GB 216

Issues in Biblical Interpretation

GB 216

Ozark Christian College Chad A. Ragsdale

Notebook Version 3

Table of Contents
Issues for Debate Introductory Issues The History of Biblical Interpretation (chart) Jewish/Rabbinic Interpretation The Rules of Hillel vs. Philo Apostolic Interpretation Patristic Interpretation Medieval Interpretation The Allegory of 153 Fish, John 21:11 Allegory and Typology Reformation Interpretation Modern Interpretation Postmodern Interpretation Liberationist Interpretation Take the Power Back Excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr. Excerpts from Bono Feminist Interpretation Excerpts from Anne Carter Shelley Homosexual Hermeneutics A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic Hermeneutics and the Emerging Church Restoration Interpretation The Bible-Principles of Interpretation (Campbell) A Brief Example of Overly-Literalistic Hermeneutics Pentecostal Interpretation Baptism in the Holy Spirit What is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Interpretation?... How the Holy Spirit Helps in Interpretation Roman Catholic Interpretation Hermeneutics in Everyday Life Meaning and Authority in Interpretation (chart) Psychology of Interpretation Meaning and Significance Millennial Issues Critical Questions of Revelation 20:4-6 (Lowery) Millennial Views (chart) Millennial Views: Strengths/Weaknesses (chart) Primary Contemporary Issues in Hermeneutics Study Guide for Test 1 Study Guide for Test 2 Study Guide for Test 3 Study Guide for Final Exam 3 4 7 9 11 12 14 17 20 21 22 26 32 36 37 38 40 42 44 45 47 48 51 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 61 62 63 64 70 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83

ISSUES FOR DEBATE Issues in Interpretation; Chad Ragsdale

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Women should/should not be the preaching minister in a local congregation. Christians should/should not be involved in warfare at any level. Christians should/should not be anticipating the rapture. The speaking in tongues should/should not be permitted in worship services. Immersion should/should not be a requirement for membership in a local congregation. Christians are/are not eternally secure in the grace of Jesus Christ. Christians should/should not be advocates for amnesty for illegal immigrants. Marijuana should/should not be legal and acceptable for Christians. Churches should/should not support civil unions between homosexuals. Instruments should/should not be used in Christian worship. Divorced people should/should not remarry. Environmental concerns should/should not be a major part of the Churchs mission. Stem cell research should/should not be accepted because of the long-term benefits to life. Christians should/should not collaborate with other, non-Christian faith groups to accomplish social initiatives. Jesus will/will not reign upon the earth for one thousand years when he returns. Christians may/may not (pick one) smoke, drink, gamble, attend R rated movies. Those who have never accepted Christ in this life will/will not be annihilated after their death. Christians should/should not support government mandated universal health coverage. Christians should/should not vote. Christians should/should not eat meat. Churches should/should not build expensive buildings to meet in. Pets will/will not be in the afterlife.

Introductory Issues
Once you can make scripture stand on its hind legs and dance a jig, it becomes a tame pet rather than a roaring lion. It is no longer authoritative in any strict sense; that is, it may be cited as though in proof of some point or other, but it is not leading the way, energizing the church with the fresh breath of God himself. The question must always be asked, whether scripture is being used to serve an existing theology or vice versa. (N.T. Wright, The Last Word, 70) Exegesis does not mean mastering the text, it means submitting to it as it is given to us. Exegesis doesnt take charge of the text and impose superior knowledge on it; it enters the world of the text and lets the text read us. Exegesis is an act of sustained humility: There is so much about this text that I dont know, that I will never know. Christians keep returning to it, with all the help we can get from grammarians and archaeologists and historians and theologians, letting ourselves be formed by it. (Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book, page 57)

Hermeneutics Defined:

Sound Biblical Hermeneutics: - Sound hermeneutics requires that we read a text with our

Sound hermeneutics must begin with an attitude of Exegesis Eisegesis

Sound hermeneutics calls us to ask three questions of the text Third Person Question: First Person Question: Second Person Question:

Sound hermeneutics employs the Definition:

Sound hermeneutics engages the three hermeneutical worlds.

Focusing on the world of the reader...We will observe this semester that our particular approach to scripture is determined by several factors: 1. ____________________________. A set of presuppositions (assumptions which
may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic make-up of our world. (James Sire, The Universe Next Door, 2nd ed., p. 17)

a. There are three basic worldviews b. Worldview presuppositions affect the way that we understand God, creation, humanity, knowledge (epistemology), ethics, death, history and aesthetics. c. What does this have to do with hermeneutics? i. Some contemporary secular presuppositions 1. Ideological Presupposition: 2. Methodological Presupposition: 3. Attitudinal Presupposition: ii. My Worldview Presuppositions and Hermeneutics:

2. ____________________________. 3. ____________________________. 4. ____________________________.

Why do we need a solid biblical hermeneutic? 1. The biblical imperative which will require our _________________2 Timothy 4:1-5; Matthew 28:18-20; Titus 2:1; 1 Timothy 4:16; Colossians 2:6-8, 3:16; James 1:21-25

2. Some troubling red flags in the Church which will require our _________________

3. Some difficult tensions in biblical hermeneutics which will require our ________________________. (From Klein, 3) The Bible is divine yet, it has come to us in human form. The message of scripture is timeless, yet it is bound by a certain historical period of time. The divine message must be clear, yet many passages seem ambiguous. We are dependant on the Spirit for instruction, yet scholarship is surely necessary. The Scriptures seem to presuppose a literal and historical reading, yet we are also confronted by the figurative and non-historical. Proper interpretation requires the interpreters personal freedom, yet some degree of external, corporate authority appears imperative. The objectivity of the biblical message is essential, yet our presuppositions seem to inject a degree of subjectivity into the interpretive process.

Issues Notebook

The History of Biblical Interpretation

(Adapted from Mark Moore)

PERIOD Rabbinic

CHARACTERISTICS Hyper-literal Pesher Authority: Text and Tradition

DEVELOPMENTS Oral traditions Talmud/Midrash Hillels Rules Pesher

PRIMARY CONCERNS Tradition and authority Practical application Hermeneutical integrity Christocentric

POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS Dead Sea Scrolls Masoretic text Faith in inspiration and interpretation

DEFICIENCIES Traditions over text Mysticism through numerology Lack of exegesis Confusion between typology and predictive prophecy Overemphasis on allegory Overemphasis on authoritative herm. Heretical ideas and division The Bible is taken away from the people Precepts of men replace Gods word No objective standard for interpretation

CONTRIBUTORS Hillel Philo Essenes

Apostolic (1st Century)

Typological OT Fulfillment Jewish Authority: Christ

Typology NT literature

Emphasized that Jesus was the key Canonical books

NT authors

Patristic (95-590)

Allegorical Literal Traditional Authority: Spirit (Alex.), Text (Ant.), or Tradition

Canon Allegory (Alexandria) Hist/Gramm (Antioch) Authoritative Interp. Vulgate Catena Gloss Apostolic succession Mysticism Fourfold Allegory The marriage of philosophy and theology

Education and exhortation of Christians Apologetic confrontation of heretics

N.T. canon Doctrinal clarification Historical/grammatical method Confrontation of the intellectual movements of the day Interpretive commitment to Christs body Lectio Divina Chapter/verse divisions Preservation of ancient commentary

Clement of Rome Justin Martyr Irenaeus Origen Theodore of Mopsuestia Jerome Augustine Bede Gregory the Great John Cassian Abelard Thomas Aquinas

Medieval (590-1500)

Authoritative Allegorical Authority: Church

Collection and tradition Unity and organization of a diverse Church

Issues Notebook
Reformation (16th Century) Hist./Gramm. Confessional Authority: Text or Theological System Sola Scriptura Vernacular translations The Bible is the authority The Bible for the common man The place of experience and the Holy Spirit in exegesis Human reason, science, and archaeology are given primacy Developmentalism applied to religion Search for the historical Jesus Pluralism and dialogue Meeting the needs of the oppressed Unmasking texts Users and Undoers Bible given back to the people Exegesis was more practical and spiritual Catholic exegesis challenged Divisions Systematic and speculative theology without exegesis Erasmus Tyndale Luther Calvin

Modern (17-Mid 20th Century)

Historical Critical Rationalistic Existential Literary Authority: Human Reason or Experience

Textual criticism Historical research Source, Form, and Redaction criticism History of Religions Structuralism Canon Criticism Reader response Advocacy interpretation Deconstructionism Pragmatism Herm. of suspicion

Many historical and linguistic resources Other disciplines combined with Bible study Common sense and scientific exegesis

Denial of miracles Trust in intellect over revelation Liberal presuppositions

Baur Wellhausen Schleirmacher Heidegger Dodd Sweitzer Bultmann Barth Jesus Seminar Derrida Rorty Fish Faucault Grenz

Postmodern (Contemporary)

Reader centered Sociological Authority: Individual reader (or interpretive community)

Emphasis on contemporary and practical application Openness to mystery and irrational Seeing scripture from various perspectives

Loss of the author Subjective and relativistic interpretations Prison house of language

Issues Notebook

Period 1 Jewish/Rabbinic Interpretation

By the first century there were three somewhat distinct approaches that were being taken to scripture: 1. Rabbinic Judaism a. Centered in _____________________. This approach promoted obedience to the Hebrew Scriptures, especially the Torah, in the face of mounting pressure to accommodate to Greco-Roman culture. (Klein, 23) b. Two main literary works i. _______________ (Palestinian [400] and Babylonian [600 2947 pages] composed of the: 1. Mishnah 2. Gemara ii. ________________ Essentially like commentaries on biblical books. The content of these writings: 1. Halakah 2. Haggadah c. Hermeneutical Characteristics: i. ii. iii.
There are four traits among those who sit before the sages: a sponge, a funnel, a strainer, and a sifter. A spongebecause he sponges everything up; a funnelbecause he takes in on one side and lets out on the other; a strainerfor he lets out the wine and keeps in the lees; and a sifterfor he lets out the flour and keeps in the finest flour. (Abot 5:15) R. Aqiba says, Laughter and lightheadedness turn lewdness into a habit. Tradition is a fence for the Torah. Tithes are a fence for wealth. Vows are a fence for abstinence. A fence for wisdom is silence. (Abot, 3:13) If either of them was maimed in the hand, or lame or dumb or blind or deaf, he cannot be condemned as a stubborn and rebellious son, for it is written, The shall his faith and his mother lay hold on him so they were not maimed in the hand; and bring him out so they were not lame; and they shall say so they were not dumb; this is our son so they were not blind; he will not obey our voice so they were not deaf. (Sanhedrin 8.4 in William Klein, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 24)

10

2.

Issues Notebook Hellenistic Judaism a. Centered in ___________________. Heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, language, and culture. b. Hermeneutical Characteristics:

To take literally the words God planted a Paradise in Eden is impiety; let not such fabulous nonsense even enter our minds. The meaning is that God implants terrestrial virtue in the human race. The tree of life is that most general virtue which some people call goodness. Its four heads are the cardinal virtues. Pheison is derived from pheidomai I spare, and means prudence, and being an illustrious virtue it is said to compass the whole land of Evilat where there is gold. The name Gihon means chest or an animal which attacks with its horns, and therefore stands for courage, and it compasses Ethiopia or humiliation; in other words, it makes hostile demonstrations against cowardice. Tigris is temperance; the name is connected with a tiger because it resolutely opposes desire. Euphrates means fertility and stands for justice. (Frederic W. Farrar, History of Interpretation, Bampton Lectures 1884, 143-144)

3.

The Qumran Community a. Centered around the ___________________. b. Hermeneutical Characteristics: i. ii. iii.
RABBINIC HELLENISTIC Alexandria, Egypt Allegorical & Mystical, Attempted to combine Platonic Philosophy with Biblical interpretation LXX = Septuagint Philo Allegory (Corley pp. 2830): Subjective, arbitrary & artificial QUMRAN N.W. Dead Sea Monastic, Messianic, and eschatological: Pesher-manipulating or applying texts to contemporary situations Dead Sea Scrolls Essenes Bibliolatry. Atomistic and relativistic interpretation through Pesher

Location Description

Palestine Practical and Pastoral, overliteral exegesis, Tradition Midrash and Talmud Hillel (and other Pharisees) Hedge about the Law (Oral Law). Concentration on words and phrases to the neglect of context

Document Leader Contribution

The Rules of Hillel vs. Philo 11

Issues Notebook Hillels Rules of Interpretation (From Gary Hall, Lincoln Christian Seminary) 1. A meaning applied to a lesser case will certainly apply to a more important case. 2. Verbal analogy from one verse to another. The same consideration can be given to same words in different verses. 3. Building up a family from a single text. The same phrase found in several texts allows the consideration given to it in one place to apply to all. 4. Building up a family from two texts. A principle derived from relating two passages together can be applied to others. 5. The general and the particular. A general rule may be restricted in application by another verse, or conversely, a particular rule may be extended to a general principle. 6. A difficulty in one text may be solved by comparing it with another that is similar. 7. A meaning may be established by its context. Philos Rules of Interpretation 1. The literal sense is excluded if: the statement is unworthy of God, There is a contradiction, or the allegory is obvious. 2. The literal and allegorical sense can be used side by side when: an expression is repeated, a word is superfluous, there is an apparent tautology, there is a change of expression. 3. Words may be explained apart from their punctuation, especially if there is a contradiction. 4. Use of synonyms implies allegory. 5. Plays on words are permissible to get the deeper sense. 6. Particles, adverbs, and prepositions may be given all their meanings in one context; words may be altered; an unusual expression means something mystical. 7. All numbers and names of places that have etymologies are symbols for moral and spiritual things.

12

Issues Notebook

Period 2 Apostolic Interpretation

A very conservative count discloses unquestionably at least 295 separate references to the Old Testament. These occupy some 352 verses of the New Testament, or more than 4.4 percent. Therefore one verse in 22.5 of the New Testament is a quotation. When you take OT allusions into account it can therefore be asserted, without exaggeration, that more than 10 percent of the New Testament text is made up of citations or direct allusions to the Old Testament278 different OT verses are cited in the New Testament: 94 from the Pentateuch, 99 from the Prophets, and 85 from the Writings. Out of the 22 books in the Hebrew reckoning of the canon only six (Judges-Ruth, Song, Ecclesiastes, Esther, EzraNehemiah, and Chronicles) are not explicitly referred to. (Roger Nicole in Roy B. Zuck ed., Rightly Divided, 183-184)

Four Principles of Interpretation in the NT: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Things to keep in mind about how the NT uses the OT 1. There was a high respect given to the OT text.

2.

Used many interpretive techniques that were accepted at the time.

3.

The OT is fulfilled in Christ.

4.

The NT writers often used a translation for their quotations.

13

5.

Issues Notebook The NT writers did not have the same rules of quotations that we use today.

6.

The NT writers often employed the principle of multiple fulfillments in their interpretations.

7.

The NT sometimes uses OT in ways that we are not comfortable with: a. Verses taken out of context (Matt. 2:15, 18) b. Multiple fulfillments (Matt. 1:23) c. Textual changes (numerous times in Hebrews as a result of using the LXX) d. Unclear references (Matt. 2:23) e. Paraphrasing f. However Different authors tend to handle the OT in different ways:

8.

14

Issues Notebook

Period 3 Patristic Interpretation

Three Sections: The Apostolic Fathers (100-150) 1. The immediate situation

2.

Characteristics of this time

3.

Characters of this time. a. Clement of Rome (35-100) b. Justin Martyr (early 2nd Cent.) c. Irenaeus (130-200)

For every prophecy, before it comes about, is an enigma and a contradiction to men; but when the time comes, and what was prophesied takes place, it receives a most certain exegesis. And therefore when the Law is read by Jews at the present time, it is like a myth; for they do not have the explanation of everything which is the coming the Son of God as man. But when it is read by Christians, it is a treasure, hidden in the field but revealed by the cross of Christ. The true exegesis was taught by the Lord himself after his resurrection. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.26.1 in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand, 86)

Alexandria and Antioch (150-400) 1. Alexandria a. Characteristics

b. i. ii.

