Examining the Role of the Reader: A Necessary Task for Catholic Biblical Interpretation

Horizons ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-55
Author(s):  
Gilberto A. Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Japanese American ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Role Of The Reader ◽  
The Church

Thanks to the explosion of methods and hermeneutical frameworks that have surfaced in biblical studies since the 1970s, the discipline looks very different today than when Catholic scholars were first openly permitted to engage it. Among these approaches are those that foreground the complex role the real flesh-and-blood reader plays in interpretation. Recent discussion on what makes biblical interpretation “Catholic” reveals it to be a contested topic. Through an analysis of the Pontifical Biblical Commission'sThe Interpretation of the Bible in the Churchand Frank M. Yamada's article “What Does Manzanar Have to Do with Eden? A Japanese American Interpretation of Genesis 2–3,” the present article enters the discussion over what constitutes Catholic biblical interpretation to argue that it must integrate hermeneutical approaches that foreground real readers within the context of lived realities.

scholarly journals Lessons from the Early Church for Today’s Evangelical Christianity

Kairos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
Ervin Budiselić
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Evangelical Christianity ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Presuming that within Evangelical Christianity there is a crisis of biblical interpretation, this article seeks to address the issue, especially since Evangelicals view the existence of the church as closely connected to the proclamation of the Truth. Starting with a position that Evangelical hermeneutics is not born in a vacuum, but is the result of a historical process, the first part of the article introduces the problem of sola and solo scriptura, pointing out some problematic issues that need to be addressed. In the second part, the article discusses patristic hermeneutics, especially: a) the relationship between Scripture and tradition embodied in regula fidei and; b) theological presuppositions which gave birth to allegorical and literal interpretations of Scripture in Alexandria and Antioch. In the last part of the article, based on lessons from the patristic era, certain revisions of the Evangelical practice of the interpretation of Scripture are suggested. Particularly, Evangelicals may continue to hold the Bible as the single infallible source for Christian doctrine, continue to develop the historical-grammatical method particularly in respect to the issue of the analogy of faith in exegetical process, but also must recognize that the Bible cannot in toto play the role of the rule of faith or the analogy of faith. Something else must also come into play, and that “something” would definitely be the recovery of the patristic period “as a kind of doctrinal canon.”

The Bible as a Document of the Church: A Personal View

2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (6) ◽  
pp. 276-285
Author(s):  
George G. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The Church

Following some general remarks on recent significant trends in biblical studies, I note that these will exacerbate the gulf between church and academy with respect to biblical interpretation. A brief introduction to the official documents of the Church of Scotland shows that they provide little indication of how the Bible should be interpreted as a document of the church. In view of the ideological nature of many of the biblical texts an argument against too ready recourse to theological interpretation is outlined.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Church History ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God's Word ◽  
Sacred Scripture ◽  
The Church

The Bible was the lifeblood of virtually every aspect of the life of the early churches. The essays in this Handbook explore a wide array of themes related to the reception, canonization, interpretation, uses, and legacies of the Bible in early Christianity. A first group of studies examines the material text transmitted, translated, and invested with authority, and the very conceptualization of sacred Scripture as God’s word for the Church. A second group looks at the culture and disciplines or science of interpretation in representative exegetical traditions. A third group of essays addresses the remarkably diverse literary and non-literary modes of interpretation, while a fourth group canvasses the communal background and foreground of early Christian interpretation, where the Bible was paramount in shaping normative Christian identity. A fifth group assesses the determinative role of the Bible in major developments and theological controversies in the life of the churches. A sixth group returns to interpretation proper and samples how certain abiding motifs from within scriptural revelation were treated by major Christian expositors. A seventh and final group of studies follows up by examining how early Christian exegesis was retrieved and critically evaluated in later periods of church history. Along the way, readers will be oriented to the major resources for, and issues in, the critical study of early Christian biblical interpretation.

scholarly journals " 'n Oop en vry teologiese debat met werklike diepgang"

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

"An in-depth open theological discussion". This article reflects a conversation between Andries G van Aarde and Gert Pelser. G M M Pelser was professor of New Testament at the University of Pretoria from 1972 to 2001. The following issues were discussed: the influence of the Reformation and Aufldirung on Biblical interpretation; methodology of exegesis; the role of extra-canonical writings; a canon in the canon; the use of the Bible at the university and in the church; Bible translation; the interrelationship between theology and culture; a critical evaluation of the ''peoples' church" ("volkskerk"); "the church as corpus permixtum; ministry rather than office; confessionalism; Pauline themes; the theological heritage of Rudolf Bultmann.

