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Biblical Hermenuetics Exam 1

Terms in this set (50)

Hermenutics
Interdisciplinary explanation of the meaning of Scripture through seeking the contemporary relevance of ancient texts (here and now)
Exegesis
Careful systematic study of Scripture to discover the original, intended meaning (then and there)
Special Revelation
When God intervenes in nature using unconventional ways to reveal himself, his purpose, or his mission to mankind
General Revelation
How God expresses himself in nature communicated through the phenomena of creation, everybody can see this
Three theories of inspiration
1) Mechanical: entire Bible is divinely dictated
2) Dynamic: no direct intervention by Holy Spirit, coincidental
3) Organic: God worked in harmony with authors
Formal Equivalence Translation Theory
As literal as possible, word for word
Dynamic Equivalence Translation Theory
Interested in how modern day audience will understand, thought for thought
What were the original languages of the Bible?
Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic
Who was the earliest known Jewish scribe responsible for arranging books of the OT?
Ezra, 450 BCE
What was the church council that first approved the 27 NT books?
Council of Carthage 397 CE
What does LXX stand for?
Septuagint
What does MS stand for?
Manuscript
What does MSS stand for?
Multiple Manuscripts
What are the three fundamental issues in the development of textual variants?
1) Style of writing: handwritten without spacing
2) Distribution and copying problems
3) Uncertainties about marginal notes
What is the LXX?
The Greek translation of the OT
What is the Vulgate?
The Latin translation of the Bible
Who was Clement of Alexandria?
Alexandrian school of interpretation, believed text had body (literal) and soul (spiritual)
Who was Origin?
Alexandrian school of interpretation, believed text had body (literal), soul (spiritual), and spirit (moral)
What is a diachronic word study?
Evolutionary study of a word - how the meaning has changed through time
What is a synchronic word study?
Static study of a word - what does the word, at it's base, mean?
Who was the Bishop responsible for publishing the 27 books for the NT in his Easter Letter?
Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria - Easter Letter 367 CE
Who was the first to propose a controversial list of Christian NT canon?
Marcion - second century
What are the five criteria for including books in the NT canon?
1) Date: written during lifetime of apostles
2) Apostolic connection: written by apostle or friend of apostle
3) Orthodoxy: consistent with teachings
4) Theological outlook: consistent with other writings
5) Liturgical usage: known to have been read in public worship
What are the three approaches to interpretation developed in the middle ages?
1) Traditional: followed views passed from fathers
2) Allegorical: four senses - moral, allegorical, anagogical, literal
3) Historical: scholastic drawing from Jewish sources
Four distances in interpretation - how are we distant from the original text?
1) Time
2) Culture
3) Geography
4) Language
What are potential reasons for deliberate alterations in the transmission of texts? (5)
- Grammatical changes
- Liturgical changes
- Harmonization
- Elimination of discrepancies
- Theological agendas
List the four key principles in Bible interpretation
1) Literary context
2) Historical-cultural background
3) Word meanings
4) Grammatical-structural
What are some guidelines for choosing a word to study?
- Ambiguous words in English, Greek, Hebrew
- Words with synonyms/antonyms
- Rare words
- Words used figuratively
- Significant/repeated words
- Theologically loaded words
- Words that appear to have different meanings in the same context
What are three focus areas for retrieving Greco-Roman background info in exegesis?
1) Geographical
2) Historical
3) Socio-religious
What was the Antiochene school's approach to exegesis?
Backlash from Alexandrian allegory, they said there is one meaning to a text unless the author suggests otherwise
lexis (literal meaning) + historia (subject matter)
What did Jerome contribute to Biblical studies?
He translated the entire bible into the Latin Vulgate in 384 AD to be used for the entire religion to understand
What are the 4 pre-understandings a reader brings to a text?
1) Informational: what you already know
2) Attitudinal: disposition toward a topic/subject
3) Ideological: worldview/perspective
4) Methodological: approach to explaining
What are the five essentials with hermenuetics of trust?
1) A reasoned faith
2) Obedience
3) Illumination
4) Community
5) Appropriate Method
What does a reasoned faith mean in hermeneutics of trust?
Shared faith with author and readers/good exegete possesses the spirit that inspires the text
What does obedience mean in hermeneutics of trust?
Willingness to submit as also to understand
What does illumination mean in hermeneutics of trust?
Believe that the Holy Spirit is able to give insight in understanding and applying the Bible's message
What does community mean in hermeneutics of trust?
The church is the arena/laboratory where the significance of the text and community impact begins
What does appropriate method in hermeneutics of trust?
Good methods attends to language, history, culture, and theology
What are 5 helpful assumptions or presuppositions for the Christian interpreter?
1) Bible as inspired, authoritative, and special revelation
2) It is a sacred text
3) It is characterized by unity and diversity
4) Bible is an understandable document
5) The meaning of text is first what its author intended the readers to understand
What are the three frameworks for biblical interpretation?
1) Historical: Context, culture, circumstances
2) Theological: Theological framework, themes, canonical links, implications, and application for today
3) Literary: Literary patterns, genre, language, grammar
What are the four critical distances?
1) Distance of time
2) Distance of culture
3) Distance of geography
4) Distance of language
What is distance of time?
The distance between when the event happened and when the author wrote about it. How was this material preserved? Are words different in the time the text was written compared to when the words were used when the event took place?
What is the distance of culture?
Culture is fluid so cultural meanings can change very quickly. You have to imagine how things happened in the time they did. Not the time we are in now.
What is the distance of geography?
What does the culture mean when it refers to things such as mountains? Is it a hill or a mountain? Lake or sea?
What is the distance of language?
There are differences in language that may lead to things not being communicated in the same way they were in the other language. However, even if you speak the language, modern day Greek is very different than ancient Greek.
What is the six significances of literary context?
1) Provides flow of thought - logic, main theme, verbal flow
2) Provides accurate meanings of words: prevents anachronisms/fallacies
3) Context delineates the correct relationship of units chapter and verse divisions could be misleading sometimes
4) Each statement must be understood according to its natural meaning in the literary context
5) A text without context is a pretext - that which only appears valid
6) The smaller the unit of passage the greater chance there is for an error
What are the five orbits of contextual analysis?
1) Immediate context: structure, logic, order, transitions, thematic continuity, literary genre, psychological transfer
2) The book context: purpose, basic plan, overall message, and parallel passages within
3) Author's corpus: Within the broader framework of the author's writings
4) Wider Old/New Testament context
5) Bible or canonical context
What will a historical/cultural background give you? (3)
1) Perspective: Seek to understand the socio-cultural background of the text's inhibitor or receptor
2) Mindset: Mental attitude in the encoding, decoding, and emotional impact that informs value formation the author's purpose
3) Contextualization: Understanding the historical-cultural context is crucial for responsible application - comparative particulars. (When we understand the culture we can apply their issues to ours in our current lives)
Principles of historical cultural analysis (4)
1) Attend or study historical-cultural background issues - socio-cultural, religion, value, household, ect.
2) Determine the impact of the message in its original setting - eg. good Samaritan
3) Intentionality - seek to understand Biblical truth in ways it corresponds with its original setting
4) Plain sense must be given priority - background studies must not sabotage the main task of understand the point of the text
What are the 3 focus areas in Greco-Roman background?
1) Geographical background
2) Historical background
3) Socio-religious philosophical background
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