Characters Clement of Alexandria (185-254) Origen (185-254) 1. He developed the ___________ which was a parallel text of six translations. 15

2. meaning:

Issues Notebook He taught that scriptures had a threefold

The infants of Babylon, which means confusion, are the confused thoughts caused by evil which have just been implanted and are growing up in the soul. The man who takes hold of them, so that he breaks their heads by the firmness and solidity of the Word, is dashing the infants of Babylon against the rock. (His interpretation of Psalms 137:8-9 from Against Celsus 7.22 in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand, 89) Let no one suspect that we hold that Scripture does not contain real history, or that the precepts of the Law are not to be observed to the letter, or that what is written of the Savior did not happen in reality...Much more numerous are the truly historical passages than those which are to be taken in the purely spiritual sense. (Origen, On First Principles in George Montague, Understanding the Bible, 35)

2.

AntiochIf the emphasis in Alexandria was the _____________ as author, the emphasis in Antioch was the _____________ author. a. Characteristics

b. i. ii. iii.

Characters Diodorus of Tarsus Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428) John Chrysostom (347-407)

Church Councils (400-590) 1. The Situation. a. Constantine is converted in __________. b. Three problems: 1) Heretics were using scripture for their advantage (sometimes quite well). 2) So-called orthodox Christians couldnt even agree how to interpret the word. 3) Still some debate about what the canon ought to be. c. The solutions:

16

Issues Notebook 2. Important characters: a. Jerome (342-420) b. Augustine (354-430) i. His hermeneutic. He developed several rules
Augustines Six Rules: 1. The authority of Scripture rests on the authority of the church authority is given to the ancient text as the church receives it. 2. The obscurities in Scripture have been put there by God, and are to be interpreted on the basis of many plain passages. Also consult traditional interpretation and the context. 3. When Scripture is ambiguous the rule of faith can be used to interpret it (what the church has customarily taught). 4. Figurative passages must not be taken literally; attention must be paid to the literary form of each text. 5. A figure need not always have only one meaning. Meaning may vary with context. 6. Any possible meaning which a text can have is legitimate, whether the author realized it or not. A truth could be apprehended at many different levels, and it was wrong to limit the biblical text to just one meaning.

ii. Three rules are of primary importance

Whoever, therefore, thinks he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand them at all. (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, in George Montague, Understanding the Bible, 47)

c. Vincent (Commonitorium 434 the definitive statement of early church interpretation). The test of proper interpretation:
Now in the Catholic Church itself we take the greatest care to hold that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all. That is truly and properly 'Catholic,' as is shown by the very force and meaning of the word, which comprehends everything almost universally. We shall hold to this rule if we follow universality [i.e. ecumenicity], antiquity, and consent. We shall follow universality if we acknowledge that one Faith to be true which the whole Church throughout the world confesses; antiquity if we in no wise depart from those interpretations which it is clear that our ancestors and fathers proclaimed; consent, if in antiquity itself we keep following the definitions and opinions of all, or certainly nearly all, bishops and doctors alike. (St. Vincent of Lerins, from Chapter 4 of The Commonitory (aka The Commitorium), AD 434 in http://www.ancient-future.net/vcanon.html)

Summary: 1. 2.

The main idea is that the Church is the final arbiter in Bible interpretation not the individual. Discuss: Criticisms of authoritative interpretation 17

Issues Notebook 3. Discuss: Dangers of individual interpretation

18

Issues Notebook

Period 4 Medieval Interpretation

I. Introduction a. Some date this period beginning with b. _____________________ becomes the first politically powerful Pope in 590. Biblical interpretation therefore has ______________ consequences. c. This was a more ___________ and ___________ period than we often assume. d. Some Issues: e. There were three main approaches to hermeneutics in this time period II. Traditional Interpretation a. Hugo of St. Victor (1097-1141) Learn first what you should believe, and then go to the Bible and find it there. b. This was shown in at least a couple of different ways: i. The Catena (chain) ii. The Gloss (tongue) c. Two prominent figures: Gregory the Great and the Venerable Bede both marked by _____________________. III. Allegory a. Origens three-fold interpretation was expanded to four meanings sought in each text: Meaning Significance Jerusalem

Sense Literal Allegorical Tropological (Moral)

19

Issues Notebook Anagogical

b. Important character: John Cassian (360-435)

The foundation is in the earth and it does not always have smoothly fitted stones. The superstructure rises above the earth, and it demands a smoothly proportioned constructionEven so the Divine Page, in its literal sense, contains many things which seem both to be opposed to each other and, sometimes, to impart something which smacks of the absurd or the impossible. But the spiritual meaning admits no opposition; in it, many things can be different from one another, but none can be opposed. (Hugo of St. Victor, Didascalion VI.4. The Didascalion of Hugh of St. Victor, 2nd edition, trans. Jerome Taylor, 140141) The Letter shows us what God and our fathers did; the allegory shows us where our faith is hid; the moral meaning gives us rules of daily life; the anagogy shows us where we end our strife. (in Klein, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 38)

IV.

Historical/Literal Interpretation a. Scholasticism (12-16th centuries). i. The combination of Bible study with _________________. ii. The study of the original context and details of the _______. Jewish authorities like Ibn Izra (1167), Rashi (1170), and Maimonides (1204) were consulted for the background of the OT. iii. The beginning challenges to _________________________. Peter Abelard (1079-1142) iv. The publication of theological texts. b. Thomas Aquinas (1226-74) the greatest medieval theologian.

The multiplicity of these senses does not produce equivocation or any other kind of multiplicity, seeing that these senses are not multiplied because one word signifies several things; but because the things signified by the words can themselves be types of other things. Thus in Holy Writ no confusion results, for all the senses are founded on one the literal from which alone can any argument be drawn, and not from those intended in allegory, as Augustine says. Nevertheless, nothing of Holy Scripture perishes on account of this, since nothing necessary to faith is contained under the spiritual sense which is not elsewhere put forward by the Scripture in its literal sense. (Summa Theologica 1.1.10 in McCartney, Let the Reader Understand, 92)

c. Nicholas of Lyra (1270-1340) 20

Issues Notebook

Some flaws of Medieval hermeneutics:

Some benefits of Medieval hermeneutics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. We still compare textually similar usages in different parts of the Bible (like glosses). We still compare the views of earlier critics to decide what we can learn from them. We still compare Scripture with the secular literature of the period. We still use verse-by-verse commentary as the most usual type of written biblical exposition. We still rely on the chapter and verse divisions which were begun during this period. Lectio Divina (spiritual reading):

21

Issues Notebook

The Allegory of 153 Fish, John 21:11

(Compiled by Mark Moore) The number 153 has had a number of allegorical interpretations attached to it, none of which appear valid: (1) There were supposedly 153 varieties of fish in the Sea of Galilee. Thus, this is a veiled reference to Mt 13:47-48, showing that all kinds of people will be saved. This estimate comes from Oppian via Jerome. However, Jerome is somewhat "loose" in his counting of Oppian's categories. Besides that, Oppian wrote c. 176-180 and therefore can not adequately account for John's usage of 153. The total represents the sum of all the numbers from 1-17. 17 = 10 commandments plus the 7 gifts of the Spirit. Or, according to R. Grant, "'One Hundred Fifty-Three Large Fish' (John 21:11)," Harvard Theological Review 42 (1949): 273-75, there are seven Apostles present at the catch and ten who received the Holy Spirit (John 20:24). Thus, 153 functions here as 144,000 does in Revelation 7:4 to represent all God's redeemed. Peter's name in Hebrew, Simon Iona, numerically is 153. 153 = 100 (Gentiles) + 50 (Jews) + 3 (Trinity). The Hebrew word for Mt. Pisgah has a numerical value of 153. This shows how Jn 21 is Jesus farewell adress to the leaders of the New Israel, just like Moses' (cf. Num 11:16-25; 27:17). (O. T. Owens, "One Hundred and Fifty Three Fishes," ExpT 100 (1988): 52-54.) The Hebrew for "The Children of God" has a numerical value of 153. Hence, Jn 21 is a reference to the new "children of God." (J. A. Romeo, "Gematria and John 21:11-The Children of God," JBL 97/2 (1978): 263-64.) The 153 fish in the net, plus the one that Jesus had cooked = 154 fish. This matches the numeric value of of the Greek word "day," which was one of the titles for Jesus in the early church. (K. Cardwell, "The Fish on the Fire: Jn 21:9" ExpT 102 (1990): 1214.) 153 is gematriacal Atbash. If you reverse the numerical value of the Hebrew Alphabet, then take the numbers 70, 3, and 80, you get the Greek letters "I," "X," and "Th." These are the first three letters of the Greek word "fish" which was, of course, a significant symbol in early Christianity. This word was an accrostic for early Christians which signified: "Jesus Christ, God, Son, Savior." (Cf. N. J. McEleney, "153 Great Fishes [John 21:11]--Gematriacal Atbash," Biblica 58 [1977]: 411-17).

(2)

(3) (4) (5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

22

Issues Notebook

Allegory and Typology

(from Zuck, 178) Typology The type and the antitype have a natural correspondence or resemblance. The type has a historical reality (the type/antitype relationship depends on the literal meaning). The type is a prefiguring or foreshadowing of the antitype. It is predictive; it looks ahead and points to the antitype. The type if fulfilled by the antitype. The antitype is greater than and superior to the type. The type is divinely designed. It is planned by God. The type and the antitype are designated as such in the New Testament Allegorizing There is no natural correspondence. Instead, a forced or hidden meaning is sought behind the text. The Old Testament historical reality is ignored or denied. The literal meaning is unimportant. The allegorizing is a conjuring up of hidden ideas, foreign to and behind the Old Testament text. It looks behind, not ahead. The allegorizing does not fulfill the Old Testament texts. The allegorizing is in the interpreters imagination, not in the design of God. The allegorizing is not designated in the Scripture.

Some uses of typology in scripture: Melchezedek/Christs perpetual priesthood Heb. 7:3, 15-17 Passover feast/Christ our sacrifice 1 Cor. 5:7 Moses salvation/Christs salvation John 3:14-15 Some uses of allegory in scripture: Hagar and Sarah Galatians 4:21-31 The Parable of the Sower Matthew 13:18-23 The difference between the allegorizing often practiced in the early church and the allegory practiced by Paul in Galatians 4: 1. To Paul the historical meaning was significant and true. The allegorizing of the early church understood the historical meaning to be insignificant. 2. To Paul the parallels were drawn to illustrate a greater point. The allegorizing of the early church saw the deeper meaning as the true meaning. 3. Paul allegorized sparingly whereas in the early church everything in the Old Testament was open to allegory. 4. Paul was writing under the power of inspiration, but the early church fathers were not.

23

Issues Notebook

Period 5 Reformation Interpretation

I. Introduction. What forces paved the road to the Reformation? a. General dissatisfaction

b. Intellectual renewal: i. The _________________ [1300-1600] was a renewal and rebirth of learning and the arts. ii. Rationalism and humanism is born. iii. An influential early Christian humanist was Erasmus. A popular saying in the 16th century: iv. The hallmarks of early humanistic hermeneutics: 1. The beginnings of _____________________ Lorenzo Valla [1407-57] the father of 2. The beginnings of _________________ interpretations independent of _______________. 3. Rejection of __________________. 4. Rejected the medieval marriage of ________________ to __________________. 5. A renewed interest in ___________________ hermeneutics. c. Weakening of the Roman Church i. Great Schism 1054 ii. Papal Schism 1378-1417 d. Revived interest in the languages e. The Printing Press. A single Renaissance printing press could produce 3,600 pages per workday, compared to forty by hand-printing and a few by hand-copying. Between 1518 and 1520, Luther's tracts were distributed in 300,000 printed copies. 24

Issues Notebook II. Martin Luther a. Growing dissatisfaction with Catholic Church

b. Hermeneutical Contributions i. Translated scripture into the common language. ii. He believed scripture was clear enough iii. ___________________ (along with sola fide and sola gratia) iv. Generally rejected _______________. v. Stressed ____________________________. vi. The _______________ works in the believers heart to give understanding. vii. The heart of Scripture is Christ. __________________ The kernel in the middle.
Here it is, plain and unvarnished. Unless I am convicted of error by the testimony of Scriptures orby manifest reasoning I stand convicted by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by Gods Word, I cannot and will not recant anythingOn this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen. (Luther at Worms in Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian Church, 201) Luther was the intensified self of the German nation. This man it is a recent fashion in the Church of England to revileand would to God that they who revile him would render to mankind but one of the very least of his many services! He gave to the Germans their Bible; he gave them the perfection of their language; he gave them the sense of their unity; he gave them the conviction of their freedom before God; he gave them the prayers which rise night and morning from thousands of hearts; he gave them the burning hymns, rich in essential truth, and set to mighty music, which are still daily poured forth by millions of voices; he gave them the example of a family life, pure, simple, and humbly dependent upon God. To have lifted the load of sin from many consciencesto have reconciled nature and duty, purity and passionto have made woman once more the faithful helpmeet of Gods servants as of other men to have been the founder of countless sweet and peaceful homesis no small part of Luthers true glory. But his highest glorythe glory he valued mostwas to have fulfilled the vow of the Doctoratejuro me veritatem evangelicam pro virili defensurumand to have given to the people whom he loved an open Bible which could be closed no more. (Frederic W. Farrar, History of Interpretation Bampton Lectures 1885, 323)

25

Issues Notebook III. John Calvin a. Reformer based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Before I go any farther, it is worthwhile to say something about the authority of Scripture, not only to prepare our hearts to reverence it, but to banish all doubt. When that which is set forth is acknowledged as the Word of God, there is no one so deplorably insolent unless devoid also both of common sense and of humanity itself as to dare impugn the credibility of Him who speaks. Now daily oracles are not sent from heaven, for it pleased the Lord to hallow his truth to everlasting remembrance in the Scriptures alone [cf. John 5:39]. (Calvin in Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.7.1 in McCartney, Let the Reader Understand, 96)

b. Calvins hermeneutic: i. The _____________ sense of interpretation is paramount. ii. The ___________________ must be the guiding principle of interpretation. iii. He believed (like Luther) that the __________________ was important to solid interpretation. iv. Biblical interpretation passes through three distinct but related phases. Calvins Three Phases of Biblical Interpretation:

26

Issues Notebook
A Comparison Between Luther and Calvins Hermeneutic:

Both
The Bible is above the church High view of Inspiration, confused view of inerrancy Individual Interpretation Eschewed Allegory The Holy Spirit is necessary to understand the Bible

Luther

Calvin

He considered his the only right one! Yet used it some. 1st not to use allegory at all

Kept as much Catholicism as possible Preacher/Teacher

Rid his church of all Catholicism Prolific Writer

IV.

Other Developments a. Major Dangers of this period:

b. Responses to this period: i. The Catholic response: ii. Common mans response: iii. Further humanistic/rationalistic approaches to scripture: iv. Pietism Philip Jacob Spener (1635-1705)

27

Issues Notebook

Period 6 Modern Interpretation

Introduction - By modern we are referring to both ____________________ and the prevailing _______________ of the period. Modernity was born from the Enlightenment

Some key trends of the Enlightenment 1. In Science a. Isaac Newton (1643-1727) He discovered the rationality underlying the laws of the natural realm. b. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) He popularized the theory of developmentalism in biology. 2. In Philosophy a. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Three philosophical principles i. ii. iii. b. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Have the courage to make use of your own understanding is therefore the watchword of the Enlightenment. c. David Hume (1711-1776) The belief in miracles is never justified. 3. In Politics a. Thirty Years War (1618-1648) This extended war exposed the horrible fractures in post-Reformation Europe. Religion was used by the powerful as an excuse for conquest and war. b. John Locke (1632-1704) He rejected the idea of divine-right monarchy and advocated the right for self-rule. 4. In Religion a. Voltaire (1694-1778) Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage. b. Bernard Spinoza (1632-1677) Scripture is for irrational people.

