hermeneutics

The Old in the New: Modes of Rhetoric

Submitted by nathan on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 23:57
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Having made a distinction between rhetoric and exposition in the New Testament's use of the Old Testament, I thought it fitting to outline some more specific examples of each. In this post I examine the rhetorical use of scripture and provide several rough classifications.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants.

Here in Galatians 4 we find a passage which has given fits to those who have attempted to construct a normative hermeneutic from the New Testament. Paul is apparently using a figurative interpretation - an allegory (αλληγορουμενα) nonetheless - to explain his point. This is particularly scandalous for those of us trained in the literal-grammatical-historical school of hermeneutics. Many explanations have been offered: Paul, through the Holy Spirit, had special authority to use such interpretive methods; the Sarah-Hagar story is a living allegory written by God (which is not without its charms); Paul must mean something other than what we understand as "allegory;" etc. I would suggest that Paul is not making a claim about the original meaning of the passage at all. Allegory can be both a valid interpretive strategy (employed to understand those stories which were written by their authors as allegory) and a rhetorical device (a cousin to the analogy). Paul is using the latter. He is re-appropriating the story of Sarah and Hagar to illustrate his point about the two covenants, not trying to tell us what that passage means. He even expands the allegory with two addition scripture references. The wording here cannot be definitively called down on either side: Read more »

The Old in the New: Analogies and Exposition

Submitted by nathan on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 04:57
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Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Here Jesus uses an Old Testament reference to illustrate the nature of his coming death. That is, he uses the story of the bronze snake as an analogy. Jesus did not say that his own death was the true meaning of that incident. Not every reference to the Old Testament in the New is aimed at telling us the "real" meaning of the text. So the next question when approaching the use of the Old Testament in the New is: is the author making an assertion about the meaning of the text which is being referenced? In Jesus' case above, no he was not. It was an analogy, a reference. In other cases (and the Apostle Paul could provide many examples), the author is making an assertion about the meaning of the text. In those cases, it is an exposition. The difficult task is of course determining which is which. There are passages where analogy and exposition can both serve the same rhetorical function. For example, Matthew's infamous use of Hosea: Read more »

The Old in the New: Quotations and allusions

Submitted by nathan on Sun, 06/21/2009 - 07:07
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Studying how the authors of scripture themselves interpreted and used scripture in their arguments should provide a normative framework for our own use of scripture. That is, if there is a "true" hermeneutic, certainly the divinely inspired authors of scripture would abide by it. In spite of a few cross references within the New Testament, the bulk of evidence in this inquiry comes in the form of quotations from the Old Testament. This is not always a straight-forward endeavor, so I will here provide a few observations about the task of studying the use of the OT in the NT. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said: Read more »

In search of a "true" hermeneutic

Submitted by nathan on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 11:38
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The Supreme Court nominations highlight various judicial philosophies. On the one hand, there are the textualists who are seeking the original meaning of the text and the intent of its authors. On the other hand, there are those who subscribe to the concept of a "living constitution" and who affirm flexible, changing meaning. The conservative textualists are particularly likely to assert that their philosophy is the only true and proper one, though liberals may assert that for themselves as well. There's just one problem: the constitution itself affirms neither. As a matter of fact, the constitution does not give any criteria for judicial rulings. There is no "how to decide cases" clause in the constitution. We who seek to interpret the Bible face the same dilemma. The Bible lacks a "how to read the Bible" section. It lacks a clear pronouncement that "thou shalt use the literal/grammatica/historical method in interpreting scripture." The various systems of interpretation for the scriptures run a similar gamut to American legal theory. On the one side you have strict literalism, and you can go right over to subjective hermeneutics, with the various "spiritual" interpretations (including allegory) in there as well. Each side can argue about which approach is best, but none can authoritatively demonstrate that there is only one permissible hermeneutic. In addition to the issue of hermeneutics is the issue of rhetoric. Is it proper for a preacher to use a passage out of context in illustrating a godly point, or must all refernces to scripture be contextually grounded? The use of the Old Testament in the New is an important topic for parsing these questions, and I will soon have a post up about it.

Authorial Intent, SCOTUS, and the Bible

Submitted by nathan on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 23:35
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Through a friend I have become quite interested in the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) and its affairs. In listening to the oral arguments before the court, I have found that high-level legal matters in the US can sound very much like biblical studies. For example, there is a significant focus on authorial intent (though not with the same terminology). The meanings of phrases (e.g. to "bear arms") are debated. Appeals are made to the structure of the text (e.g. the first clause, the second clause, etc.). Also, outside contemporary sources are cited to give context to the text of the law or constitution. The justices are very much interested in finding the meaning of the law. They are exegetes. Also of concern is the history of interpretation (judicial precedent) and the application of the law, properly understood, to the case at hand. I am curious now about law school curiculum. How does it compare with biblical studies in the manner of the interpretation of texts? Can we learn anything from legal scholars as biblical scholars?

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