scholarly journals African biblical hermeneutics and the Book of Ruth: Some observations

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gezina G. De Villiers
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
The Bible ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Western European

This article investigates interpretations of the Book of Ruth from the point of view of some African scholars. Firstly, an attempt is made to understand what is meant by African biblical hermeneutics (ABH). An overview of the emergence of ABH is given, and the question why reading the Bible from an African perspective was necessary, is addressed. It appears that African biblical scholars and an African Christian community could not relate to Western European interpretations of the Bible that reflect western experiences and concerns that were vastly different from their own postcolonial experiences and concerns since the latter part of the 20th century.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The engagement between Western and ABH is discussed, and ABH as a necessary and viable means of biblical interpretation is recognised, but a point of critique is also raised at the end of this section. Thereafter an overview of ABH as appropriated to the Book of Ruth is given, and finally, some evaluative conclusions are drawn.

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.

After Beryl Smalley: Thirty Years of Medieval Exegesis, 1984–2013

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Ocker ◽  
Kevin Madigan
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Fair Representation

AbstractThis essay surveys a generation of scholarship since the death of Beryl Smalley, pioneer in the study of the medieval reception of the bible, in 1984. We try to give a fair representation of work produced in English, French, German, and Italian over the last thirty years. We report on: 1) editions, tools, and translations, 2) surveys and synthetic treatments, 3) work on medieval biblical hermeneutics, 4) studies of periods and individuals, 5) thematic studies and studies of biblical books and pericopes across broad periods, and 6) comparative work on Muslim, Jewish, and Christian exegesis. We describe a rapidly growing quantity of knowledge and expanding perspectives on biblical interpretation in medieval culture. We conclude with suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals Interpreting the Bible in the 'new' South Africa: Remarks on some problems and challenges

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Human
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
New South ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
South African Society ◽  
The Bible ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
Interpretation Process

Interpreting the Bible in the 'new' South Africa DJ Human Department of Biblical Studies (Sec B) University of Pretoria The Bible plays an important role in South African society. The interpretation of this book within or outside the Christian community has become an increaslingly major source of debate. It has been used and misused in several spheres of society. This article does not intend providing an extensive and composite picture of the problems and character of biblical hermeneutics. Nor will it attempt to elaborate on or explain the origins, development and influences of all the different her-meneutical approaches. Rather, it poses to be an introduction to a few of the problem(s) encountered in the attempt to understand the Bible, especially in terms of the 'new' South Africa. Within the framework of this scope, remarks will be made regarding the challenges involved in interpreting the Bible, the role of the interpreter in the interpretation process, the varied forms of literature to be found in Scripture, and in the last instance, to take cognisance of a few methodological approaches to the text analysis of the Bible.

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’.

scholarly journals CROSSING BOUNDARIES. THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF INTERCULTURAL BIBLE READING IN SECULAR / POST-SECULAR CONTEXTS

Scriptura ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Louis Jonker
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
Bible Reading

Intercultural biblical hermeneutics is a fairly recent development in biblical scholarship in general. It emphasises that biblical interpretation almost always takes place in contexts where an array of cultural values and beliefs determine the outcome of the interpretative process. Although this branch of biblical hermeneutics emerged from the need to reflect theoretically on how Christians from different socio-cultural and socio-economic contexts engage the biblical texts, and one another on account of those texts, this approach may also be widened to include the interpretation of the Bible in non-Christian contexts (including the contexts of other religions and secular contexts) or even to engage in discourse on the interpretation of authoritative texts of different traditions (such as the Qur’an in Islam, in addition to the Tenakh of Judaism, and the Old and New Testament of Christianity). In research on intercultural biblical hermeneutics, it has been noticed that intercultural interpretation holds enormous transformative potential. My paper will examine how this could be of use in engagements between religious, secular and post-secular contexts.

scholarly journals Hermeneutics of Re-enacting Biblical Text(s) and Concept(s) in the History of Prophetism in Ghana’s Christianity: A Case Study of the Ministry of Agabus and Prophet Bernard Opoku Nsiah

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65
Author(s):  
Daniel Nii Aboagye Aryeh
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Sitz Im Leben ◽  
History Of ◽  
Book Of Acts ◽  
Original Audience

Biblical hermeneutics is significant in delineating the meaning of scripture text(s) for contemporary audience. The critical historical method as well as its derivative criticisms is the widely used approach to understand what the text meant for the “original” audience in its sitz im leben. It is socio-historical in nature and curbs religious fundamentalism. However, its concentration on history does not make it suitable for prophetic ministries in Ghana. The approach to scripture interpretation by prophetic ministries since 1914 has been re-enactment of favourite scripture text(s) to have instructions for life in the present situation and the future. They believe that being biblical is the patterning of life style or activities along some popular characters in the Bible. Prophet Bernard Opoku Nsiah claims that his prophetic ministry is patterned or is a replica of the prophetic ministry of Agabus in the book of Acts. This essay examines biblical interpretation in the history of prophetism in Ghana’s Christianity, and how scripture text(s) were used as hermeneutics of re-enactment.