28

Issues Notebook Several key points of emphasis in Enlightenment thought

The Rise of the Historical-Critical Method What is criticism when applied to biblical studies?
The application of rational judgments and methods for studying the biblical text with a view to sorting out the different stages of composition and the literary differences between and within the books. It is also used more generally to refer to the modern interpretation of biblical texts. Biblical criticism as discriminating interpretation has been practiced since communities first accepted these texts as authoritative; however, biblical criticism took a new turn in the eighteenth century with the study of the Bible as a scientific enterprise and not necessarily from a faith perspective. (Patzia, A. G., & Petrotta, A. J. (2002). Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies, 19)

Philosophical Presuppositions guiding the Historical-Critical method: 1. The use of ___________________, free of theological limitations, is the best tool with which to study the Bible. Hence, the Bible is to be treated 2. In adopting a _________________________ that explained everything in terms of natural law. Hence, the possibility of supernatural intervention is 3. All history happens as an ____________________ process of development. Hence, the history the Bible reports is to be understood as presenting views in which earlier eras may be described as ______________ and later ones as ________________. 4. The Bibles ideas are regarded as _______________________ not timeless ones. Specifically, the Bible merely records what people thought at the time. 5. Scholars assumed that the Bibles greatest contribution lay in its ___________________________, not in its __________________ teachings.
If the Bible has grown strangely silent in the church, we might follow the pathway suggested by commentators such as Hans Frei and lay the blame for this tragedy at the feet of theologians and biblical scholars themselves Of course, Christian thinkers did not set out to silence scripture. Rather, the Bible's loss of voice came as an unintended result of well-intentioned persons who sought to recover the Bible and save theology in the wake of the Enlightenment. The irony of this situation is that in a sense scripture caught laryngitis from its would-be physicians. (Stanley Grenz and John Franke, Beyond Foundationalism, 58-59)

29

Issues Notebook Higher critical methods typical of this period: 1.

__________________________- is an attempt to understand the author's intended meaning in light of his/her cultural and historical setting. Using textual, historical and archaeological data, one attempts to understand the original situation and purpose of the author and audience of the text. Assumptions: Historical criticism works within a rationalistic paradigm which often denies or ignores the miraculous. Moreover, it assumes the authors intended meaning is attainable and the proper goal for interpretation. Limitations: Biblical authors (and cultures) are largely unavailable to modern scholars. Scholars import their own presuppositions into their interpretation(s), thus they have never reached a consensus about the meaning of the Bible. H.C. tends to concentrate on scholarship, to the neglect of faith and the edification.

2.

___________________________- is an attempt to discover the original source(s) or author(s) behind various biblical texts. This is especially applied to the first five books of both the OT (JEDP) and NT (Q etc.). Assumption: The books of the Bible were written or compiled much later than supposed authors lived, therefore, the traditional authors were not really responsible for writing the books. Instead, the books evolved over an extended period of time. Limitations: Rampant speculation, no consensus, and even after results are achieved, S.C. can only guess about the texts origin, it falls short of actually contributing meaning to the text itself.

3.

___________________________- analyzes the genre and literary devices of piece of literature since meaning is not merely in the words of the text but also in its structure and style. These story forms have standard characters and functions in a given community. Assumption: The biblical stories were passed down orally and later used by an editor/redactor for theological purposes. By analyzing the style of a particular pericope, we can learn about its history, development, revisions and use in the church/community. Limitations: Often uses artificial categories that have more to do with context than literature. F. C. can easily ignore the historical issues pertinent to the text.

4.

____________________________- identifies where and how the text has been edited: changes in synoptic passages, anachronisms, aside comments, rough edges, etc. Based on these editorial changes, one can discover the needs and characteristics of the community behind the text for whom these changes were made. Assumption: Biblical texts were not authored but edited and redacted, sometimes over a long period of time. Limitations: Rampant speculation which has led to no consensus. R. C. really only works well in the Gospels.

5.

____________________________- is an analysis of the literary style and devices used in a particular pericope (e.g. inclusio, chiasm, parallelism, repetition, etc.), which help make the authors point. Like form criticism, it recognizes that in literature, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Yet it differs from form criticism in that it takes into account not only the finished from of the text but the author and audience as participants in the rhetorical process, that is, the art of persuasion. Assumptions: Aesthetics and communication theory takes precedence over theology. It is also often assumed that the text is the product of a community (or at least community values/needs) rather than an author. Limitations: It often ignores the historical meaning of the author by concentrating on the aesthetics of the text. Moreover, while it shows the logical structure of the text and

30

Issues Notebook
how it functions, it falls short of interpreting the meaning of the text.

6.

____________________________- like rhetorical criticism, dissects the text and its component parts. Only rhetorical criticism analyzes each pericope from a literary standpoint while structuralism looks at its underlying thought patterns and semiotic. Assumption: Authors/editors subconsciously embed thought patterns into their work which we are able to decipher and thus psychoanalyze the authors intentions. These linguistic codes are open to multiple interpretations by different readers and communities. Limitations: It is so esoteric and complex it is not of much practical value. Its assumptions about the psychology of language have not been proved -- it is not as scientific or reliable as its proponents would suggest. While it shows the deep structures of the text and how they function, it fails to interpret the surface meaning of the text.

7.

_____________________________- is primarily interested in the final form of the canon and how it addresses the faith needs of a community (as opposed to its development). Meaning is not just in a given text, but in its context, which is the entire Bible, both its content and canonical/theological shape. Assumption: Meaning and authority reside in the believing community that accepts the text as Scripture more than the author (either human or divine) or the historical events behind the text. Limitations: It often ignores the authors intended meaning in lieu of the communitys use of the text. By focusing on the final form of the text, it ignores the original historical setting as well as its development through history. It has yet to contribute significantly to any practical understanding of the Bible in the church.

Some key individuals in the Modern era of interpretation: In the Historical-Critical Method F.C. Baur (1792-1860) Professor of historical theology at the very influential ________________ School in Germany. He was heavily influenced by the philosophy of ________________.

Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) There are complex literary and religious histories behind sections of the text. Developed the _______________________ that the Pent. actually consisted of four sources.

31

Issues Notebook The Beginnings of Existential Hermeneutics Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) Interpretation consists of two things: an _________________ side and a ___________________ side. We do not come to a text free of our ______________________. He insisted that historical analysis must be balanced with __________________ and ___________________.

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) - He maintained that there is no We cannot really speak of anything outside of our own

The Birth of Neo-Orthodoxy Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) Source Criticism and Demythologizer He distinguished between He advocates only the call to ________________. He believed that proper interpretation must ____________________ all concepts in the New Testament.

Demythologizing is the radical application of the doctrine of justification by faith to the sphere of knowledge and thought. Like the doctrine of justification, de-mythologizing destroys every longing for security. There is no difference between security based on good works and security built on objectifying knowledge. The man who desires to believe in God must know that he has nothing at his disposal on which to build his faith, that he is, so to speak, in a vacuum. (R. Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology, 84)

32

Issues Notebook Karl Barth (1888-1968) popularized neo-orthodoxy He emphasized personally encountering a transcendent God in His Word. o The mystery of _____________________ became important. o The Bible ____________________ the word of God as we encounter it in faith. o Questions of authorship, geography, sociology, and even the intended audience dont matter a lot. o _____________________ exegesis was important. o Tended towards ____________________.
Between the two world wars, the work of Barth and Bultmann spawned a new theological movement called neo-orthodoxy (or dialectical theology). Dominated by Barth and another Swiss theologian, Emil Brunner, three basic assumptions guided the approach of neo-orthodox theologians to biblical interpretation. First, God is a subject not an object (a Thou not an It). Thus, the Bibles words cannot convey knowledge of God as abstract propositions; one can only know him in a personal encounter. Such encounters are so subjective, mysterious, and miraculous that they elude the objective measurements of science. Second, a great gulf separates the Bibles transcendent God from fallen humanity. Indeed, he is so transcendent that only myths can bridge this gulf and reveal him to people. Thus, neo-orthodoxy downplayed the historicity of biblical events, preferring to view them as myths that conveyed theological truth in historical dress. Third, neo-orthodox theologians believed that truth was ultimately paradoxical in nature. Hence, they accepted opposite biblical ideas as paradoxes, thereby implicitly denying that any type of underlying rational coherence bound the diverse ideas of Scripture together. (William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 48)

Conclusion and Summary Great forces of this period:

Five major schools of thought that we have seen so far:

33

Issues Notebook

Period 7 Postmodern Interpretation

Think of the text as a playground. On such a field a person can play whatever game they wishkickball, hide and seek, volleyball, softball. The field has only the possibility of play; the group decides which game they wish to play and what rules they want to govern the game. So it is with a text according to this view. A text has only a possibility of understanding. The actual process and result of interpretation is decided by the reader not the book. (Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 478) Since all language is metaphor, and since metaphor is dead of meaning at its core, language is characterized by absence (the absence of literal meaning and of hermeneutical constraints). Therefore, multiple meaning necessarily results, as the perceiver provides the content for the autonomous and empty metaphor. (Ibid., 476)

Philosophical Shifts: 1. __________________: Truth is revealed by God and is therefore absolute. 2. __________________: Truth is discovered by men and is therefore relative. 3. __________________: There is no such thing as truth, therefore we create it. Umpire illustration found in Walter Truett Anderson in Reality Isnt What It Used to Be

The Decisive Question: Do you know that God exists?

A distinction between postmodernism and postmodernityAre you atheistic, agnostic, or merely chastised about truth claims? 1. Modernity was characterized by: a. ____________________ Any philosophy or story that claims to explain life in any final or absolute way. b. ____________________ The human mind is the best source of knowledge and capable of producing a great humanity. c. ____________________ The five senses and science can discover all we need to know for successful living. d. ____________________ The more we learn the better we become, soon we will create our own utopia. Postmodernity critiques these presuppositions: a. The belief in metanarrative led to colonialism, slavery, and numerous other forms of social oppression.

2.

34

Issues Notebook b. Rationalism is nave. Many of the most important things in this world cannot be put into rationalistic terms. c. Einsteins theory of relativity brought down Newtons ordered universe. Thomas Kuhn (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions) and others noticed how even scientists bring their perspective to their work. d. Technology and progress is a humanistic myth which has brought us nothing but pollution, war, and disease. 3. It is debatable when PM began to enter the scene: a. Early dissent to modernism: b. Changes in ____________________ c. Changes in ____________________ d. Certain benchmark events: 4. Postmodern hermeneutics: a. We are hopelessly bound by a _____________________. b. Interpretation begins with the _____________________. c. Hermeneutic of _____________________.
As an institution, the author is dead: his civil states, his biographical person have disappeared; disposed, they no longer exercise over his work the formidable paternity whose account literary history, teaching, and public opinion had the responsibility of establishing and renewing. (Barthes in Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 476) Lets do a subversive reading on a popular childrens film. The movie Beauty and the Beast seems harmless to us charming, vintage Disney, a story about the transforming power of love. But under postmodern analysis, the underlying oppositions create an entirely different picture. The heroine in defined by her physical appearance, Belle. Therefore, women are important primarily in terms of their looks, and, consequently, how they can please men. The film explains that Belle is responsible for her fumbling father. In other words, like all patriarchy, the father has the authority, but his wards are responsible to make things come out right. In love, the movie pictures a woman as giving herself wholly for the reform of the Beast, or man whom she loves. Indeed, his good is accomplished only through her love and sacrifice. Deep inside a man, as beastly as he might appear on the outside, is a gentle, loving prince. The responsibility to manifest this good side falls, not to the man, but to his servile lover. The story is made to appear to be a law of nature; as the theme song proclaims, tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme . . . In reality, according to the subversive reading of the script, a postmodern critic might see this film as a prescription for neurosis, abuse, and patriarchy. (Dennis McCallum, The Death of Truth, 92)

35

Issues Notebook
Literary Element Author Grammatical-Historical Method The author intended to convey a message through the text. That intent is the true meaning of the text. The author, therefore, is the authority over the text. The text is to be interpreted in light of the rules of grammar at the time it was written, the historical worldview of the intended readers, and the thought development throughout the text. The reader is to use the tools of interpretation to discover the original intention of the author for the original audience. The readers goal is to let the text speak while avoiding as much as possible, introducing reader bias. Postmodern Method The author is irrelevant to meaning or unaware of the meaning of the text. The author doesnt stand over the text as an authority. Texts are to be deconstructed and freed from logocentrism. Behind the text lies the metanarrative and internal contradictions that discerning readers detect and expose. The text is an artifact of a particular cultural reality. No reader can eliminate reader bias. Whatever the author intended, we will never know exactly. The reader, therefore, becomes the center of meaning. Authority over the text shifts from the author to the reader.

Text

Reader

Taken from McCallum, The Death of Truth, page 87.

PM hermeneutics produces two different types of readers: 1. Users a. ________________________ Meaning is not imbedded in the text; rather it is created in the process of reading the text. i. Conservative ii. Radical iii. Stanley Fish
The relationship between interpretation and text is thus reversed: interpretive strategies are not put into execution after reading; they are the shape of reading and because they are the shape of reading, they give texts their shape, making them rather than, as is usually assumed, arising from them. (In Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 479)

b. _________________ interpretation 2. Undoers (________________________) a. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

What, then, is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphismsin short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are: metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins. (In Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 483)

b. Jacques Derrida (1930- ) i. We are held in the ________________________ of language. 36

Issues Notebook ii. Language is used for ______________________ by the elite. iii. All literature is based on ______________________. iv. The task of the interpreter is to ________________ (demolish) this oppressive communication. c. Deconstructionists advocate a __________________ of the text. Contributions of a Postmodern Hermeneutic: Negative:

Positive:

37

Issues Notebook

Liberationist Interpretation
Basically, sociology of knowledge states that no act of coming to understanding can escape the formative power of the background and the paradigm community to which an interpreter belongs. (Grant Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 505) It is unthinkable that the oppressors could identify with oppressed existence and thus say something relevant about God's liberation of the oppressed. In order to be Christian theology, white theology must cease being white theology and become black theology by denying whiteness as an acceptable form of human existence and affirming blackness as God's intention for humanity. (James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, 9)

Different subdivisions of liberation theology (also called _______________ or sometimes _______________________): 1. 2. 3. Some Central Ideas: 1. Social Critique. The gospel must make a difference in society not just in individuals. 2. 3. 4. 5. Orthopraxy takes precedence over orthodoxy. Objectivity is a myth. You speak from the tribe you inhabit. Suspicious (and subversive) of all power structures. God is concerned primarily with justice in the here and now.

