KNOW WHY RELIGION OR DENOMINATION WON`T SAVE ANYBODY, EXCEPT THE TRUTH ONE KNOWS THAT IS CAPABLE OF SAVING THE PERSON (John 8:32) #4 . As the Bible students, it is good to know the definitions of these two words: “Exegesis and Hermeneutics.” We are going to bring their definitions from two different angles. The first answer will come from Wikipedia and the second will come from Merriam Webster Dictionary. We will follow this up in our next text! (1) Wikipedia`s definition of the word “Exegesis.” Exegesis (/ˌɛksəˈdʒiːsəs/; from the Greek ἐξήγησις from ἐξηγεῖσθαι to lead out) is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, particularly a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in modern usage biblical exegesis is used for greater specificity to distinguish it from any other broader critical text explanation. Exegesis includes a wide range of critical disciplines: textual criticism is the investigation into the history and origins of the text, but exegesis may include the study of the historical and cultural backgrounds for the author, the text, and the original audience. Other analysis includes classification of the type of literary genres present in the text, and an analysis of grammatical and syntactical features in the text itself.The terms exegesis and hermeneutics have been used interchangeably. Different Christians have different views on how to perform biblical exegesis. There are at least three common views: historical-grammatical method, revealed, and rational.The historical-grammatical method is a Christian hermeneutical method that strives to discover the Biblical authors original intended meaning in the text. It is the primary method of interpretation for many conservative Protestant exegetes who reject the historical-critical method to various degrees (from the complete rejection of historical criticism of some fundamentalist Protestants to the moderated acceptance of it in the Catholic Church since Pope Pius XII) in contrast to the overwhelming reliance on historical-critical interpretation, often to the exclusion of all other hermeneutics, in liberal Christianity.Revealed exegesis considers that the Holy Spirit inspired the authors of the scriptural texts, and so the words of those texts convey a divine revelation. In this view of exegesis, the principle of sensus plenior applies — that because of its divine authorship, the Bible has a fuller meaning than its human authors intended or could have foreseen.Rational exegesis bases its operation on the idea that the authors have their own inspiration (in this sense, synonymous with artistic inspiration), so their works are completely and utterly a product of the social environment and human intelligence of their authors. (2) Merriam Webster Dictionary`s definition of the word “Exegesis.” Scholarly interpretation of religious texts, using linguistic, historical, and other methods. In Judaism and Christianity, it has been used extensively in the study of the BIBLE. Textual criticism tries to establish the accuracy of biblical texts. Philological criticism deals with grammar, vocabulary, and style in pursuit of faithful translation. Literary criticism classifies texts according to style and attempts to establish authorship, date, and audience. Tradition criticism seeks the sources of biblical materials and traces their development. Redaction criticism examines the way pieces of the tradition have been assembled into a literary composition by editors. Form criticism studies the way narratives are shaped by the cultures that produce them. Historical criticism looks at a texts historical context. (3) Wikipedia`s definition of the word “Hermeneutics.” Hermeneutics /hɛrməˈnjuːtɪks/ is the theory of text interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics was initially applied to the interpretation, or exegesis, of scripture. It emerged as a theory of human understanding in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey.]Modern hermeneutics includes both verbal and nonverbal communication as well as semiotics, presuppositions, and preunderstandings. The terms hermeneutics and exegesis are sometimes used interchangeably. Hermeneutics is a wider discipline which includes written, verbal, and nonverbal communication. Exegesis focuses primarily upon texts. Hermeneutic, as a singular noun, refers to some particular method of interpretation (see, in contrast, double hermeneutic). Hermeneutic consistency refers to the analysis of texts to achieve a coherent explanation of them. Philosophical hermeneutics refers primarily to the theory of knowledge initiated by Martin Heidegger and developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer in his book Truth and Method. It sometimes refers to the theories of Paul Ricoeur. (4) Etymology Hermeneutics is derived from the Greek word ἑρμηνεύω (hermeneuō, translate, interpret),from ἑρμηνεύς (hermeneus, translator, interpreter), of uncertain etymology (R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin).The technical term ἑρμηνεία (hermeneia, interpretation, explanation) was introduced into philosophy mainly through the title of Aristotles work On Interpretation, commonly referred to by its Latin title De Interpretatione. It is one of the earliest (c. 360 B.C.) extant philosophical works in the Western tradition to deal with the relationship between language and logic in a comprehensive, explicit, and formal way. The early usage of hermeneutics places it within the boundaries of the sacred. A divine message must be received with implicit uncertainty regarding its truth. This ambiguity is an irrationality; it is a sort of madness that is inflicted upon the receiver of the message. Only one who possesses a rational method of interpretation (i.e., a hermeneutic) could determine the truth or falsity of the message. (5) Another Source What is hermeneutics? Hermeneutics is the field of study concerned with the philosophy and science of interpretation -- especially the interpretation of communication. Biblical hermeneutics is specifically concerned with the philosophy and science of interpreting theBiblical text. So Biblical hermeneutics would cover all of the following sorts of inquiries and more: • (Theory:) What role does Divine illumination play in the interpretation of Scripture? (cf.) • (Methods:) What process can we follow to determine whether an apparent chiasm was intentional by the author? (cf.) • (Principles:) What are the limits of the Christocentric Principle? (cf.) What is exegesis? Exegesis, as indicated by its etymology, is the act of critically interpreting a text in an attempt to draw the meaning out of the text. (This is in contrast to what has come to be know as eisegesis, where one reads his own meaning into the text.) Biblical exegesis is the act of drawing the meaning out of a Biblical text. So Biblical exegesis would cover all of the following sorts of inquiries and more: • (Grammar:) Who is it that “wills” in 1 Corinthians 12:11? • (Terminology:) What does “Under the Sun” mean in Ecclesiastes? • (Referent Identification:) Who is the author of Hebrews quoting in Hebrews 10:38? • (Literary Criticism:) What significance does John perceive in the piercing of Christs side and the flow of blood and water? The relationship between hermeneutics and exegesis Basically the distinction boils down to this (as it pertains to the Bible*): Hermeneutics is the field of study concerned with how we interpret the Bible. Exegesis is the actual interpretation of the Bible by drawing the meaning out of the Biblical text. The distinction is not quite as simple as theory vs. application, though, since hermeneutics is not justconcerned with the philosophy of exegesis, and exegesis is not merely the application of hermeneutical theory -- even if we restrict our comparison to Biblical hermeneutics and Biblical exegesis. Here are a couple of examples to illustrate this: • Hermeneutics also studies the role of eisegesis in interpretation, which is by definition not part of exegesis. • Hermeneutics considers the role of church doctrine and theology in interpretation -- both of which are (often) irrelevant to exegesis. • (Ray explained the challenges with seeing exegesis as applied hermeneutics in this meta post.) So we are sort of comparing apples to... ontology here. In a sense there is no overlap; The focus of exegesis is the text. The focus of hermeneutics is stuff like exegesis... why do we do it? how do we do it? how should we do it? As far as sequence, I suppose it could be argued that since exegesis is critical in nature, it implies some scientific method, which implies some prior hermeneutic. That is as far as I think we could go in relating the two sequentially, though.** ________________________________________ *Given the scope of this site, I am assuming the question is specifically about the distinction between Biblical hermeneutics and Biblical exegesis. **Gordon Fee and Dougless Stewart, in How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth) say that exegesis is Step 1 and hermeneutics is Step 2 to emphasize that what we think about the text should be based on what the text actually says. (But they essentially had to redefined their terms in order to make this point.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:08:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015