Difference between revisions of "Hermeneutics"

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==A snarky summary of the Bible==
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{{quote | text={{Bible verse|2 Timothy|2|15|lang=WEB}}  [[2 Timothy 2:15]]}}
  
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''The Bible'' is the most popular fantasy novel ever written.  The first main character is a stuttering, orphaned, Jewish murderer named Moses, who was raised by the Egyptian royalty.  He leads a resistance and eventually escapes Egypt with his people, and then wanders around the desert for a while, and after he dies his people go on to create Israel without him. He told people that he followed a god that was their god now, and they had to follow him or else.  This god was so special because Moses said he created the Earth some two thousand years before, over a seven day period.  Then his god put people on the earth, starting with a guy, then eventually giving him a wife.  They [[Fun:Original sin|ate a fruit]] when Moses' god told them not to, so he decided they should suffer and die by being kicked out of the paradise he made for them.  Since there was no more paradise, this made carnivorous animals start to eat other animals, all because of us.<ref>  Now godless [[Paleontology|paleontologists]] imagine they've found evidence of carnivorous animals eating other animals before humans existed.  That shows how ignorant and evil paleontologists are. They contradict the Bible.  Wait a moment.  The Bible's fantasy fiction.  So paleontologists aren't evil after all.
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{{Infobox_Contents |
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  topic_name = Hermeneutics |
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  subtopics = [[Exegesis]]
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* [[Genre]]
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* History of Hermeneutics - [[Apostolic Hermeneutics]] |
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opinion_pieces = {{short_opinions}} |
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}}
  
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Vegetarians are so ashamed of this, that they stopped eating other animals.</ref>  The only people worth talking about at this point were inbred from this first couple.  Later, an alcoholic named Noah built a boat because Moses' god told him to.  Then that god told him to collect two each of the billions of species on Earth. Once all the species were collected, that god then drowned everything and everyone else because they pissed him off.  Then Noah and his wife got down to another round of inbreeding, and all modern humans are inbred cousins through them.  Within a few more thousand years all the different races of humanity had diverged, and all the plants, animals, and insects, etc. had repopulated the earth, bringing us back to the main plot line.  A bunch of crappy stuff happens to the Jews, until a new main character is introduced.
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Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation. In the Christian context hermeneutics tends to refer to interpreting and understanding the [[Bible]].  
  
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The new character is called [[Fun:Jesus|Jesus]], whose mother was a virgin, and who is supposed to be his own dad (no, really!).  He came along and told people that they should believe in him, because he was the only way into this awesome new paradise in Heaven, where animals don't eat each other any more.<ref>Vegetarians rejoice!</ref>  He proved all this, and that he wasn't faking, by doing magic tricks for any people who would stop and listen to him. Then some hateful Jews came along and got him killed, because they thought his teachings were hate-speech, and had to be destroyed.  Then he goes on to an underworld full of pain and suffering.  However, a few days later he crawled back out, and this now-zombie Jesus rolled away a rock and scared two poor innocent women, then joined the poor saps he had tricked, and had them poke fingers in him, and told spooky stories about the afterlife.  He reiterated that everyone had to believe in him or they wouldn't make it to the happy afterlife.  After this, Jesus crawls up to heaven, and his poor saps are left on Earth without him, just waiting for a new main character to lead the way.
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Hermeneutics involves establishing important principles for understanding the Bible, and then interpreting it so its message is made clear to the reader or listener. It involves [[exegesis]], which is the process of examining what the actual biblical text meant to the author and its original intended audience. It also involves interpretation or application of the original meaning in a contemporary context.  
  
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===Previous snarky summary===
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The goal in applying the principles of hermeneutics is to "rightly handle the word of truth" ([[2 Timothy 2:15]]) striving to accurately discern the meaning of the text.  
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Perhaps the most popular fantasy novel ever written.  Wait a moment --  Moslems think the [[Koran]] is better!  Anyway, the main character, Jesus (a zombie who was his own father) was born of a virgin. He came to tell mankind that they should believe in  him or he will punish them for eternity in hell ( a dark hot place underground).  To prove that he is not just faking he did magic tricks for the people who would listen to his speeches.  He told people that the earth was create 8 thousand years ago, over a seven day period.  He put two people Adam and Eve on earth.  They ate an apple when he told them not to, so he decided they should suffer and die by being kicked out of paradise.  All of mankind is their inbred descendants.  Later an alcoholic named Moses built a boat because God told him to.  God then told him to collect two of the billions of species on earth in just a few days.  Once all the species were collected, God drowned everything, and everyone else because they pissed him off.  Then Moses and his wife got down to the inbreeding.  Within a few more thousand years all the different races of humanity had diverged, and all the plants animals, insects etc. had repopulated the earth.  Then some filthy Jews escaped Egypt and wondered around the desert for a while before making Israel. Jesus was born the filthy Jews killed him, he went to hell and laughed at all the people that were sent there came back to life as zombie, and told everyone spooky stories about hell. Then he went to heaven a (happy place up in the sky) the end.
 