Relationship with Postmodern Interpretation: - Hermeneutics is an exercise of ___________________ Hermeneutics is an exercise of ___________________ Hermeneutics is an exercise of ___________________

Methods of Interpretation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 38

Issues Notebook
TAKE THE POWER BACK Rage Against the Machine

In the right light, study becomes insight But the system that dissed us Teaches us to read and right So called facts are fraud. They want us to allege and pledge And bow down to their God. Lost the culture, the culture lost Spun our minds and through time. Ignorance has taken over Yo, we gotta take the power back! Bam! Here's the plan ************* Uncle Sam. Step back, I know who I am Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear. It's the beats and the lyrics they fear The rage is relentless. We need a movement with a quickness You are the witness of change. And to counteract We gotta take the power back The present curriculum. I put my fist in 'em Eurocentric every last one of 'em. See right through the red, white and blue disguise With lecture I puncture the structure of lies. Installed in our minds and attempting To hold us back. We've got to take it back Holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears. One-sided stories for years and years and years I'm inferior? Who's inferior? Yeah, we need to check the interior Of the system that cares about only one culture. And that is why We gotta take the power back The teacher stands in front of the class. But the lesson plan he can't recall The student's eyes don't perceive the lies. Bouning off every ************** wall His composure is well kept. I guess he fears playing the fool The complacent students sit and listen to some of that **************** that he learned in school Europe ain't my rope to swing on. Can't learn a thing from it Yet we hang from it. Gotta get it, gotta get it together then Like the ***************** weathermen. To expose and close the doors on those who try To strangle and mangle the truth. 'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react We gotta take the power back

39

Issues Notebook
Excerpts from Martin Luther Kings Ive Been to the Mountaintop Memphis, TN, April 3, 1968 . . . Now that's a strange statement to make because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick, trouble is in the land, confusion all around. That's a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. (All right, Yes) And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men in some strange way are responding. Something is happening in our world. (Yeah) The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee, the cry is always the same: "We want to be free." [applause] . . . You know, what's beautiful to me is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. (Amen) It's a marvelous picture. (Yes) Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones (Yes), and whenever injustice is around he must tell it. (Yes) Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, who said, "When God speaks, who can but prophesy?" (Yes) Again with Amos, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." (Yes) Somehow the preacher must say with Jesus, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me (Yes), because he hath anointed me (Yes), and he's anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor." (Go ahead) And I want to commend the preachers, under the leadership of these noble men: James Lawson, one who has been in this struggle for many years. He's been to jail for struggling; he's been kicked out of Vanderbilt University for this struggling; but he's still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. [applause] Reverend Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles; I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank all of them, and I want you to thank them because so often preachers aren't concerned about anything but themselves. [applause] And I'm always happy to see a relevant ministry. It's all right to talk about long white robes over yonder, in all of its symbolism, but ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. [applause] It's all right to talk about streets flowing with milk and honey, but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here and His children who can't eat three square meals a day. [applause] It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day God's preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. [applause] This is what we have to do. . . . Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. (Amen) But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. (Yeah) [applause] And I don't mind. [applause continues] Like anybody, I would like to live a long life-longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. (Yeah) And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. (Go ahead) And I've looked over (Yes sir), and I've seen the Promised Land. (Go ahead) I may not get there with you. (Go ahead) But I want you to know tonight, (Yes) that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. [applause] (Go ahead. Go ahead) And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. [applause]

40

Issues Notebook
Excerpts from Martin Luther Kings Our God is Marching On March 25, 1965 . . . Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. (Yes, sir) The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The wanton release of their known murderers would not discourage us. We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) Like an idea whose time has come, (Yes, sir) not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. (Yes, sir) We are moving to the land of freedom. (Yes, sir) Let us therefore continue our triumphant march (Uh huh) to the realization of the American dream. (Yes, sir) Let us march on segregated housing (Yes, sir) until every ghetto or social and economic depression dissolves, and Negroes and whites live side by side in decent, safe, and sanitary housing. (Yes, sir) Let us march on segregated schools (Let us march, Tell it) until every vestige of segregated and inferior education becomes a thing of the past, and Negroes and whites study side-by-side in the socially-healing context of the classroom. Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until no American parent has to skip a meal so that their children may eat. (Yes, sir) March on poverty (Let us march) until no starved man walks the streets of our cities and towns (Yes, sir) in search of jobs that do not exist. (Yes, sir) Let us march on poverty (Let us march) until wrinkled stomachs in Mississippi are filled, (That's right) and the idle industries of Appalachia are realized and revitalized, and broken lives in sweltering ghettos are mended and remolded. Let us march on ballot boxes, (Let's march) march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena. Let us march on ballot boxes until the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs (Yes, sir) will be transformed into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. (Speak, Doctor) Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until the Wallaces of our nation tremble away in silence. Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until we send to our city councils (Yes, sir), state legislatures, (Yes, sir) and the United States Congress, (Yes, sir) men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march. March) until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word in an opening prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda. Let us march on ballot boxes (Yes) until all over Alabama God's children will be able to walk the earth in decency and honor. There is nothing wrong with marching in this sense. (Yes, sir) The Bible tells us that the mighty men of Joshua merely walked about the walled city of Jericho (Yes) and the barriers to freedom came tumbling down. (Yes, sir) I like that old Negro spiritual, (Yes, sir) "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho." In its simple, yet colorful, depiction (Yes, sir) of that great moment in biblical history, it tells us that: Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, (Tell it) Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, (Yes, sir) And the walls come tumbling down. (Yes, sir. Tell it) Up to the walls of Jericho they marched, spear in hand. (Yes, sir) "Go blow them ramhorns," Joshua cried, "'Cause the battle am in my hand." (Yes, sir) These words I have given you just as they were given us by the unknown, long-dead, dark-skinned originator. (Yes, sir) Some now long-gone black bard bequeathed to posterity these words in ungrammatical form, (Yes, sir) yet with emphatic pertinence for all of us today. (Uh huh)

41

Issues Notebook
Excerpts from Bonos remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast (2006) . . . I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God. For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land and in this country, seeing Gods second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV. Even though I was a believer. Perhaps because I was a believer. I was cynical not about God, but about Gods politics. (There you are, Jim.) Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtickmy reproachfulness. They did it by describing the Millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the worlds poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lords calland were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholics point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty. Jubileewhy Jubilee? What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lords favor? Id always read the Scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35) If your brother becomes poor, the Scriptures say, and cannot maintain himself you shall maintain him You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit. It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, hes met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, hes a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasnt done much yet. He hasnt spoken in public before When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he says, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lords favour, the year of Jubilee. (Luke 4:18) What he was really talking about was an era of graceand were still in it. So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnatein a movement of all kinds of people. It wasnt a bless-me club it wasnt a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people. But then my cynicism got another helping hand. It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called A.I.D.S. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didnt miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children Even fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

42

Issues Notebook
Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself Judgmentalism is back! But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age. Love was on the move. Mercy was on the move. God was on the move. Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet Conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS Soccer moms and quarterbacks hip-hop stars and country stars This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens! Popes were seen wearing sunglasses! Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster! Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit. It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks. . . . Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives. . . . God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them . . . Its not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. Its not an accident. Thats a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. [You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.] As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor. . . . From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. Theres is much more to do. Theres a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response. And finally, its not about charity after all, is it? Its about justice. Let me repeat that: Its not about charity, its about justice. And thats too bad. Because youre good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who cant afford it. But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment. 6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about Justice and Equality. You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, Equal? A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, Yeah, equal, thats what it says here in this book. Were all made in the image of God. . . . Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market thats a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents Thats a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents thats a justice issue. And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

43

Issues Notebook A preliminary evaluation of liberation theology What are the strengths?

What are the weaknesses?

Feminist Hermeneutics
A feminist reading of the Bile is a complex affair. We must deal, as women, with a very ancient text which reflects different cultures, customs, epochs, relations, languages, and grammars. Above all, we have to confront androcentric and patriarchal passages - and interpretations - that have accumulated over the centuries. A hermeneutics guided by a focus on gender social relations should, therefore, be daring and go beyond the traditional canons of exegetical science. We need a hermeneutics of suspicion which is operative in all areas: texts, interpretations, traditions, translations, and exegetical methods. Gender theories are analytical tools that allow us to deconstruct texts and reveal the structure of the relations on which they are based. We can then construct a new text that seeks to be liberating in nature, including with regard to gender relations. We believe that this is the wish of God who created men and women in God's own image and likeness. (Pereira, Nancy Cardoso, Revista de Interpretacion Biblica Latinoamericana, No.5, 1997) We must be prepared to accept the reality of aspect of the Bible with which we disagree. An example is the masculo-centric language and general male chauvinist attitudes we find in the Bible. The Bible must not be forgiven at this point; it must be defeatedfor the present we must be firm in our argument against such evils or limitations as they are found in the Bible, for example, refusing to use any such offending passages in liturgical expressions without rewording them into language that shows full appreciation for women as well as men. (J.L. Hardegree) If the Bible may be understood as deeply energized by the spirit of God then it can also be understood as limited by human perception and tainted by human sin (not necessarily but in accordance with the evidence therein)With this understanding of the Bible, I can dismiss as tragic Pauls apparent embrace of slavery and the subjugation of women. (Barbara S. Blaisdell)

The language of oppression used by liberation theologians has been adopted and used for feminist concerns. Key terms: There is a range of feminist hermeneutics: 1. __________________ Any part of the Bible that appears to be androcentric is dismissed as non-canonical. This position was pioneered by Lettry Russell and currently promoted by Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza and others. 2. ___________________ The Bible is to be rejected as patriarachal and androcentric (scripture cannot be recovered). Many reject Christianity and adopt Wicca and goddess traditions.

44

3. 4.

Issues Notebook ___________________ The Bible is the Word of God and fully inspired. When it has been used to oppress, it has been misinterpreted. ___________________ The Bible text is not of extreme importance, but it is the tradition that it promotes. The strategy is to emphasize the importance of women in religious history. a. ____________________________ Looking for text that promote and liberate women. b. ____________________________ Looking for texts which unwittingly give glimpses of womens contributions. These are texts that survived the androcentric cover-up. (Acts 18:24-26; Romans 16:1-6; Luke 8:2-3) c. ____________________________ Looking for texts that recount horror stories of abuse against women so that it doesnt happen again (Genesis 34; Judges 21:19-23; Ezekiel 16, 23).

Hermeneutical issues: 1. Hermeneutics of ____________________. 2. 3. 4. 5. The focus of authority is not the text but the ________________ of women. ______________ within a ________________ The goal is _______________________. ______________________ language The name of God must be gender neutral since (S)He is neither male nor female (texts that speak of Gods feminine attributes: Is. 46:3-4; 49:15-16; 66:13; Deut. 32:11; Ps. 17:8; Hos. 13:8). ________________ is the highest ideal.

6.

Evaluation: 1. Positives:

2.

Negatives:

45

Issues Notebook
Excerpts from Anne Carter Shelley What are we to think of Jezebel? A Paper Submitted for Hermeneutics and Biblical Studies At the 1997 meeting of the Academy of Homiletics Hermeneutical Method: . . . Although it may seem that texts like I Kings 21:1-16 should stand still, should mean one thing only, they dont. Multitudinous factors influence and keep in motion the reader, the author, and the text. The result is that none of the elementstext, author, readerremain stationary. None is fixed in meaning. Consequently, we can never uncover completely a texts original meaning, because the text is on the move and its meaning is a combination of action, imagination and dialogism. . . . My method is feminist and self-critical. As a feminist I do not pretend nor aim to offer the only possible viable reading of I Kings 21:1-16. I engage in conversation with the text, other readers, critical tools, and feminist ideology. I also acknowledge up front that my interpretation is subjective, self-interested, and only one of many which the text may disclose . . . I see part of my function as a feminist hermeneut to direct my reading towards those readers and church members who are often overlooked by other readings. My goal is to be inclusive and attentive to the marginalized and the oppressed . . . Finally, I do not take an absolutist stance towards the text. The way I read remains open-ended and open to future insight, revelation, and correction. In Practice: . . . But does Jezebel ever really have a chance to speak for herself? Her marriage is a political act not a romantic one. The religion of her childhood is continually criticized and challenged. Her concept of government and kingship has been formed at her fathers palace, not taught to her by the prophet Elijah. Most importantly, her story is told not by herself or her immediate family and friends, but by her enemies: To the authors of the Deuteronomic history, which includes this portion of I Kings, Jezebel is a harlot, a whore, an independent aggressive, domineering woman. Shes a warning to young girls everywhere not to grow up to be emasculating shrews, she-devils, or worst of all, autonomous women . . . We have here a biblical text in which there are three key players: Ahab, Naboth, and Jezebel. It is, as most biblical hermeneuts agree, a story about human injustice and sinfulness and Gods outrage at both. But ironically this text which is about Gods concern for the little guy, the common man Naboth instead has been used as a rationale for the injustice, abuse, subjugation, and denigration of women by men. Thats why feminist biblical scholars find I and II Kings treatment of Jezebel so offensive. . . . Ironic, dont you think? After all, according to her own cultural, political, social and matrimonial custom, wasnt Jezebel doing what she has been taught that a good wife, and a good Queen should do? She is the first woman we know of to experience a backlash for being the good wife rather than a good feminist . . . Jezebel accepts her husband, admires him, adapts to him, and appreciates him. A woman can technically fit this traditional image of the good wife who accepts her divinely-assigned role as submissive, helpmate to her husband, yet fail to live and be the ideal human being when her life extends no farther than the walls of her husbands castle because she always puts the welfare of her husband before all other individuals welfare, including her own. . . . All women are not Jezebels anymore than all men are King Ahabs. All women are not Jezebels. In fact, Jezebel herself may have not even been the Jezebel shes portrayed to be. So the good news for us and the good news for Jezebel is that God cares about justice and righteousness for all people, all the time, and in all of our relationships no matter who we are.

46

Issues Notebook Homosexual Hermeneutics

It feels particularly appropriate that I should be writing this article during Holy Week, because coming out of the closet has been a resurrection experience. Every time the stone of fear is rolled away, and I can step out of the shadows of invisibility and silence into the light of daring to be seen and known and heard as a lesbian, I know once again in my bones that resurrection is realNo amount of teaching, preaching, or theologizing will convince me of the reality of the resurrection unless I have walked into the valley of the shadow of death and experienced a presence that did not let me goI studied every Pauline passage in depth, wanting to believe that Paul was being misinterpreted by these students. While I believe there was some misinterpretation, I also concluded that I could not make Paul say everything I wanted him to sayHaving come to this conclusion, I lost neither my fervor for biblical study nor my love of scripture. I was, however, both forced and freed to adopt a new hermeneutic. With a feminist hermeneutic, I did not stop with the question, What does the Bible say about women? but moved on to ask, What do women have to tell us about the Bible? I came to similar conclusions with regard to homosexuality and the Bible. (Melanie Morrison, A Love that Wont Let Go, Sojourners, July 1991) Christianity is an incarnational religion. It started off as a religion and theology from below. The Holy Spirit worked in the first place through the body of Jesus. He was bodily conceived by the Holy Spirit and was bodily filled with the Spirit. Therefore, incarnational theology should challenge metaphysic and dualistic thought. The bodies of women and homosexual persons should be taken as sites of revelation in the creation of theology. Those Bible passages that jeopardize homosexual persons and women should either be removed or should be identified as unacceptable to the Christian faith. The homosexual person should be able to celebrate the homosexual body without apology. (Lilly Nortje-Meyer, The Homosexual Body without Apology: A Positive Link between the Canaanite Woman in Matthew 15:21-28 and Homosexual Interpretation of Biblical Texts, Religion and Theology 9/1&2 (2002), 119-133) The crux of the matter, it seems to me, is simply that the Bible has no sexual ethic. There is no biblical sex ethic. Instead, it exhibits a variety of sexual mores, some of which changed over the thousand year span of biblical history. Mores are unreflective customs accepted by a given community. Many of the practices that the Bible prohibits, we allow, and many that it allows, we prohibit. The Bible knows only a love ethic, which is constantly being brought to bear on whatever sexual mores are dominant in any given country, or culture, or periodOur moral task, then, is to apply Jesus love ethic to whatever sexual mores are prevalent in a given culture. This doesnt mean everything goes. It means that everything is to be critiqued by Jesus love commandmentApproached from the point of view of the Spirit rather than the letter, the question ceases to be What does Scripture command? and becomes What is the Word that the Spirit speaks to the churches now, in the light of Scripture, tradition, theology, and, yes, psychology, genetics, anthropology, and biology? We cant continue to build ethics on the basis of bad science. (Walter Wink, Homosexuality and the Bible, www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-biblewalter-wink, 9-10)

Philosophic Principles 1. 2. 3. 4. 47

Issues Notebook 5. Specific Hermeneutical Arguments: - Genesis 19 The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not homosexuality but inhospitality. The
Hebrew term yada is only used 10 of 943 times to refer to sex, and every time it refers to heterosexual sex. The Mosaic law prohibited homosexuality because of its specific social need for procreation. Prescientific Israel believed that life was in the male seed. Hence homosexuality or masturbation was equivalent to murder. Laws such as Lev. 18:22 and 20:13 are often dismissed along with the rest of the law (wearing two types of fabric, shaving, tattoos, etc.). These specific laws referred only to prohibiting the practice of the fertility cult like the surrounding cultures. Jesus never condemned homosexuality. In fact, he promoted acceptance and love of all people. The Bible is not against natural, loving homosexual relationships but sexual perversion. In other words perversion is wrong. What is wrong (in Romans 1:27) is heterosexuals engaging in homosexual acts. This is unnatural.

Various linguistic questions: Paul's prohibitions are not against homosexuality in general but male prostitution (arsenokoitai literally male-beds, 1 Cor 6:9; 1 Tim 1:10) or pederasty (malakos, 1 Cor 6:9; also occasionally interpreted by the early church as masturbation), in particular. Is Paul condemning the behavior or the person? The Bible, if read carefully, shows the vestiges of homosexual lovers. David and Jonathan, I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. (2 Sam. 1:26) One scholar, Theodore Jennings, has even claimed that Jesus had a same sex lover (the beloved disciple).