Postcolonial Liberation: Decolonizing Biblical Studies in the South African Postcolony

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O. West
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
The South ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
African Black ◽  
History Of ◽  
Land Economics ◽  
The 1960S

Liberation biblical interpretation and postcolonial biblical interpretation have a long history of mutual constitution. This essay analyzes a particular context in which these discourses and their praxis have forged a third conversation partner: decolonial biblical interpretation. African and specifically South African biblical hermeneutics are the focus of reflections in this essay. The South African postcolony is a “special type” of postcolony, as the South African Communist Party argued in the 1960s. The essay charts the characteristics of the South African postcolony and locates decolonial biblical interpretation within the intersections of these features. Race, culture, land, economics, and the Bible are forged in new ways by contemporary social movements, such as #FeesMustFall. South African biblical studies continues to draw deeply on the legacy of South African black theology, thus reimagining African biblical studies as decolonial African biblical studies—a hybrid of African liberation and African postcolonial biblical interpretation.

MARKETING THE TESTAMENTS: CANONGATE AND THEIR POCKET-SIZED BIBLES

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-244
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
The West ◽  
Positive Potential ◽  
Publishing Firm ◽  
Investment Promotion ◽  
The Bible ◽  
King James Version ◽  
As If

AbstractRecently the Edinburgh-based publishing firm Canongate has brought out the Bible in the form of single books in the King James Version. Each of these volumes is introduced by a writer not necessarily associated with the Christian tradition, thus inviting the readers to approach them as literary works in their own right. For long the Bible came with commentaries written by prominent religious scholars, but now it looks as if it needed an introduction by novelists, pop artists, scientists including and even by some who are outside the Christian tradition to make the once familiar texts now widely neglected in the West come alive again. The purpose of this essay is to look at the following: the positive potential of this Pocket Canon; the role of the interpreter's personal voice within the process of discovering meaning in a narrative; the marketing of the Bible and appropriation of religious themes by secular marketeers; the re-iconization of the Bible though the King James Version; the colonial parallels in the investment, promotion and dissemination of the Bible; and the challenge of personal-voice criticism to biblical studies. Put at its simplest, can this disparate group of essayists rescue the Bible, which is fast losing its grip and importance in the West, and discover fresh significance in it?

The Role of Women

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Bramadat
Keyword(s):  
Senior Pastors ◽  
Christian Reformed ◽  
Level Of Involvement ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Evangelical Women ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Church

Whenever I describe the IVCF to non-Christian academic peers, they almost invariably express their astonishment at the fact that at virtually every IVCF event I attend, approximately 70% of the participants are women. Perhaps this level of involvement is not unusual in the world of contemporary Protestantism; after all, in many of the churches IVCF members attend every Sunday, women outnumber men. However, the proportion of women to men is not as high in evangelical churches as it is in the IVCF (Bibby 1987:102; Rawlyk 1996:143). As well, women’s roles are usually much more tightly controlled in many if not most evangelical churches than they are in the IVCF. In fact, IVCF participants who attend churches in the Fellowship Baptist, Christian Reformed, and Brethren traditions may never see a woman in the pulpit, or, if women are allowed to speak at the front of the church, they are not usually permitted to become senior pastors or interpret the Bible. At the IVCF functions I have attended, however, women are in no way restricted in their abilities to lead worship, deliver sermons, organize events, or perform any of the myriad tasks involved in maintaining the group. In fact, the chapter’s paid staff worker is a woman, and she tries to ensure that the position of president alternates between a male and a female student every other year. I began to wonder how to make sense of the high level of female participation at every McMaster IVCF event I attended, especially in light of the fact that the scholarly literature on evangelicalism in North America often depicts the tradition as inimical or opposed to the egalitarian or feminist values that are so prevalent at universities. During my research, I found that many, but not all, of the evangelical women I interviewed maintain nonegalitarian views on the role of women. In other words, the common academic depiction of the place of women in evangelicalism seems to be confirmed by my experience, even though I hope to nuance this portrayal somewhat.

