked on by fundamentalism, by complaining: "It's only a word that means interpretation.
" But this objection is an insincere and light hearted effort designed to disarm unwitting Bible students into putting their ability to study and to understand in the control of those who wish to manipulate them with interpretive systems that are unbiblical or at the least, extra-biblical.
While interpretation may be the simple, literal meaning of the word, it does not describe the hermeneutics of the world of religious scholarship.
A much more complicated and exclusive system is being projected that includes, among other things, proper formal training, some systematic theological scheme that is described in academic terms and cannot be explained as simply what the Bible says to any given reader, interpretation in the light of modern times, a system of apologetics, and so on.
Hermeneutics takes interpretation that is meaningful and is to be regarded seriously, out of the hands of the layman and puts it into the exclusive domain of the professional.
One online dictionary gives the following revealing definitions of Hermeneutics: 1.
science of interpreting texts: the science and methodology of interpreting texts, especially the books of the Bible the branch of theology that is concerned with explaining or interpreting religious concepts, theories, and principles 2.
theology of religious concepts: Wikipedia gives this definition: "Biblical Hermeneutics is sometimes divided into two sub-categories - general and special hermeneutics.
General hermeneutics is the study of those rules that govern interpretation of the entire biblical text, including grammatical, historical-cultural, contextual, lexical-syntactical, and theological aspects.
Special hermeneutics is the study of rules that apply to specific genres, such as parables, allegories, types, and prophecy.
Biblical hermeneutics is often defined as both a science and an art.
It is considered a science with regard to its prescribed set of rules, and an art because meaning is not found in a mechanical and rigid application of rules.
" Answers.
com gives this meaning of Hermeneutics: "Hermeneutics is the art and science of biblical interpretation.
It is art because it calls for nuance and craft; science because it demands technique and skill.
There are accepted academic rules to follow that protect students from falling into the subjective trap of saying, "It seems to me..
..
" The Bible was written within a contextual and social tradition.
It is easy to buttress one's present-day prejudices with verses that, taken from their textual and historical context, really do not pertain to situations their authors could never have conceived.
A consistent position guards against that very common problem.
" From these scholarly definitions it is clear to see that in the modern world of religious scholarship, hermeneutics is not a spiritual but an academic word that partakes generously of philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, and geology.
Hermeneutics is, always has been, and always will be anathema to Historic, Orthodox Christianity.