For a helpful evaluation of these arguments from a former homosexual see Joe Dallas, The Gay Gospel? (Eugene: Harvest House, 2007).

Final Evaluation of Advocacy Hermeneutics: Positive:

Negative:

48

Issues Notebook A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic From Slaves, Women, & Homosexuals by William Webb
SLAVERY Original Culture Slavery with many abuses Bible Slavery with better conditions and fewer abuses Our Culture Slavery eliminated and working conditions often improved Ultimate Ethic Slavery eliminated, improved working conditions, wages maximized for all, and harmony, respect and unified purpose between all levels in an organizational structure

WOMEN Original Culture Strong patriarchy with many abuses Bible Moderated patriarchy with fewer abuses Our Culture Secular egalitarianism with significantly improved status of women and an emphasis on individual rights, autonomy and selffulfillment Ultimate Ethic Ultra-soft patriarchy or complementary egalitarianism and interdependence, mutuality and servant-like attitude in relationships

HOMOSEXUALS Original Culture Mixed acceptance and no restrictions of homosexual activity Bible Negative assessment and complete restriction of homosexual activity Our Culture Almost complete acceptance and no restrictions of homosexual activity Ultimate Ethic Negative assessment and complete restriction of homosexual activity and greater understanding and compassion, utilization of a sliding scale of culpability, and variation in the degree of negative assessment based on the type of samesex activity.

49

Issues Notebook

Hermeneutics and the Emerging (Emergent) Church

A trademark feature of the emerging movement is that we believe all theology will remain a conversation about the Truth who is God in Christ through the Spirit, and about God's story of redemption at work in the church. No systematic theology can be final. In this sense, the emerging movement is radically Reformed. It turns its chastened epistemology against itself, saying, "This is what I believe, but I could be wrong. What do you think? Let's talk. (Scot McKnight, Five Streams of the Emerging Church, Christianity Today, February 2007, 38) Our interpretations reveal less about God or the Bible than they do about ourselves. They reveal what we want to defend, what we want to attack, what we want to ignore, what were unwilling to question. (Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian, 50)

What is the Emerging Church? 1. Definitions

The emerging church or emergent church is a diverse movement within Christianity that arose in the late 20th century as a reaction to the influence of modernism in Western Christianity. The movement is usually called a "conversation" by its proponents to emphasize its diffuse nature with contributions from many people and no explicitly defined leadership or direction. The emerging church seeks to deconstruct and reconstruct Christianity as its mainly Western members live in a postmodern culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_Church "The EM [emerging movement] is a missionally shaped ecclesiology that seeks to unite Christians for the sake of unleashing the gospel to change the world, rather than a theological movement designed to demand conformity on specific theological issues." Scot McKnight: Emerging Church: The Future or Fad?

A Couple of Summary Observations

2.

Differences between Emergent and the emerging church? a. Emerging is a broad term used to describe primarily a ____________________ of following Jesus within a postmodern culture. b. Emergent (specifically Emergent Village) is the name of an organization which is largely focused on Christian ___________________ done within a postmodern context.

Some Characteristics of the Emerging Church: 1. It is not a rigidly defined group. It is a self-labeled ________________ or ___________________. Emergents can generally be placed into three categories: a. Relevants b. Reconstructionists c. Revisionists 50

Issues Notebook 2. It is reactionary: a. Against b. Against c. Against 3. What is the emerging church for? (Scot McKnight Five Streams of the Emerging Church in Christianity Today, Feb. 2007) a. b. c. d. e. Emerging Hermeneutics: 1. Soft on ____________________. The critique that the EC gives is that traditional evangelicals have focused too much on defining what scripture is and not enough on what scripture does. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. _______________ over _______________. ________________ theology Rediscovering _______________. ____________________ emphasis. There is an interest on the communal implications of the text rather than the individual. __________________ theology. Systematic theologies are man-made patterns imposed on the text, and they only cause disagreement and strife.

The coordinators of Emergent have often been asked (usually by their critics) to proffer a doctrinal statement that lays out clearly what they believe. I am merely a participant in the conversation who delights in the ongoing reformation that occurs as we bring the Gospel into engagement with culture in ever new ways. But I have been asked to respond to this ongoing demand for clarity and closure. I believe there are several reasons why Emergent should not have a "statement of faith" to which its members are asked (or required) to subscribe. Such a move would be unnecessary, inappropriate and disastrous. Why is such a move unnecessary? Jesus did not have a "statement of faith." He called others into faithful relation to God through life in the Spirit. As with the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, he was not concerned primarily with whether individuals gave cognitive assent to abstract propositions but with calling persons into trustworthy community through embodied and concrete acts of faithfulness. The writers of the New Testament were not obsessed with finding a final set of propositions the assent to which marks off true believers. Paul, Luke and John all talked much more about the mission to which we

51

Issues Notebook
should commit ourselves than they did about the propositions to which we should assent. The very idea of a "statement of faith" is mired in modernist assumptions and driven by modernist anxieties. (Continue reading LeRon Shults at http://emergent-us.typepad.com/emergentus/2006/05/doctrinal_state.html)

Some Reading:
"Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church" D.A. Carson (critique) "Emerging Churches" Eddie Gibbs & Ryan Bolger Evangelicals Engaging Emergent William D. Henard and Adam W. Greenway eds. (critique) "A Generous Orthodoxy" Brian McLaren A New Kind of Christian Brian McLaren Truth and the New Kind of Christian: the Emerging Effects of Postmodernism in the Church R. Scott Smith (critique) "The Emerging Church" Dan Kimball "Re-imagining Spiritual Formation" Doug Pagitt "The Church within Emerging Culture" Leonard Sweet ed. Why Were Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be Kevin DeYoung, Ted Kluck, and David Wells (critique)

Evaluation and Critique: 1. Strengths?

2.

Weaknesses?

52

Issues Notebook

Restoration Interpretation
Evaluate the following slogans of the RM for what they are saying about biblical interpretation: Union in Truth Where Scripture, speaks we speak. Where Scripture is silent, we are silent. No creed but Christ. In essentials unity, in opinions liberty, and in all things love. Some Basic Characteristics of Restoration Movement Hermeneutics: 1. The appeal to the ____________________________. a. Inerrant is about: b. Inerrancy is not about:

2.

The appeal to _______________________. a. Campbell and others were impacted by a branch of philosophy called _______________________________. b. Thomas Reid was one of the early formulators of this philosophy which developed the concept of a ______________________________ resident in all members of humanity. c. Common Sense Realism said that given the same body of facts, the majority of normal thinking people ______________________________.

There is a law written on every human heart, which is the foundation of both law and prophets, under which both angels and men exist; whose obligation is universal and eternal. It is inscribed more or less distinctly on every heathens heart. It is sometimes called the law of nature, but more correctly called by the apostle, conscience. Alexander Campbell in the Sermon on the Law. (Sept. 1, 1816)

3.

The appeal to __________________________. a. Based on the scientific pursuit of __________________. Purely ______________ study of the facts.

J.S. Lamar in The Organon of Scripture (1859) The scriptures admit of being studied and expounded upon the principles of the inductive method; and that, when thus interpreted, they speak to us in a voice as certain and unmistakable as the language of nature heard in the experiments and observations of science. Methodological Common Senseis connected with the American exaltation of Francis Bacon. It is the assertion that truths about consciousness, the world, or religion must be built by a strict induction from irreducible facts of experienceThis aspect of the Common Sense Tradition, which contributed its share

53

Issues Notebook
to the general scientism of nineteenth-century American intellectual life, played an unusually large role in evangelical thought. Early in the nineteenth century, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Disciples, and Episcopalians, in journals ranging from Bibliotheca Sacra to The New Englander, asserted generally, as Presbyterian James W. Alexander put it specifically, that the theologian should proceed in his investigation precisely as the chemist or botanist proceeds[This] is the method which bears the name of Bacon. Mark Noll in David L. Little, Inductive Hermeneutics and the Early Restoration Movement in Stone-Campbell Journal 3 (Spring, 2000): 13-14.

4.

The appeal to ___________________________.

Appeal to the understanding of the common populace found particular resonance in the religious life of America. It addressed several topical issues of the time, including the proclamation of certainty among religious confusion, a confidence in the ordinary mind to understand Gods word, a return to biblical language for clarity, and an equalizing factor between the clergy and the laity. That pious individuals could upon their Bibles for themselves and understand it without the intercessory services of the clergy was a revolutionary idea in tune with the early American ethos. Echoing the rhetoric of the American Constitution, Alexander Campbell, among many others, called for the inalienable right of all laymen to examine the sacred writings for themselves. David L. Little, Inductive Hermeneutics and the Early Restoration Movement in Stone-Campbell Journal 3 (Spring, 2000): 18.

5.

_____________________________: Campbells Sermon on the Law (Sept. 1, 1816) proposed a hermeneutic that was seen as a radical departure from much of the prevailing biblical understanding of his day. a. A.C. makes a clear distinction ____________________________. b. Christians are ________________________. c. There is no need to preach law for ______________________.

Now to apply to one individual what is said to all individuals and classes of individuals, would, methinks, appear egregious folly. And would it not be as absurd to say, that every man is obliged to practice every duty and religious precept enjoined in the Bible. Might we not as reasonable say, that every man must be at once a Patriarch, a Jew, and a Christian; a magistrate, a subject, a father, a child, a master, a servant, etc. And certainly, it is as inconsistent to say, that Christians should equally regard and obey the Old and New Testament.

d. There is a false distinction between ______________________________. e. An understanding of the ____________________________ is needed. Different Branches (divisions in the RM came down to hermeneutics): 1. Disciples of Christ 2. 3. Church of Christ (acappella) Independent Christian Church

Evaluation of RM hermeneutics: - Strengths:

54

Issues Notebook Weaknesses:

55

Issues Notebook
God has spoken by men, to men, for men. The language of the Bible is, then, human language. It is, therefore, to be examined by the same rules which are applicable to the language of any other book, and to be understood according to the true and proper meaning of the words, in their current acceptation, at the times and in the places in which they were originally written or translated. If we have a revelation from God in human language, the words of that volume must be intelligible by the common usage of language; they must be precise and determinate in signification, and that signification must be philologically ascertained-that is, as the words and sentences of other books are ascertained, by the use of the dictionary and grammar. Were it otherwise, and did men require a new dictionary and grammar to understand the Book of God,--then, without that divine dictionary and grammar, we could have no revelation from God; or a revelation that needs to be revealed is no revelation at all. Again, if any special rules are to be sought for the interpretation of the sacred writings, unless these rules have been given in the volume, as a part of the revelation, and are of divine authority;--without such rules, the Book is sealed; and I know of no greater abuse of language than to call a sealed book a Revelation. But the fact that God has clothed his communications in human language, and that he has spoken by men, to men, in their own language, is decisive evidence that he is to be understood as one man conversing with another. Righteousness, or what we sometimes call honesty, requires this; for unless he first made a special stipulation when he began to speak, his words were, in all candor, to be taken at the current value; for he that would contract with a man for any thing, stipulating his contract in the currency of the country, without any explanation, and should afterwards intimate that a Dollar with him meant only three Franks, would be regarded as a dishonest and unjust man. And shall we impute to the God of truth and justice what would blast the reputation of a fellowcitizen at the tribunal of political justice and public opinion! There is a distance which is properly called the speaking distance, or the hearing distance, beyond which the voice reaches not, and the ear hears not. To hear another, we must come within that circle which the voice audibly fills. Now we may with propriety say, that as it respects God, there is an understanding distance. All beyond that distance cannot understand God; all within it can easily understand him in all matters of piety and morality. God himself is the centre of that circle, and humility is its circumference. The wisdom of God is as evident in adapting the light of the Sun of Righteousness to our spiritual vision, as in adjusting the light of day to our eyes. The light reaches us without an effort of our own; but we must open our eyes; and if our eyes be sound, we enjoy the natural light of heaven. There is a sound eye in reference to spiritual, as well as in reference to material light. Now, while the philological principles and rules of interpretation enable many men to be skilful in biblical criticism, and in the interpretation of words and sentences, who neither perceive nor admire the things represented by those words, the sound eye contemplates the things themselves, and is ravished with the spiritual and divine scenes which the Bible unfolds. The whole Christian religion, in its facts, its precepts, its promises, its doctrine, its institutions, is presented to the world in a written record. The writings of Prophets and Apostles contain all the divine and supernatural knowledge in the world. Now, unless these sacred writings can be certainly interpreted, the Christian religion never can be certainly understood. Every argument that demonstrates the necessity of such a written document as the Bible, equally demonstrates the necessity of fixed and certain principles or rules of interpretation: for without the latter, the former is of no value whatever to the world. All the differences in religious faith, opinion, and sentiment, amongst those who acknowledge the Bible, are occasioned by false principles of interpretation, or by a misapplication of the true principles. There is no law, nor standard,--literary, moral, or religious, that can coerce human thought or action, by only promulging or acknowledging it. If a law can effect any thing, our actions must be conformed to it. Were all students of the Bible taught to apply the same rules of interpretation to its pages, there would be a greater uniformity in opinion and sentiment than ever resulted from the simple adoption of any written creed. Alexander Campbell, The Bible-Principles of Interpretation, Millennial Harbinger 3 (January, 1846).

A brief example of overly-literalistic hermeneutics and arguments from silence

56

Issues Notebook
From H.E. Phillips, Church Officers and Organization, 1948. Question: Can one be an elder whose wife is dead, but he has believing children? Answer: If he is already an elder when his wife dies, I believe he can. But he should not be appointed to the office without a living wife. He must be the husband of one wife to be appointed. Question: Is it wrong for a woman to lead the singing or serve at the Lords Table when there is only one man present, and will not take public part? There are no men members except this one man who is an elder? Answer: The first thing I will say is that you do not have an elder in the sight of the Lord. He may be called an elder by you, but he is not. There are two reasons why he cannot be an elder there. There must be more than one elder. He is not qualified if he cannot serve at the Lords Table and do other public work. No, it is not right for a woman to lead singing or serve at the Lords Table when there is a male member of the church present. The women are to be in silence and in subjection to the man. Question: If a congregation has three elders and two of them die, cannot the one elder continue to oversee this congregation? Answer: No, for then that congregation would have only one elder, which is unscriptural. Question: Could not a bachelor be an elder if he has had experience with children such as a school teacher? Does not his family mean experience to guide? Answer: No. One could be a Christian just as well without repenting as one could be an elder without having one wife. Notice this language: A bishop then MUST be blameless, THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE (Titus 1:6). One does discredit to the word of God to disregard this plain statement. Question: Why must an elder have more than one child to qualify? Answer: That, probably, is one of the easiest questions Ill have to answer. The answer is simply: The Holy Spirit said so. That ought to close the matter. Both times Paul said an elder must have children. That is the answer as I understand the question. Question: Our minister says that an elder does not have to have children to qualify. He says the passage means if they have children they must be faithful. Answer: Many people would be far better off if they would give more attention to what the Bible says and less attention to what their minister says. Many denominationalists say their minister says that baptism is not essential to salvation, or that instrumental music is all right in the worship. What would you tell them? Your minister is wrong about what he said. He crosses what Paul plainly said to Titus. Paul said in the Galatian letter, but though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. So, as your minister has preached another gospel other than the one Paul preached, let him be accursed! Question: Is one qualified for the eldership who sees nothing wrong with mechanical music in the worship, but does not insist upon having it? Answer: No. Such men lack MUCH training in the way of the Lord. It is a dangerous thing for the church to have such men in the eldership. One who can worship with or without the instrument doesnt know what it means to worship in spirit and in truth. Question: Is a congregation scriptural with only one deacon? Answer: I do not understand how it could. Every bit of instruction regarding the deacons and their duties always speak of them in the plural and never in the singular sense. Every church in the New Testament times had elders and deacons. I am sure that is what every church should have today.

