Essay 1 - History of Hermeneutics Flashcards
Describe the hermeneutic contributions of the early church regarding the canon of scripture.
Early Judaism and the Apocrypha attempted to fill the gaps in scripture.
- i.e. Gospel of Jesus’ Wife or The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Fortunately, early Christians rejected false books and never considered them part of the canon of scripture.
What are three positive tendencies of the early church related to interpretation?
1.) The early church had a high view of scripture.
- It was authoritative and inspired by God.
2.) Early church writers believed there was a relationship between the OT and the NT.
- See Epistle of Barnabus
The Old and NT are one story.
- See Irenaeus
3.) Some early church writers attempted to understand the canonical relationship between the books of scripture.
- See Origen
What are three questionable tendencies of the early church related to interpretation.
1.) hyper-allegorical at times.
2.) Some tried to synthesize scripture with certain philosophies.
- ) Struggled to understand the literal (plain) meaning of the text
How does the epistle of Barnabas support the understanding that the OT writings are relevant for the NT readers?
Barnabas tries to establish the fact that Christians are the true heirs of God’s covenant with Israel.
He connects the OT judgement of Tyre and Sidon, etc. to God’s judgement on unbelievers.
How does Iranaeus support the OT and NT as “one story”?
His work “On the Apostolic Preaching” taught what the apostles preached on church membership.
- In this, he walks through the Old and New Testaments connecting major pieces of God’s redemptive plan.
- Adam to Noah, to Moses, to David to Jesus.
How did Origen contribute to understanding the canonical relationship between books of scripture?
Early church fathers such as Origen were not trying to understand the individual books as much as how they relate to each other (order).
- Origen noticed the order of books in the Septuagint and English Bibles had topical order.
*** moral instruction, then nature, then spiritual instruction.
Give an example of how early Christians were hyper-allegorical.
The Epistle of Barnabas for example looked at the 318 men circumcised by Abraham in Genesis and equated the Greek (Septuagint) numbering (10 8 300) with alphabetic letters where the first two were the first two letters of Jesus’ name in Aramaic.
In this he found Abraham to be a “type” of Christ.
Describe how the early church fathers struggled with the literal sense of the meaning of scripture.
The plain meaning of the text was challenging since, for example, Psalm 2 says “You are My Son; today I have begotten you,” and is written about David. However, the NT authors clearly apply this to Christ.
Origen suggested the plain meaning should sometimes be ignored because it is wrong.
What are some tendencies for interpreting scripture during the Middle ages (400-1500)?
(In class we list 5)
1.) Scripture is viewed as God’s inspired Word and was seen as the 66 books.
2.) Like the early church they understood scripture to be one grand, redemptive-historical plan.
3.) Exegesis was largely based on translations only.
4.) There was an emphasis on allegorical interpretation.
5.) Exegetes began reflecting on important interpretive principles. (See Augustine)
Describe how medieval exegetes such as Augustine influenced interpretive principles.
Augustine’s influence on biblical interpretation can be seen even through the high and late middle ages (1500).
- He says we ought to interpret more obscure passages with clear passages.
- He says the literal sense has more clear meaning than the figurative sense.
- a proponent for using accurate translations of the Bible.
- Encouraged the use of liberal arts for Biblical interpretation. (i.e. grammar, philosophy, logic, etc. is needed)
Why is it a drawback that medieval interpretation was largely based on translations only?
Very few knew Greek or Hebrew.
The most important translation was the Latin Vulgate translated by Jerome, which was translated based on the Hebrew and Greek.
- many of the translations prior to the Vulgate were Latin translations of the Septuagint, which is also a translation.
The Reformers later pointed out that there were some critical errors, primarily in the NT. (i.e. penance vs repentance)
Explain the emphasis on the allegorical view held during the medieval ages.
Some, such as Augustine and Motsuestia saw the figurative as secondary to the literal meaning of the text, however, the allegorical was very prominant.
The four-fold interpretation of scripture.
- First promoted by John Cassian (prior to Aquinas), applies a:
* Historical sense (literal)
* allegorical sense (deeper, more spiritual)
* anagogical meaning (eschatological)
* topological meaning (application)
See also Aquinas’ Quadriga
What was Aquinas’ view of the authority of reason compared to revelation?
Aquinas has been accused of equating reason as authoritative with revelation.
However, he says “sacred doctrine uses human reason.”
- That is, reason serves revelation. This allows us to organize the content of scripture, not add alongside of scripture as equally authoritative.
What is the Quadriga?
To Aquinas there are 4 different levels of meaning in scripture. He does not apply to every text.
- Sensus literalis (literal sense) - to Aquinas the first meaning of any text and the most foundational.
- Sensus spiritualis - there is meaning behind the words which adds another meaning, something beyond the literal meaning.
- Sensus Moralis - the implications of the text on how we should act.
- Sensus Anagogicus - the meaning in terms of eschaton or last days.
(This looks to the future of Christian life and final judgments)
How did the Reformers’ view of scripture compare to that of the Middle Ages?
Where the fourfold method and Quadriga were popular and employed in some form in the middle ages, the reformers proposed one sense of scripture.
However, the reformers admitted that there are themes of the Quadriga such as Old Testament typology.
