Some Thoughts on Biblical Hermeneutics (part 1)
Hermeneutics . . . where to begin?
It seems so simple to say that biblical hermeneutics must begin by recognizing that the Bible is a collection of documents written by someone and read by others. Yet this is where we begin, and as we unpack this idea we begin to see some of the complexities of hermeneutics in general, and biblical hermeneutics in particular.
For example, when we say that the book we call Malachi was written by someone, we imply the person had goals and purposes for writing the book. This particular person wrote into a particular situation for particular people at a particular time for particular purposes. So if we want to understand “the meaning of the text” we must understand as much of those particulars as possible.
Yet if we also affirm what we read in 2 Timothy 3:16, that all Scripture is “breathed out by God”, then there is a sense in which Malachi has two “authors” . . . God and the particular person who actually wrote the words. Now if we realize that the particular person who wrote Malachi was writing for one audience, but God had in mind not merely that group of people, but others throughout history who would read the book, then we can begin to see some of the complexities that take place in trying to understand “the meaning of the text” from strictly an “authorial intention” viewpoint.
Another example of these complexities can be seen when we consider the readers. Again, Malachi was first read by a particular audience at a particular time in history under particular circumstances. Yet other people read this book at different times and under different circumstances.
When I read Malachi, I bring to the text many thoughts, questions, and presuppositions that the original readers did not bring to the text. This fact indicates that I may not understand the text as well as the original audience did.
Yet this suggestion does not mean the original audience must have understood everything correctly. What the particular person writing Malachi meant by a certain phrase could have been misunderstood even by the original audience. And so even when we try to answer the question, ”What would the original audience have understood this to mean?”, we still may not have understood the text rightly.
One last example of the complexities inherent in biblical hermeneutics is found in the fact that the Bible is a collection of documents. Malachi is not the only book of the Bible. The Bible also contains Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Luke, 1 Thessalonians, and Revelation (to name a few). And even though there are different books written by different particular authors at different times to different communities under different circumstances there is a sense in which all of these books should be read as one unified whole. Obviously any unity of the biblical books must come from the “God-breathed” nature of Scripture, yet it can be tricky at times to see how each of the parts fit into the whole. Add to this fact that there are many different genres in Scripture (narrative, poetry, law, proverbs, letters, etc.), then we can see how difficult it can be at times to see the unifying factors while seeing the differing details.
Over the next few months, I’d like to offer some thoughts on how one may navigate through some of these complexities. I hope this exercise will help sharpen my own thinking as well as help any potential readers to think through their own hermeneutic approaches.