57

Issues Notebook

Pentecostal Interpretation
If the church had a more dynamic sense of Gods inspiration in the twentieth century, it would be more effective in its witness and outreach. It is well and good to protect the distinctiveness of the Bible, but to think only in terms of its inspiration as absolutely different in kind from inspiration in our time is too high a price to pay. Christians today need to have the same sense of being God-motivated and God-sent as did the biblical writers and interpreters. In a genuine sense, the difficulty of interpreting Gods record of revelation to this complex age requires as much of Gods inbreathing and wisdom as did the process of interpretation in the biblical periods. (Dewey Beegle, Scripture, Tradition, and Infallibility, 309) Pentecostals, in spite of some of their excesses, are frequently praised for recapturing for the church her joyful radiance, missionary enthusiasm, and life in the Spirit. But they are at the same time noted for bad hermeneuticsFirst, their attitude toward Scripture regularly has included a general disregard for scientific exegesis and carefully thought-out hermeneutics. In fact, hermeneutics has simply not been a Pentecostal thing. Scripture is the Word of God and is to be obeyed. In place of scientific hermeneutics there developed a kind of pragmatic hermeneuticsobey what should be taken literally; spiritualize, allegorize, or devotionalize the restSecondly, it is probably fairand importantto note that in general the Pentecostals experience has preceded their hermeneutics. In a sense, the Pentecostal tends to exegete his experience. (Gordon Fee, Hermeneutics and Historical PrecedentA Major Problem in Pentecostal Hermeneutics in Russell P. Spittler, ed., Perspectives on the New Pentecostalism, 119-122)

Some basic presuppositions: 1. 2. Because Scripture originates in the Spirit, it can only be properly interpreted ______________________. This is of course not new:

3. for every believer.

The description of the early church is _________________

4. The charismatic experience ______________________the hermeneutical task. Evaluations: 1. Pentecostals acknowledge ___________________________ in the text. The big difference between Pentecostal and postmodern readings 2. Pentecostals suffer from one of the same weaknesses of the Restoration Movement. 3. The problem of _______________and________________. 58

Issues Notebook 4. in interpretation. The problem of __________________

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

From the Assemblies of God official website: http://ag.org/top/beliefs/gendoct_02_baptismhs.cfm The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a vital experience of the Christian life. It is a special work of the Spirit beyond salvation. On the Day of Pentecost, disciples who had already made a decision to follow Jesus "were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues" (Acts 2:4). Paul asked the Ephesians disciples if they had received the Holy Spirit, after which "the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues" (Acts 19:2). New Testament believers were constantly challenged to be filled with the Spirit (Acts 1:4,5; Ephesians 5:18). The Assemblies of God is committed to the baptism in the Holy Spirit because the experience is such an important focus of New Testament Christianity. Though many non-Pentecostals teach a baptism in the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues, the position of the Assemblies of God is clearly declared in Section 8 of its Statement of Fundamental Truths: "The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4)." The evidence always occurred (and still does today) at the time believers were baptized in the Spirit, not at some indeterminate future time. Speaking in tongues is the only phenomenon mentioned every time Scripture supplies details concerning the Baptism experience. Of the five instances in Acts which recount the experience of believers being baptized in the Spirit, three supply details. Speaking in tongues is the only one that occurs each time (Acts 2, 10, 19). In the Acts 10 account, tongues is specifically mentioned as proof that "the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues" (Acts 10:45, 46). The relationship between the phenomenon and the experience cannot be ignored. In the two cases where details are not supplied, circumstances strongly imply that speaking with other tongues accompanied the experience. In Acts 8 Simon saw something (most likely tongues) that prompted him to offer money for the power to impart such a gift. In Acts 9 Saul (who became Paul) is filled with the Spirit without the mention of any details. However, Paul later testified, "I speak in tongues more than all of you" (1 Corinthians 14:18). It is logical to conclude that he began speaking in tongues when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. We believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues is the promise of the Father to every Christian who desires the experience. CONCERNS: Pentecostals have a legitimate concern about those who oppose the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Opponents claim narrative portions of the Bible, like the Book of Acts, are not sufficient support for tongues as the initial evidence of the Baptism. But if critics can pick and choose the portions of Scripture to be given divine authenticity and authority, who then determines which portions are most meaningful? Certainly we must take to heart the words of Paul to Timothy, "All scripture is God breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). We also have a concern that some Pentecostals look on the Baptism and tongues as ends in themselves rather than as means to a much greater end. The Baptism is the entry experience introducing the believer to the beauty and power of the Spirit-filled life. In the Assemblies of God we believe the Spirit is at work in all Christians, whether they have been baptized in the Spirit or not. God can also use and does use Christians who for one reason or another have not received the Baptism

59

Issues Notebook
experience. We must never depreciate their ministry. Yet we recognize the baptism in the Holy Spirit will make ones life and ministry even more effective. So for every believer the command is sounded, "Be filled [Keep on being filled] with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

60

Issues Notebook

What is The Role of the Holy Spirit in Interpretation?

The Spirit as divine author: - ______________ Holy Spirits work in the lives of the human authors of Scripture with the result that they wrote what God wanted to communicate (2 Tim. 3:16). This is a _________________________. - _______________ Holy Spirits work of bringing believers to understand and receive the truth of Scripture. This is an ________________________. Scripture and illumination: - 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 - 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 - John 14-16 The ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 14-16 (from Erickson, 69): 1. The Holy Spirit will _______________ believers all things and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had taught them (14:26). 2. The Holy Spirit will witness to _____________ (15:26-27). 3. The Holy Spirit will ________________ the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8). 4. The Holy Spirit will ______________ believers into all the ___________. He will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears (16:13). In the process, he will also glorify ______________ (16:14). Issues with the Holy Spirit and interpretation: 1. Can we understand (interpret) Gods word apart from the Holy Spirit? 2. 3. 4. What might we expect the Holy Spirit to do in interpretation? What should we not expect the Holy Spirit to do in interpretation? What is our authority in interpretation?

61

Issues Notebook How the Holy Spirit Helps in Interpretation

By Mark Moore

I.

What the Holy Spirit Does: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. He inspired and produced the Bible, especially including its prophecies (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21). Therefore, He speaks and guides through the Scriptures (Psa 119:105; Heb 4:12). Through indwelling, he creates an affinity between us and God so that we understand his mind, heart and thus the major themes of the Bible (1 Cor 2:10-16; Gal 5:18-23). Helps apply the text in relevant ways to our present situation both personally and to the church body (1 John 2:27; 1 Thess 4:9). Helps us during evangelistic opportunities to recalls texts that we have studied (Mt 10:19). Makes us wise, transforming our minds (Eph 1:17; Col 1:9), and actions (Rom 8:13), so that we are able to live out the Word. Thus we understand it existentially as well as cognitively. Convicts us of sin so that we can read the text more honestly (Jn 16:8). Develops and appetite in us for the Word of God. Gives us gifts whereby we implement and minister the Word of God to others (teaching & preaching), (1 Cor 12:7-11, 28-30). May speak through the shared thinking and wisdom of the Elders or even the church body at large (1 Cor 14:24-33; 1 Tim 4:14).

II.

What the Holy Spirit Does not do: 10. Eliminate the need for Bible study, research tools, or common sense by granting an individual a supernatural experience. 11. Clear up the meaning of every passage. 12. Make your interpretation infallible. 13. Give us information that is hidden in the text that no one else in the church (or in church history), has been able to find. 14. Contradict himself by speaking in opposition to other passages.

III.

What the Holy Spirit Might Do . . . (But don't count on it pal!): 15. Grant sudden flashes of insight into the meaning of a verse. 16. Speak to us verbally or through dreams and visions. (He may but I wouldn't count on it for Sunday's sermon). 17. Work merely through subjective feelings. 18. Grant new revelation for the church.

62

Issues Notebook

Roman Catholic Interpretation

Observations from Montague:

Assumptions in Catholic Hermeneutics: 1. Scripture is the __________________________ and _______________________ of the Church. 2. The traditions of the church have developed over time (__________________ of doctrine). a. These are the ______________________ used to explain the Bible correctly and to keep it alive in the Church. b. They reject the principle of ____________________ of the Reformation. 3. The Bible can only be accurately understood and applied through the help of the _________________. The primary authority is the _________________ rather than the _______________. 4. The Holy Spirit is active in interpretation on a ___________________ level rather than _____________________. 5. ____________________ and __________________ are the keys to church unity. Other Characteristics of Catholic Interpretation: 1. 3. 4. Catholic uses of the Bible: a. _________________ The Biblical imagery is used in corporate worship, primarily being read without being interpreted. b. _________________ The Scriptures play a role in the sacraments, affording them almost mystical power. c. _________________ The Word speaks to the Christian personally and sometimes mystically. d. _________________ The Scriptures, studied academically, help shape the doctrine and practice of the church.

63

Issues Notebook Selected quotes from Montague, Understanding the Bible, see pages 187-193 But in order to keep the Gospel forever whole and alive within the Church, the Apostles left bishops as their successors, handing over to them the authority to teach in their own place. This sacred tradition, therefore, and Sacred Scripture of both the Old and New Testaments are like a mirror in which the pilgrim Church on earth looks at God, from whom she has received everything, until she is brought finally to see Him as He is, face to face. Hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the Word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this Word of God faithfully explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently, it is not from Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence. Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, committed to the Church. The task of authentically interpreting the Word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This teaching office is not above the Word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit; it draws from this one deposit of faith everything which it presents for belief as divinely revealed. It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with Gods most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.

64

Issues Notebook

Hermeneutics in Everyday Life (from Playing With Fire, Walt Russell, page 49)
Suppose youre traveling to work (on an east-west road) and you see a stop sign. What do you do? That depends on how you exegete the stop sign: 1. 2. A postmodernist deconstructs the sign (that is, knocks it over with his car) ending forever the tyranny of the north-south traffic over the east-west traffic. Similarly, a Marxist sees a stop sign as an instrument of class conflict. He concludes that the bourgeoisie use the north-south road and obstruct the progress of the workers on the east-west road. A serious and educated Catholic believes that he cannot understand the stop sign apart from its interpretive community and their tradition. Observing that the interpretive community doesnt take it too seriously, he doesnt feel obligated to take it too seriously either. An average Catholic (or Orthodox or Anglican or Methodist or Presbyterian or Coptic or whoever) doesnt bother to read the sign, but hell stop if the car in front of him does. A fundamentalist, taking the text very literally, stops at the stop sign and waits for it to tell him to go. A preacher might look up STOP in his lexicon and discover that it can mean: 1) something which prevents motion, such as a plug for a drain, or a block of wood that prevents a door from closing; or, 2) a location where a train or bus lets off passengers. The big idea of his sermon the next Sunday on this text is: When you see a stop sign, it is a place where traffic is naturally clogged, so it is a good place to let off passengers from your car. An orthodox Jew takes another route to work that doesnt have a stop sign so that he doesnt risk disobeying the Law.

3.

4.

5. 6.

7.

65

Issues Notebook

Meaning and Authority in Interpretation

Approach
Literal/Historicalgrammatical Allegory/Spiritualisti c

Meaning is located
In the text Beyond the text

Hermeneutical authority
Human author of scripture Holy Spirit Historical faith community Reason/science

Question
What is the authors intended meaning? Is there a deeper spiritual meaning in the text? What has everywhere, by all, been believed? Does this make sense? What is the decision called for? Does this interpretation encourage social change and justice? Is this interpretation in keeping with accepted theology?

Traditional/Authorita In the Church tive Rational/Positivistic Existential Liberationist/Advoca cy Theological/Dogmati c Human reason

In our encounter Authenticity/experie with the text nce In social circumstances In the dogma Sociological community Theological community

66

Issues Notebook

Psychology of Interpretation
Question: What role does the reader play in interpretation? Total subjectivity is ____________________. o The Bible assumes ___________________. o Perhaps this is where the ____________________ becomes important. Total objectivity is ______________________. o We observe that Christians are often influenced by o We observe that a high view of scripture o We observe that scripture is often used Psychology and Interpretation 1. The human brain does not passively receive information. a. Our brains are at work in ____________________: b. Our brains are at work in ____________________: i. _______________________assigning new data to an old paradigm where they fit. ii. _______________________altering the paradigm to fit the new data. c. Generally speaking, our paradigms (presuppositions) are established and resilient. i. We categorize based on _____________ and _______________ needs. ii. Categorization is not merely _________________ but is also based on ________________ and _______________. 2. Psychological filters of interpretation. a. ________________ emotional states, needs, pains, dreams. i. ____________________________: A person may distort reality in an attempt to reduce anxiety. 67

Issues Notebook ii. ____________________________: Our image of authority (good or bad) is transferred to the Bible. b. _________________ style. i. How does personality affect biblical interpretation? ii. Christian psychologists speak in terms of the ___________________ person and the ________________ person. c. _________________ expectations. i. We fill-in-the-blanks based on assumptions or past experiences. ii. _______________ psychology demonstrates how we intuitively fill in the gaps making more out of the data than is actually there. d. __________________. Sociology and Interpretation 1. Social filters for interpretation: a. b. c. d. 3. Social Conformity is more likely when . . . a. When a person values the opinion of the group. b. When deviation is met with disapproval. c. When a group is very cohesive (group-think). d. When a persons self-esteem is lower. e. When a person is affirmation driven. f. When a person is comfortable.

68

Issues Notebook

Conclusions: 1. 2. We must be responsibly ______________________, not independent nor dependent. As much as possible, by recognizing cognitive, psychological, and social patterns of thinking, we should eliminate ___________________ when listening or reading others words. We are not psychology or sociological ___________________. Exposing ourselves to different perspectives can be helpful in this process. Observe from other ___________________, __________________, and ____________________ perspectives. The key question is this: Do we allow social conditions or personal biases to become the determining factor in our method of hermeneutic?

3.

4.

69

Issues Notebook

Meaning and Significance

The essential difference between meaning and significance: - Meaning: Significance:

The difficulty of getting from there to here: - Biblical situations where there are no _______________ today. Examples? Present situations where the Bible makes no ___________ statement. Examples? Biblical situations that are __________________ similar to present-day situations but are actually quite ______________. Examples? Biblical statements where there are _________________ teachings on the same issues. Examples? Biblical passages that may appear to contradict with __________________. Examples? Biblical issues that are unclear whether they are ___________________ or ____________________. Examples?

Two models of determining the significance of a passage: 1. Two step application: 2. Three step application: a. Determine the meaning for the original audience (_______________) b. Determine the timeless principle (____________________) c. Determine the significance for today (____________________)

Contextualization: - ________________ Model (traditional) This model begins with the Christian message which is beyond all culture. That message however must be put into new terms (translated) in order to communicate to a new culture. ________________ Model According to this model theology is conceived more in terms of an activity, a process, or a way of living. This model is often associated with liberation theologians. ________________ Model This model begins with existing human cultural and religious values. Theology is then plugged into these existing categories so that people may have a meaningful experience of the divine. 70

Issues Notebook ________________ Model This model attempts a balance of the others. It tries to find a middle road between the traditional emphasis on the gospel message and the anthropological emphasis on existing cultural traditions. Theology is both uniquely Christian and complimentary. ________________ Model This model is self-reflective. Only once the interpreter has experienced the text (almost mystically) is he/she ready to share that experience with others.

How to take a stand on difficult issues: 1. Take in the entire _________________ of scripture. 2. Study texts that are __________________ with each other. Does one present a general principle and the other a contextualization? Do they present two sides to the same issue? Are they really addressing the same issue? Identify how _________________ this issue is. Is it mere preference? Is it a question of salvation? a. If it is essential, are you prepared to sacrifice yourself for it? b. If it is not essential, are you prepared to damn someone over it? Is this a __________________ issue or a _________________ issue? Is this a weaker brother issue? How has this issue been understood ___________________? Understand all ___________________ and ________________ on an issue. Exegetically, do the difficult work of __________________________ analysis. Be open to changing your mind. Consult _________________ opinions. Am I disagreeing with someone from _____________________ or someone from outside of the Christian community? Is my position ___________________ or ________________ in scripture? Be sure that the issue is clearly ____________________. Sometimes the issue at hand is not really the issue at hand.