  
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==References and notes==
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===Important Considerations===
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<references/>
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There are a number of factors that need to be considered when interpreting the Bible. Understanding how these factors combine with accepting the Bible as God's word is an important challenge for each Christian.
 +
 
 +
====Yourself - The Interpreter====
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 +
No person interprets in a vacuum. It is important for the interpreter to consider how his culture and up-bringing influences his interpretation. Although it is impossible to completely remove personal bias and cultural understanding, recognizing it as a factor in interpretation is extremely helpful.
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 +
====The Author's Purpose and His Original Audience====
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Understanding that the author wrote the text for certain purposes is very helpful. For example, realising that one rason the [[apostle Matthew]] wrote the [[Gospel of Matthew]] was to show his Jewish audience that [[Jesus]] is the [[Messiah]] helps shed light on why Matthew so often makes reference to the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.
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====Time====
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Not only is there a gap of at least 1,900 years between the original author of a book and the person reading and interpreting the Bible today, but there was often a gap between when the author wrote the book and the events he described. For example, the [[apostle John]] wrote his account of Jesus' life decades after Jesus' ministry, death and resurrection. Other authors wrote about events they did not witness, such as Luke who wrote the [[Gospel of Luke]] and [[Acts]] after speaking to eye-witnesses. Much of the Old Testament authors wrote about events that happened generations earlier.
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====Culture====
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The Bible tells the history of a people over many centuries. Their culture changed and developed with time and in many ways is very different from the cultures of Christians today. Understanding the cultural contexts and meaning of customs can be very helpful in better interpreting the intended message.
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====Language====
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The [[Old Testament]] was mostly written in [[Hebrew]] and partially in [[Aramaic]]. The [[New Testament]] was written in [[Koine Greek]]. Naturally it is a complex task to translate these ancient languages in modern day languages. This is especially the case with words that have ambigious or unclear meanings.
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Futhermore, when the gospels quote the words of Jesus, it must be remembered that Jesus likely spoke [[Aramaic]], yet the gospel writers wrote in Greek, and so these are translations of Jesus' words by men for whom Greek was not their mother tongue.
 +
 
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====Geography====
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 +
====Genre - Style====
 +
 
 +
===History of Hermeneuetics===
 +
 
 +
====Jewish Interpretation====
 +
 
 +
====[[Apostolic Hermeneutics]] - The Apostles Interpretation of the Old Testament====
 +
 
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The way in which the apostles understood and interpreted the Old Testament showed many similarities to contemporary Jewish hermemeutics, but also marked differences. Examination of the apostles' usage of the Old Testament reveals a Christological approach to understanding it, that is, they saw the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus as the fulfilment of Scripture.
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====Hermeneutics in the early church====
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====Hermeneutics in the Middle Ages====
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====Hermeneutics in the Reformation====
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====Recent developments in Hermeneutics====
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{{stub}}
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==Quotes==
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==Links==
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*[http://www.godward.org/archives/BS%20Notes/Basic%20rules%20for%20NT%20exegesis.htm Basic Rules for New Testament Exegesis]
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_hermeneutics Wikipedia - Biblical hermeneutics]
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{{returnto}} [[Christianity]] -> [[Bible]] -> [[Interpreting the Bible]]

Revision as of 05:46, 21 September 2008

Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Hermeneutics
RELATED TOPICS
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation. In the Christian context hermeneutics tends to refer to interpreting and understanding the Bible.

Hermeneutics involves establishing important principles for understanding the Bible, and then interpreting it so its message is made clear to the reader or listener. It involves exegesis, which is the process of examining what the actual biblical text meant to the author and its original intended audience. It also involves interpretation or application of the original meaning in a contemporary context.

The goal in applying the principles of hermeneutics is to "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15) striving to accurately discern the meaning of the text.

Important Considerations

There are a number of factors that need to be considered when interpreting the Bible. Understanding how these factors combine with accepting the Bible as God's word is an important challenge for each Christian.

Yourself - The Interpreter

No person interprets in a vacuum. It is important for the interpreter to consider how his culture and up-bringing influences his interpretation. Although it is impossible to completely remove personal bias and cultural understanding, recognizing it as a factor in interpretation is extremely helpful.

The Author's Purpose and His Original Audience

Understanding that the author wrote the text for certain purposes is very helpful. For example, realising that one rason the apostle Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew was to show his Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah helps shed light on why Matthew so often makes reference to the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.

Time

Not only is there a gap of at least 1,900 years between the original author of a book and the person reading and interpreting the Bible today, but there was often a gap between when the author wrote the book and the events he described. For example, the apostle John wrote his account of Jesus' life decades after Jesus' ministry, death and resurrection. Other authors wrote about events they did not witness, such as Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts after speaking to eye-witnesses. Much of the Old Testament authors wrote about events that happened generations earlier.

Culture

The Bible tells the history of a people over many centuries. Their culture changed and developed with time and in many ways is very different from the cultures of Christians today. Understanding the cultural contexts and meaning of customs can be very helpful in better interpreting the intended message.

Language

The Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew and partially in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Naturally it is a complex task to translate these ancient languages in modern day languages. This is especially the case with words that have ambigious or unclear meanings.

Futhermore, when the gospels quote the words of Jesus, it must be remembered that Jesus likely spoke Aramaic, yet the gospel writers wrote in Greek, and so these are translations of Jesus' words by men for whom Greek was not their mother tongue.

Geography

Genre - Style

History of Hermeneuetics

Jewish Interpretation

Apostolic Hermeneutics - The Apostles Interpretation of the Old Testament

The way in which the apostles understood and interpreted the Old Testament showed many similarities to contemporary Jewish hermemeutics, but also marked differences. Examination of the apostles' usage of the Old Testament reveals a Christological approach to understanding it, that is, they saw the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus as the fulfilment of Scripture.

Hermeneutics in the early church

Hermeneutics in the Middle Ages

Hermeneutics in the Reformation

Recent developments in Hermeneutics

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Quotes

Links


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