Scripture and Its Interpretation ch 11: Theological Interpretation of the Bible

Alexandrian school
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Terms in this set (24)
Alexandrian school
An early Christian school of biblical interpretation that arose at Alexandria in Egypt and tended to emphasize allegorical interpretation, seen most strikingly in the work of Origen.
allegorical interpretation
A method of interpreting texts in which words, numbers, characters (e.g., Melchizedek), objects (e.g., the burning bush), and events (e.g., the conquest of Canaan) are assigned a symbolic significance as representing spiritual realities in addition to, or in place of, their literal meaning.
allegory
A text deemed to have symbolic meaning expressed in its words, numbers, characters, objects, and events.
creed
A formal, authoritative summary of basic Christian beliefs.
Deism
A belief system in which an impersonal God is understood as involved in the initial creation of the universe but not in its ongoing existence.
ecclesial
From the Greek word for assembly, gathering, or community, ekklēsia; of or related to the church and its confessions, interpretive traditions, and liturgical (worship) life.
ecumenism
From the Greek word oikoumenē, signifying the entire inhabited world; cooperative relations and activity among Christian churches to express or further the unity of the Christian church. See also generous orthodoxy.
the Enlightenment
The period of European intellectual history (also known as "The Age of Reason") in the late seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, when human reason was cultivated and applied to traditional teachings, including religious claims, texts, and authoritative teaching.
feminist criticism (or interpretation or hermeneutics)
Interpretive strategies that include (a) conducting historical and literary investigations into the portrayal of women and other marginalized groups in biblical texts as well as (b) bringing contemporary concerns of and about women and other marginalized groups into the practice of biblical interpretation.
figural reading (or interpretation)
The use of a variety of techniques to advance and extend the literal or conventional (usual or primary) interpretations of biblical texts.
hermeneutic(s) of suspicionA sort of "guilty-until-proven-innocent" approach to the biblical text because of its alleged patriarchal, oppressive, or otherwise problematic nature or influence; in contrast to a hermeneutic of trust.historical criticismThe method by which historians draw on whatever ancient sources are available to them in order to reconstruct past events for the purpose of narrating the story of the past; the interpretive practice of making judgments about texts on the basis of their historical setting and the meanings possible in that setting; sometimes used interchangeably with historical-critical method.ideological interpretationSometimes known as political interpretation, an interpretive approach that includes both (a) uncovering the ideological interests of those who composed and edited biblical materials and (b) bringing one's own ideological interests and agendas (e.g., Marxist, liberationist, feminist) to the task of biblical interpretation.liberationist interpretation (or hermeneutics)A cluster of approaches to biblical interpretation that focus on themes of liberation in the Bible (e.g., the exodus) and their contemporary significance.literal senseThe usual or primary meaning of a text based on applying ordinary rules of language and on which all other interpretations are normally based.Marxist interpretationInterpretive practices that (a) do historical work on the biblical texts from a Marxist, materialist perspective and (b) bring contemporary Marxist, materialist interpretive strategies and agendas to bear on the biblical texts with an eye toward the contemporary world.orthodox, orthodoxy, Orthodoxy(1) Beliefs that conform to the tradition and accepted as authoritative, as opposed to heresy or heterodoxy; (2) when capitalized, a branch of Christendom.premodern interpretationThe interpretive approach to Scripture of the pre-Enlightenment era that was governed by theological convictions (e.g., that God speaks through an essentially unified Scripture), the aim of which was to help Christians think and live more faithfully.regula fideiLatin for rule of faithrule of faithA summary account of basic Christian teachings eventually represented in the Apostles' Creed (and similar texts) that serves as a standard of orthodoxy and a theological framework for scriptural interpretation.senses of ScriptureThe levels or aspects of meaning in a biblical text first posited by early Christian writers and incorporated into an interpretive approach called fourfold exegesis: (1) the historical (or literal) sense; (2) the tropological (or moral) sense; (3) the spiritual or allegorical (doctrinal) sense; and (4) the anagogical sense (referring to mysteries seen by theōria [spiritual vision], or to the afterlife).theological interpretationThe interpretive approach that emphasizes (a) the interpreters' ecclesial location; (b) commitment to the church's confessions, traditions, and liturgical life; and (c) the prioritizing of theological concerns over other concerns—all with the goal of enhancing faithful living and worshiping before God by bringing theological concerns to bear on scriptural interpretation, and vice versa.Valentinian (Valentinus)Referring to the teaching (or the person) of a late second-century gnostic teacher from Egypt and to his adherents.hermeneuticA general interpretive philosophy, theory, approach, or strategy; hermeneutics: the art and principles of interpretation.