scholarly journals A remarkable story! M.C. Vos (1759–1825) in the light of his times

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno A. Zuiddam
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Small Extent ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Cultural Setting ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Mission Work ◽  
Motivating Factor ◽  
The Mind

This article established the role of the Rev. M.C. Vos (1759–1825) as an internationally oriented Pietistic minister who encouraged mission work amongst the slaves and non-Europeans in the Cape Colony. It clears up several misunderstandings about Vos’s genealogy and argues that there is no genealogical warrant to treat Vos as something else than a White, European minister and writer. His cultural setting and ancestry was that of a colonial Dutchman, although it may have been Euro-Asian to some small extent. If so, this could have predisposed him naturally to look kindly on the lot of  Bengal and Malayan slaves. The real motivating factor for Vos’s missionary endeavours was not racial, but spiritual. The promotion of the Gospel and knowledge of the Scriptures was foremost in the mind of this Dutch Reformed minister. This article argues that the Bible and divine guidance had a remarkable influence on the life and actions of M.C. Vos, to the extent that even his autobiography is marked by Biblical language. Vos is placed within the historical perspective of his times, which assists a balanced interpretation of this remarkable person and his convictions.’n Merkwaardige verhaal! Die lewe en historiese omstandighede van M.C.Vos (1759–1825). Hierdie artikel het die historiese rol van Ds. M.C. Vos (1759–1825) vasgestel as ’n internasionale Piëtistiese wat sending bedryf het onder die slawe en nie-Europeërs aan die Kaap. Dit helder misverstande op wat ontstaan het oor die genealogie van Vos en stel dat daar geen genealogiese rede is om Vos te beskou as ’n predikant en skrywer van nie-Europese afkoms nie. Sy kultuur en voorgeslag was dié van ’n Nederlandse kolonis, hoewel daar enige Euro-Asiatiese elemente in sy genealogie mag wees. Indien dit die geval is, dan het dit bygedra tot sy natuurlike simpatie vir die lot van die Bengaalse en Maleise slawe. Hierdie artikel toon egter aan dat die motivering vir die sendingarbeid van Vos nie op rassistiese gronde berus het nie, maar op die Woord van God. Die verkondiging van die Evangelie en die bevordering van die kennis van die Skrif was die beweegrede van die Nederduits Gereformeerde predikant. Hierdie artikel toon aan dat die Bybel en buitengewone Goddelike leiding ’n merkwaardige invloed uitgeoefen het op die lewe en dade van M.C. Vos, selfs sodanig dat sy lewensbeskrywing deurspek is met Bybelse taalgebruik. Vos word in historiese perspektief geplaas om sy merkwaardige persoon te verstaan in die lig van sy tyd en oortuigings.

Rediscovering the Formative Power of Scripture Reading for the Church

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
Mark A. Maddix
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Modern Approach ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Bible Reading ◽  
The Church

Central to Christianity is the belief is that the Bible is inspired and authoritative for Christian faith and practice. Even though Christians affirm the authority of the Bible, there is a decline in Bible reading and Scripture usage in worship and discipleship. More recent biblical scholarship, built on a pre-modern approach to interpretation, moves to a reader-centered approach to biblical reading. The focus of this article is to explore a reader-centered approach to Bible reading that gives focus to the role of Scripture as means of formation. This rediscovery of the formative power of Scripture has implications for how the Bible is appropriated in worship and discipleship for the church.

Interpreting the Bible Amidst Ecological Degradation

Theology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 112 (867) ◽  
pp. 199-207
Author(s):  
Ernst M. Conradie
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Ecological Degradation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
Contemporary Context

This essay explores the role of interpretative strategies in biblical interpretation. It is argued that ‘doctrinal constructs’ play a crucial role in appropriating the significance of biblical texts in and for a particular contemporary context. Various such constructs typically employed for an ecological biblical hermeneutics are analysed. Suggestions are offered towards the use of more sophisticated constructs, with reference to the notions of the ‘liberation of creation’, the ‘wisdom of God’ and the ‘whole household of God’.

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