3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

71

Issues Notebook Transational Analysis: (From Zustiak and Eric Borne)

Theological Parent Values/Principles/Idealistic Divorce: God intended for one man and one woman to be married for life (Gen. 2:24; Mark 10:6-9). The Christian must always seek to uphold and live by Gods standard and not mans or the worlds. Regardless of personal feelings or experience, the Word of God must prevail and decide on all ethical issues, and especially that of marriage and divorce (Deut. 12:32; Ps. 19:7-11; 119:9-11; Is. 55:8-9; Jer. 23:25-29) Ecclesiastical Adult Responsibilities/Laws/Practical Divorce: The Church must uphold Gods standards in all areas, especially in the area of marriage and divorce. It needs to teach it and practice it. The church needs to protect and build strong marriages and families (Eph. 5:22-6:4; Col. 3:18-21) Personal Child Relational/Realistic Divorce: Repent of any sin pertaining to a divorce and to receive the forgiveness of God. The divorced need compassion, love, understanding and acceptance from the church.

Transactional analysis is based upon the idea that there are three different ego states within the mind of every person. Those ego states are called, parent, adult, and child. Smooth communication continues between two people as long as they have complimentary transactions. A complimentary transaction is any transaction where the communication is parallel, i.e. agreement on the ego states that are doing the communicating. Any time there is a crossed transaction, then communication stops and problems begin. This is because there is no agreement on the ego states of the sender and receiver. An Example: (From a friend on Facebook) No one should be allowed to talk about the gay issue unless they have enough points. This is how you get your points... 10 if you have considered and studied the relevant biblical passages 10 if you have actually read the six passages about homosexuality in the Bible 20 if you have read other passages that might affect the way you read those six passages 5 if you have read one or more books that reinforce the position you already hold 25 if you have read one or more books arguing the opposite position 10 if you have spent three hours reading websites showing a variety of views 50 for every friend you have who's been through an ex-gay ministry 50 for every friend who's been through an ex-gay ministry that didn't work 50 for every friend who's gay and in a long-term committed relationship 50 for every friend who's gay and not in a committed relationship 50 for every parent you've listened to whose child is gay When you have 3,000 points, you can speak on the issue.

12.

Is your opinion based on _______________ or ___________________? Do you take the stand you do because that is what you are convinced scripture says or because of your unique cultural background? 72

13.

Issues Notebook Avoid fallacies - **Unwarranted or hasty generalization This is the fallacy of forming a conclusion based on insufficient data or evidence. - Post hoc This is the fallacy of thinking that an event which follows another in necessarily caused by the other. - Non sequitur This is the fallacy of drawing conclusions that dont necessarily follow from the facts argued. - **Begging the question This is the fallacy of assuming something as true when it actually needs to be proven. - Ignoring the question This is the fallacy of appealing to emotion rather than logic, or ignore the issue at hand. - False analogy This is the fallacy of comparing things in one respect in order to claim they are alike in another unknown respect. - **Either/or fallacy This is the fallacy of reasoning that there are only two possible choices. - **Ad hominem This is the fallacy of attacking the character of the opponent rather than their propositions or ideas. - **Poisoning the well Related to ad hominem attacks, this is the fallacy that involves introducing unfavorable information about a person in order to discredit their claims. - Red herring This is the fallacy of introducing information for the purpose of distraction. - Ad populum This is the fallacy of assuming that whatever the masses believe is also true. - **Straw man arguments This is the fallacy of simply ignoring a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. Be __________________.

14.

73

Issues Notebook

Millennial Issues
The central biblical texts in question - Revelation 20:1-10 - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 The five major views of the millennium - Historic Premillennialism - Dispensational Premillennialism - Postmillennialism - Amillennialism - Preterism What determines your millennial position? - Your ______________. Which texts you start with: o HP o DP o PostM o AM o Preterism Hermeneutical approach to _________________ (literal or literary). ________________ and ________________ climate. o __________________ fuels postmillennialism. o __________________ fuels premillennialism. o __________________ fuels amillennialism.

A Brief History: 1. Premillennialism (Historic and not dispensational). a. First seen near ________________ in the second century through Papias. b. Irenaeus justified the need for a literal 1,000 years as a preparatory time for practicing purity before ______________. c. Dominant view for the first __________ centuries of the Church. 2. Amillennialism. a. Gained ground when the church became _________________ and ______________________. b. ____________________ himself converted from a PreM position to an AM position. c. 431the Council of ________________ condemned a literal, earthly 1000 year reign as ____________________. 74

Issues Notebook d. Dominant through the ___________________. Many believed that Christ would return at 1000 or 1033. 3. Reformation: a. Typically, the Reformers maintained their amillennialism. Luther and Calvin interpreted the _______________ as the anti-Christ. b. Protestants interpreted Revelation as __________ while Catholics interpreted as _____________. Postmillennialism: a. First espoused by ___________________. b. Postmillennialist were actively involved in political and social ___________ especially abolition, womens suffrage, temperance, etc. c. PostM led to the American view of _____________________. d. PostM died in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. Premillennialism Revival: a. Contemporary PreM has its roots in the __________________ of England in 1830John Darby who also introduced the idea of a pretribulation rapture from 2 Thess. 2:7. b. Cyrus Ingerson Scofield popularized dispensationalism with the publication of The ______________ Reference Bible in 1909. c. Reasons: i. Response against liberalism. ii. Response to social events.

4.

5.

Historic Premillennialism 1. Basic Beliefs: a. The first resurrection comes at the second coming of Christ; the second comes after the millennium. b. Christ returns before the millennium, which is inaugurated with cataclysmic events (the tribulation). c. The millennium will be a literal 1000 years with Christ reigning literally from Jerusalem, and the curse being removed from nature. 2. How Historic and Dispensational Pre differ: a. HP believes in a post-trib rapture. b. The church is spiritual Israel, fulfilling many promises to Abraham. c. The one way to salvation is grace through faith in all covenants. d. The blessed hope of Titus 2:13 is the coming Christ not the rapture. e. The difference is hermeneutical: Which testament gets priority? HP starts with the NT while DP starts with the OT. 3. How HP and AM differ: a. They believe God still has a plan for national Israel. The lines between the Church and Israel and not completely erased. b. They believe than earthly reign of Christ is essential to NT Christology (Phil. 2:10-11they think of Millennium, we think of judgment) 75

4.

5.

Issues Notebook c. They cling to a literal hermeneutic esp. with Rev. 20. Biblical Basis: a. Critical Texts: Rev. 19, 20; Is. 2:1-4; Rom. 11 b. Post-Tribulation Rapture: i. Believers have never been exempt from suffering (John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3; 1 Thess. 3:3; 1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3; Rev. 1:9). ii. The second coming of Christ is presented after the Tribulation. iii. The parousia, not the rapture is the hope of Christians (1 Thess. 2:19, 3:13; James 5:7-8; 1 John 2:28). iv. The dominant rapture texts cannot be separated from the parousia (John 14:3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18) Critique: a. HP is criticized for inconsistency on two fronts: their view of Israel and their literal hermeneutic. b. Critics also complain about their emphasis on a future kingdom in light of Luke 12:27, 22:29, 17:20-21; John 18:36. In addition, certain texts seem incongruous with a millennial kingdom (Matt. 22:30; 1 Cor. 15:50; Matt. 13:41-43). c. Critics complain of two resurrections and two judgments in light of John 5:28-29; Matt 13:41-43; 16:27; 25:31-34; 2 Thess. 1:9-10; Matt. 25:31-46. d. Christs final enemy is death, destroyed at the resurrection of believers. In the PM system this must wait until after the millennium. e. The claim that the modern HP is aligned with patristics is not altogether true. The patristics viewed Revelation as present; moderns must relegate it to future events.

Dispensational Premillennialism: 1. Basic Tenets: a. Human (biblical) history is divided into different periods or dispensations during which God works in different ways. Scofield has divided (2 Tim. 2:15rightly dividing . . .) this way: i. InnocenceGarden ii. ConscienceFall iii. Human GovernmentNoah iv. PromiseAbraham v. LawMoses vi. GraceChurch vii. KingdomMillennium b. A clear distinction between Israel and the church i. The church is a parenthesis (plan B). ii. The church is never mentioned in the OT or in the tribulation portion of Revelation 4-18. c. Literalist and Systematic approach to prophecy. d. DP is marked by (rigid) chronological schemes based on their hermeneutic. i. Pretribulation secret rapture of the church. 76

2.

Issues Notebook ii. Appearance of Anti-Christ on earth which open two three and a half year periods of tribulation culminating in the battle Armageddon. iii. Christ returns from heaven with his armies and wins the battle which inaugurates the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. iv. At the end of the 1000 years Jesus releases Satan, who gathers about him the unbelieving nations. Their rebellion is squelched by fire from heaven. Critique: a. Serious question as to the validity of purely literal interpretations of Messianic prophecy especially in light of Acts 2:15-21; 15:14-18; Heb. 8:612, etc. b. Is the Church really Gods plan B considering texts that point to Gentile inclusion (Is. 66:17-24; Zech. 14:16-21; etc.)? See also the withering critique of the old system in Hebrews 8-10. c. Is pre-trib rapture merely an ethnocentric delusion? Stanley Grenz in The Millennial Maze says, It is interesting to note that the type of dispensationalism that divines a specific end-time scenario focusing on military confrontation in the world and escape for believers is most popular in lands such as the United States where the church faces no persecution but where social problems appear to be spinning out of control. Could it be that this eschatological system is actually a form of modernism, caught in the escapism so prevalent in contemporary thinking? d. Inconsistent hermeneutic (millennium is literally 1000 years, but the seven churches of Rev. 2-3 are the seven dispensations and Rev. 4:1 is the rapture).

Postmillennialism 1. Basic Tenets a. The church will grow increasingly stronger until it dominates the world politically and socially. Optimistic view. b. The 1000 years is not literal and Jesus will reign from heaven through the word being preached, not from a throne in Jerusalem. c. Jesus will return after the Millennium, gather the saints, and destroy the earth. d. PM tend to be the most politically and evangelistically active. e. Many similarities with AM. 2. Revelation 19-20 a. Rev. 19:11-21 is figurative describing the battle between good and evil. This battle takes place from heaven (19:11) b. The key to understanding 19:15 is Heb. 4:12the sword = the word of God. c. Rev. 20 follows chronologically Rev. 19. 20:1the church has the chain to find Satan. 3. Matt. 28:18-20All authority means all authority (political and social) 4. Critique: a. Many differ with the interpretation of Rev. 19-20. 77

Issues Notebook b. Many point out the world is not getting better. PM would respond that this is shortsighted. There is general progress especially in the expanse of the gospel in the non-western world. c. Is optimism really warranted? (2 Tim. 3:1-5 and Matt. 24:4-8) Amillennialism 1. Basic tenets: a. The millennium is a non-literal reign of Christ. Most AM interpret it as the intermediate state of the saints in heaven. b. At the second coming, several things happened in quick succession: the bodily resurrection of righteous and wicked, victory over Satan and the beast, judgment, and the transformation of the earth. c. The Church is the new Israel. 2. AM hermeneutics a. The primacy of the NT over the OT. b. The clear interprets the ambiguous. 3. Critique: a. Is AM guilty of overspiritualizing various passages in prophetic books? b. There are different historical interpretations of Rev. 20. Preterism 1. Basic Tenets: a. Jesus return was figurative and invisible at 70 AD. This takes Jesus statements at face value (Matt. 10:23; 16:27-28; 24:34; 26:64; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27) and explains the NT passages that speak of the nearness of Jesus return (1 Cor. 7:29-31; 1 Thess. 4:15-18; James 5:7-9; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 John 2:18; Rev. 1:1) b. At the second coming in AD 70: the OC was destroyed forever, the plan of redemption was consummated, and the kingdom of God was established. c. The 1000 years figuratively is the wilderness wanderings of the church between AD 30 and 70. d. Jesus was seated at the right hand of the father only from 30 to 70. Since that time he has been on this earth in his glorified body. e. The great commission has been completed since the world has heard the message and the end of the age has come. We now dwell in the New Jerusalem in Christ. f. The Scriptures never predict the end of the world. 2 Peter 3:16 speaks of the worlds systems and Rev. 19-22 speak of the destruction of the temple ordinances. g. Revelation was penned prior to 70 AD hence 11:1-2 is a literal warning and was literally fulfilled. The 42 months were literally fulfilled between 66 and 70 AD.

78

Issues Notebook Conclusions: Hermeneutical issues - How do we interpret Revelation 20? - To what extent can a text mean something for us that it never could have meant for the original audience? - Is the purpose of apocalyptic to predict future realities or comfort in the present persecution? - How radically figurative are numbers, symbols, colors? - Should we focus on details or broad themes? - What is Israels relation to the church? - What is the relationship between OT prophecy (esp. Daniel) and NT apocalyptic? Were the specific events of Daniel fulfilled before the time of the NT? - Is the kingdom primarily heavenly/spiritual or worldly/sociopolitical or a combination of both? - How radical is the break between the present order of things and the future order of heaven of earth? - Does a thousand year earthly reign make sense (or seem in any way necessary) when placed alongside of other clear New Testament theology? - To what extent does our current cultural climate affect our eschatology?

79

Issues Notebook

Critical Questions of Revelation 20:4-6

Bob LoweryLCS

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

How does Revelation 20 fit in with the rest of the book? a. At various points in Revelation, the reader is brought to the end of the world (6:12-17; 11:15-19; 16:17-21) b. The downfall of Rome is an example of Gods final judgment of the whole world. c. Revelation 20 seems to be a concise summary of a major message presented in previous chapters. d. Structurally, Revelation 20 may be broken down as follows: i. Rev. 20:1-6 records happenings between Christs first and final comings. 1. 20:1-3 focuses on happenings on the earth. 2. 20:4-6 focuses on happenings in heaven. ii. Rev. 20:7-15 records happenings immediately preceding and following Christs coming. 1. 20:7-10 focuses on happenings on the earth. 2. 20:11-15 focuses on happenings before the judgment seat of God. When did the binding of Satan take place? a. A degree of restraint has been placed on Satan by God because of the death and resurrection of Christ (Rev. 1:5, 18; 12:5, 11-12; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14-15). b. Satan is bound in the sense that he cannot carry out his ultimate goalthe destruction of the church. Who does John see in Rev. 20:4-6? a. The souls of those who had died for their faith and those who had maintained their testimony. b. See NASB translation. Where are the souls described in Rev. 20:4-6? a. There is nothing to suggest that this reign is on earth. b. In fact, Revelation uses the words souls and thrones almost exclusively in heavenly scenes. What does it means they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years and this is the first resurrection? a. Both describe what happens to faithful Christians upon death: i. Death is likened to a resurrection. ii. A Christian will continue to be in relationship with Christ. Who are the rest of the dead and what does it mean that they lived not until the thousand years were completed? a. The opposite of those described in 20:4non-Christians. b. The word until does not automatically imply that non-Christians will reign when the thousand years are completed. The following glossary is proposed in light of the above: a. First death=physical death b. Second death=spiritual death c. First resurrection=the death of Christians who move from reigning with Christ in this life to reigning with him in the so-called intermediate state. d. Second resurrection=physical resurrection of all.

80

Issues Notebook

Millennial Views (from House, 87)

Amillennialism A single event; no distinction between Rapture and Second Coming; introduces eternal state General resurrection of believers and unbelievers at second coming of Christ. Postmillennialism A single event; no distinction between Rapture and Second Coming; Christ returns after the Millennium. General resurrection of believers and unbelievers at second coming Christ. Historic Premillennialism Rapture and Second Coming simultaneous; Christ returns to reign on earth. Resurrection of believers at beginning of Millennium. Resurrection of unbelievers at end of Millennium. Dispensational Premillennialism Second Coming in two phases; Rapture of the church; second coming to earth 7 years later. Distinction in two resurrections: 1. Church at Rapture; 2. Old Testament/Tribulation saints at the Second Coming; 3. Unbelievers at the end of the millennium. Distinction in judgment: 1. Believers works at Rapture; 2. Jews/Gentiles at end of Tribulation; 3. Unbelievers at the end of the Millennium. Pretribulation view: Church is raptured prior to Tribulation. At Second Coming Christ inaugurates literal 1,000 year Millennium on earth. Complete distinction between Israel and Church Distinct program for each.

The Second Coming of Christ

The Resurrection

General judgment of all people. Judgments

General judgment of all people.