scholarly journals Hermeneutika Alkitab Dalam Sejarah: Prinsip Penafsiran Alkitab Dari Masa ke Masa

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohanes Verdianto
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human History ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Reform Era ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
The Bible

The practice of hermeneutics has become an inseparable part of human history. Hermeneutics as human activity arises from the need to interpret thoughts or texts written by others. A historical search reveals that there have been some changes in the principles of biblical hermeneutics. This paper aims to find out what are the principles of hermeneutics that developed from the early church up to the postmodern era. This paper is a historical approach using documentary research method. The results of this study state that there are at least three principles of biblical interpretation from the early church to postmodern times. First, the literal hermeneutics of the Bible was agreed upon by all early church Fathers, although contextual, grammatical, and historical interpretation of the Bible was emphasized by two church Fathers, namely Theodore and Chrysostom. This literal hermeneutics was used until the reform era. Second, modern hermeneutics refers to reason rather than the literal principle. This is the emerge of hermeneutics of relativism which bases truth on the senses and reasons. This principle agrees the application of rationalism to the Bible which leads to historical-critical. Third, contemporary (postmodern) hermeneutics is more towards a process of understanding that is temporary. This means that understanding has no clear boundaries, and that interpreters cannot reach a fully certain understanding. Thus, contemporary biblical hermeneutics is full of subjectivism, relativism, pluralism and is temporary.

scholarly journals A critical analysis of Gretha Wiid�s sex ideology and her biblical hermeneutics

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilly Nortj�-Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Broadcast Media ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Family ◽  
Sex And Sexuality ◽  
Sexual Decisions ◽  
Popular Magazines

Gretha Wiid and Angus Buchan have established themselves as the moral gurus of the Afrikaner Christian community with their �Worthy Women� and �Mighty Men� mass conferences. Wiid is also often invited by the broadcast media to participate in TV and radio talks to discuss her views on relationships and sex � she is even invited by popular Afrikaans singers to share the stage with them. Recently, Gretha Wiid was again on the front pages of popular magazines to promote her and her husband�s views on sex and sexuality based �on the Bible�. She suggests that women hand over their sexuality, their bodies and their sexual decisions completely into the hands of men. Her view is that the husband is the king, prophet and priest in the family and should be honoured accordingly. The aim of this article was to use Wiid�s public appearances and publications as a case study to analyse her statements, hermeneutic principles and procedures and to demonstrate how her interpretation of sex and sexuality is infused by heteropatriarchal biblical discourse. The purpose of the article was to unveil the hermeneutic principles �ordinary� Christians such as Wiid apply in interpreting biblical texts and how these are culturally inscribed on women�s and children�s bodies.

The Bible

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald West
Keyword(s):  
Primary Source ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Imperial Expansion ◽  
Close Study

From the time of the Reformation, the Bible has always been among the primary sources for Anglicanism. Through a close study of biblical hermeneutics, this chapter reflects on how ‘scripture’ has been located among the other primary sources, tradition, and reason, at various stages and in different places within Anglican history. The chapter then goes on to argue that context ought to be considered a fourth primary source for Anglicanism. Drawing on postcolonial Anglican biblical interpretation and the experience of various stages of imperial expansion, particularly from a Southern African Anglican context, the chapter analyses how context reconfigures the other three primary sources.

VIEWING THE BIBLE THROUGH THE EYES AND EARS OF SUBALTERNS IN INDIA

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sathianathan Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Complex Pattern ◽  
Material Objects ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Postcolonial Discourse

AbstractThis paper sets out to do four things. First, it situates the concept of Subalterns in the Indian context. Caste plays an important part in its definition. Subalterns are the outcaste (Dalits) and non-caste (Adivasis) communities in the process of contracting a labouring people's solidarity. Second, it submits a methodological argument. In dialogue with postcolonial discourse on biblical interpretation, it makes the case that subalternity is characterized by the primary interplay of domestic, local and particular mechanisms of power. Thus, this location must be the starting point for interrogating the Bible from the Subalterns' viewpoint. Third, it examines the complex pattern of changes that the Bible brought about for Subalterns. Three aspects are accentuated while discussing the Bible in relation to Subalterns in India: the Bible entered into a Subaltern world that already had a long history of iconizing material objects of sacred power; the Bible was an important instrument for expounding and expanding colonial mission activity; the Bible functioned as an alternate canon within the worldview of Hinduism, which kept its sacred book (Vedas) beyond the reach of Dalits and Adivasis. Finally, it extrapolates three aspects of Subaltern biblical hermeneutics in India. There is an attribute of generosity employed in retrieving universal axioms from the Bible, which is not devoid of imaginative contextual amplification in its application to human life. Moreover, Subalterns' interpretation of the Bible is directed by the goal of transformation rather than understanding. Furthermore, the summons of Subalterns' hermeneutics is not only to take up the challenge of working within the multiscriptural context but also to take seriously the ramifications of doing hermeneutics in the multimodal and multimedia context of the Dalits and the Adivasis of India.

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