Judgment at the Second Coming and at the end of the Tribulation.

Tribulation

Tribulation is experienced in this present age. No literal Millennium on earth after the second coming. Kingdom present in church age. Church is the new Israel. No distinction between Israel and the church.

Tribulation is experienced in this present age. Present age blends into Millennium because of progress of the gospel. Church is the new Israel. No distinction between Israel and the church.

Millennium

Israel/Church

Post-tribulation view: church goes through the future Tribulation. Millennium is both present and future. Christ is reigning in heaven. Millennium not necessarily 1,000 years. Some distinction is made between Israel and the church. Future for Israel, but church is spiritual Israel

81

Issues Notebook

Millennial Views: Strengths/Weaknesses

Strengths 1. This view seems to have the most natural reading of Rev. 20. 2. Its historic and early roots commend it as authoritative. 3. It attempts a balanced hermeneutic and exegesis. 1. 2. 3. 4. Weaknesses An earthly millennial kingdom seems anticlimactic. Inconsistent hermeneutic: Figurative/Literal; Israel/church The kingdom is mongrelresurrected and earthly A post-trib rapture seems odd. Secret rapture. The cross as plan B and a paused clock. Literal interpretation which ignores symbolism. Kingdom is only future for Israel. Unrealistic about the direction of the world. It is a late development and not widely supported. Arguing that most will be saved. Explains Rev. 19:11-21 as church growth not the parousia. Radically figurative in some texts, especially OT prophecy. Explanation of Satans binding and Rev. 20 are questioned by some.

Historic Premillennialism

Dispensational Premillennialism

1. Chronology. 2. Some value to a literal hermeneutic.

3. It engages the entire Bible into its eschatological scheme. 1. Positive and optimistic view of the progress of the Church. 2. Good exegesis of Matthew 13 and 28:1820. 1. Its based on 2 Peter 3 rather than apocalyptic literature. 2. Expectation of Jesus eminent return. 3. The kingdom is present now (Matt. 12:28). 1. It takes Jesus statements about his return literally. 2. Answer some difficult eschatological questions for apologists. 3. It gives strong impetus to improve the present world.

1.
2.

3.
4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1.

Postmillennialism

Amillennialism

2.

Preterist

1. This present world is our blessed hope? (1 Thess. 2:19) 2. Jesus return was invisible, even unnoticed (Matt. 24:27). 3. Death, pain, and tears are not destroyed. 4. Resurrected saints on this earth NOW is preposterous.

82

Primary Contemporary Issues in Hermeneutics

(Mark Moore)

1. Postmodernism The personal construction of meaning within a specific community of

believers which will be open to ancient wisdom. The issue of Biblical interpretation will not be what the text says, but what the text can do for our group.

2. Homosexuality Gay lifestyles will increasingly be touted as acceptable and normal

through media, education, and the internet. This will increase the occurrences of homosexual experimentation and behavior. As it becomes more main-stream, the church will face it not only as a moral issue but a social and exegetical issue as well.

3. Publication of the DSS Textual criticism of the N.T. that has long been a liberal tool of
attack against the inspiration of the Bible will now be expanded to the O.T. As this document is disseminated at the popular level, more individuals (including popular media personalities), will raise the issue of textual discrepancies in the Hebrew Bible.

4. The Rise of Terrorism and Islam On the one hand, society is frightened by any
fundamentalist group that believes in an inspired word from God. On the other hand, we are going out of our way to be fair-minded to Moslems and understand their views. At the same time, there is nothing in Islam that resembles the kind of historical/grammatical Bible study of Christianity.

5. Universal vs. Cultural This issue will be especially debated in womens roles and
sexual/reproductive ethics. Because of the social construction of reality, all ethical metanarratives (including the Bible), will be automatically suspect.

6. Intercultural Dialogue As the globe shrinks, especially through technology and

missions, we will discover at unprecedented intervals, just how divergent Biblical interpretation has been cross-culturally. Under this banner we will continue to proliferate special interest groups under the guise of Liberation Theology especially as it pertains to racial issues. This will, ultimately, cast serious doubt on the hegemony of the Authors Intended Meaning.

7. Electronic Resources will continue to narrow the gap between the scholar and the
layman who now has easy access to language tools and research that was formerly esoteric property of the intellectual elite.

8. The debate over meaning has moved from the department of Philosophy to the Literature
Department. Rather than talking about philosophic presuppositions and epistemology, we are arguing over redaction and genre. Such discussions have given rise to Structuralism and the supposed deeply imbedded structures that suggest mythical origins of the text. More recently, the Sociology Department as well as the Psychology Department has also thrown their hat into the ring, discussing how groups and individuals think and react to one another and their environment.

9. Millennialism Eschatology is huge, hence the popularity of the Left Behind series. This
not only affects our exegesis but also our approach to politics, ecology, and missions.

10.

The Return of Allegory It is back and as popular than ever.

83

Study Guide for Test 1

1. 2. Bring with you a grade master sheet, a pencil, and a blank sheet of paper. This test will cover lecture material from the first day of class up through the end of the lecture on the Middle Ages. Know the definition for key terms such as: hermeneutics, historical/grammatical method, exegesis, eisegesis, Mishnah, Midrash, Talmud, Halakah, Haggadah, pesher, allegory, catena, gloss, the three language heresy, authoritative exegesis, rule of faith, lectio divina, etc. I would go through your notes and highlight the definition of all new terms. You will be tested over your knowledge of key characters in the history of interpretation such as (but not limited to): Philo, Hillel, Origen, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Jerome, Augustine, Irenaeus, Diodorus of Tarsus, Clement of Alexandria, Gregory the Great, the Venerable Bede, Vincent, Thomas Aquinas, John Cassian, Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, etc. What was each character noteworthy for? Understand the differences between Antioch and Alexandria. What is the difference between allegory and typology? What was the impact of Platonic philosophy and Aristotelian philosophy on biblical interpretation? Understand the differences between rabbinic, Hellenistic, and Qumran interpretation. Where were they based? What were their literary works? How did they interpret scripture? What were Augustines three major rules for interpretation? Review how the apostles used scripture. What were some of their assumptions? How did they understand and use the Old Testament? Be prepared to explain the medieval four-fold understanding of scripture. You will be asked to fill in the Jerusalem chart given in class. What are some of the benefits/flaws of medieval hermeneutics? What are the three worlds of biblical interpretation? Reflect on the dangers of both individualistic interpretation and authoritative/traditional interpretation. What are your worldview presuppositions when it comes to interpretation?

3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

84

Study Guide for Test 2

1. 2. 3. Bring a grade master sheet, a pencil, and a blank sheet of paper with you for the test. The test will cover notes from the Reformation to Postmodern hermeneutics. What were the hallmarks of early humanistic hermeneutics? Know information about the following individuals: Descartes, Locke, Newton, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Spener, Baur, Welhausen, Schliermacher, Heidegger, Barth, Bultmann, Derrida, Fish, the Tubingen school, etc. Be able to recognize some of their major points of emphasis and their contributions to hermeneutics. Who said I think therefore I am? Who made the distinction between the Christ of faith and the Jesus of history? Why was this distinction made? What did the same interpreter mean by the need to demythologize the text? What did Barth mean when he said that the Bible becomes the word of God as we encounter it in faith? Who was the father of existential interpretation? What is existential interpretation? Who is associated with neo-orthodoxy? What is neo-orthodoxy? Who was most closely associated with deconstructionism? What are the major points of deconstructionism? What are the problems with deconstructionism? What is pietism? Who is often credited with founding this movement? Who was associated with reader-response? What is reader-response? What characterized Luther and Calvins hermeneutics? How were they different? What did they have in common? In what year did Luther post his 95 Theses? What practice led to Luthers major complaint with the Church? What is the Latin phrase that he used to talk about the superiority of scripture in the church? What role did certain scientists play in the beginnings of the modern period and the postmodern period? What were the three stages that interpretation must pass through according to Calvin? What would happen if we ignore one of these stages? Review the characteristics of postmodernism and postmodern interpretation that we mentioned in class. What are the key principles of postmodern thought? What distinguishes postmodernism from modernism? Review what events, ideas, and people led to the modern period and the postmodern time period. Know the definition of metanarrative, empiricism, deconstructionism, logocentrism, rationalism, romanticism, deism, etc. How did the Catholic Church respond to the Reformation? What church council did they hold to address the claims of the reformers? What is the difference between premodern, modern, and postmodern mindsets? What are the two types of readers that postmodernism creates? Of the three worlds of interpretation, which one is favored by a postmodern approach? Review the presuppositions of the historical-critical method. Review the different specific forms of higher criticism that were mentioned in class. Be able to identify them. What is the documentary hypothesis? What are the four letters used to represent this hypothesis? What one letter represents the source that some scholars believe is behind Matthew and Luke? Be able to thoughtfully reflect on the dangers and benefits of interpreting scripture in a postmodern context. Be able to present the six major hermeneutical schools of thought that we have observed so far this semester. What is the authority in each one of these schools of thought? How did the Reformation open up the door to more liberal interpretations of the text?

4. 5.

6.
7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

85

Study Guide for Test 3

1. 2. Bring a grade master, a pencil, and a blank sheet of paper. Review your notes on liberation theology. a. What are the goals and the values of liberation theology? What are some texts that racial liberation theologians are drawn to? Know that Latin American approaches tend to associate Marxism with Christianity. b. Do homosexual advocates view homosexuality as a choice? Do they have a high view of scripture? Does scripture have the same attitude towards homosexuals that it has towards slaves and women? Be prepared to give at least three of their exegetical arguments supporting a homosexual lifestyle. c. Know the assumptions made by feminist hermeneutics. Particularly be able to tell the difference between loyalists, liberationist, rejectionist, and traditionist approaches. d. Be able to clearly articulate some strengths and weaknesses of liberation theology. Review your notes on the emerging church. a. What is the difference between emerging and Emergent? b. What distinguishes relevants, reconstructionists, and revisionists? c. What are the characteristics of the emerging church specifically in their hermeneutics? d. What do they think of inerrancy, systematic theology, dogma, and megachurches? e. What is the emerging church a reaction against? What is the doctrine of inerrancy? What is it not? (see your notes on Restoration Movement) What does Pentecostal hermeneutics have in common with postmodernism? What does Pentecostal hermeneutics have in common with Restoration Movement interpretation? What are some of the problems associated with Pentecostal approaches? What should we expect the Holy Spirit to do in interpretation? What should we not expect from the Holy Spirit? From your class handout, be able to lest for me at least five principles that you will use when taking a stand on difficult hermeneutical issues. Be able to distinguish between the different models of contextualization. Review your notes on the Restoration Movement. a. How did Alexander Campbell interpret the Old Testament law? b. What is the difference between the three branches of the movement today? c. What scientific approach to scripture was adopted by early RM leaders? d. What philosophy influenced early RM leaders like Campbell? What is distinctive about the way that Catholics interpret scripture? What is the relationship between scripture and tradition? How is the Holy Spirit viewed in Catholic interpretation? Be able to identify how different personality types (lion, beaver, otter, and golden retriever) might interpret scripture? What is the difference between word-oriented and spirit-oriented people? Know terms like transference, categorization, accommodation, assimilation, reaction formation, gestalt psychology, and selection. Review the notes on various logical fallacies and be prepared to identify them. What is the difference between meaning and significance?

3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

86

Final Exam for Issues in Interpretation

1. 2. Bring one grade master sheet, a pencil, and a blank paper. Essays: a. Discuss the various forces that have impacted the ways that people interpret Gods word throughout history. Be specific. b. Drawing on the information from Issues, outline your personal convictions related to interpreting Gods word. Include a complete list of interpretive virtues that you will attempt to follow in life and ministry. In other words, what are those principles and convictions that will guide you through a life of studying Gods word? This question is so essential that I will allow you to prepare your answer before taking the final and bring it with you to class. c. You will also be expected to fill-in the table: Meaning and Authority in Interpretation (class handout) Summarize everything you know about the following individuals. Be able to tell me which time period they are from and what was their major contribution to interpretation? Irenaeus John Calvin F.C. Baur Origen Thomas Aquinas Julius Welhausen Theodore of Mopsuestia Rudolph Bultmann Alexander Campbell Augustine Hillel Derrida Jerome Karl Barth Martin Luther Erasmus Philo Schleiermacher What did these secular thinkers and philosophical systems have to do with hermeneutics? Isaac Newton Aristotle Rationalism Francis Bacon Plato Nihilism Albert Einstein Charles Darwin Marxism Nietzsche Rene Descartes Existentialism Know the characteristics of the following Alexandria Hellenistic Judaism Antioch Rabbinic Judaism Know the definitions of the following Midrash Mishnah Talmud Redaction criticism Typology Source criticism Allegory Documentary Hypothesis Pesher Q and JEDP Be able to distinguish between The various The ways that millennial views the apostles (since we have used the Old not yet tested on Testament this, expect several questions distinguishing the views) Qumran Community Tubingen School Transference Reaction Formation Lectio Divina Historical-critical method Catena The four-fold sense of the text from the Middle Ages

3.

4.

5.

6.

Reader-response Textual criticism Deconstructionism Assimilation Accomodation Pentecostal, homosexual, Catholic, and Restorationist approaches

7.

The methods of interpretation and assumptions of the different time periods

87

Sample Questions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. What are the three hermeneutical worlds? What is meant by the rule of faith? Who was the father of authoritative exegesis? Who was noteworthy for advocating a demythologizing of the text and a distinction between the Christ of faith and the Jesus of history? What is neo-orthodoxy and who is associated with it? What were some of the central assumptions of the historical-critical method? Can higher critical methods ever be helpful in our interpretation? What is Scottish Common Sense Realism and what is the effect on hermeneutics? (see your Restoration Interpretation notes) Is there such a thing as totally objective hermeneutics? What is meant by totally objective hermeneutics? In which time period was an interest in the original languages renewed? Who wrote the Vulgate? What is meant by Augustines law of love? Which time period is associated with the saying, Learn first what you should believe, then go to the Bible to find it there? What is meant by Sola Scriptura? Who popularized it? Do Catholics accept it? Who wrote The Institutes of Christian Religion? He was also the Organizer of Protestantism. What was a difference between Karl Barth and the early Reformers? Which millennial belief sees the cross as a plan B? What is the difference between allegory and typology? Did Jesus ever use allegory? Was Theodore of Mopsuestia more associated with Alexandria or Antioch? Did he interpret scripture allegorically? How did Origen interpret scripture? Where was he from? What literary work did he produce? What is the difference between Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy and what is the effect of these philosophies on hermeneutics? Which school in Germany strongly represented the historical-critical approach to scripture? What is the hypothetical source that many scholars see behind sections of Matthew and Luke? What letters are used to represent the documentary hypothesis of the Old Testament? What scholar is associated with Old Testament source criticism? New Testament source criticism? What is it called when we distort reality in an attempt to reduce anxiety and protect ourselves? Who said, I think; therefore, I am? What is lectio divina? What type of criticism identifies where and how the text has been edited over a long period of time? What is the difference between premodern, modern, and postmodern mindsets? A this-is-that approach to prophecy. Which Jewish group is associated with this method? Which Jewish community produced the Septuagint? Which New Testament author used mostly a literal fulfillment approach to the Old Testament? Which author used many rabbinic principles? Which author used much typology? Which millennial view is very optimistic about the future? Which view was the first view advocated by many Christians? Which model of contextualization begins with the Christian message and puts that message into new and appropriate terms? What are the other models of contextualization mentioned in class? What is meant by the anagogical sense of scripture? In the Middle Ages, what was the ultimate authority in interpretation? What about during the Modern period? Do existentialist interpreters care about the historicity of a text? How did Philo interpret scripture? What is the most important principle for biblical interpretation? Does the reader create or discover meaning in postmodern interpretation? Who made the distinction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith? He was also known for demythologizing the text. Which Greek philosopher influenced allegorical approaches? Which Greek philosopher influenced more literal approaches? Aquinas theology was influenced by what Greek philosopher? Which millennial view sees a radical distinction between the Church and Israel? They also see the cross as a plan B. What does amillennialism believe about the millennium of Revelation 20?

15.
16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45.

88