Hermeneutic of Suspicion

Question 1

Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Answer 1

Hermeneutics of suspicion are forms of interpretation which are sensitive to power. This can
usually proceed in one of two ways. One considers issues of power in the ancient world in
which the text was written, while the other considers issues of power in the subsequent
reception of the text (up to and including current readers).

Question 1

Postcolonial Criticism

Answer 1

postcolonial theory developed out of liberating trends
in the post-war decades. In particular, it sought to understand the experience of the newlyindependent nations that emerged from former colonial holdings. . In New Testament, focus has often been placed upon Jesus
as a colonial subject. In thinking about reception and the modern world, much of the focus
has been the way that European missions led many in the colonies to embrace Christianity—
and what it means to fervently believe in a religion that was brought to them by foreign and
invasive powers.

Question 2

Multiracial Criticism

Answer 2

Politically, it is
in many ways a response to the resurgent fascist and racialized violence that has
characterized much of Anglo-American and European politics since ca. 2015. It tends to
focus more fully upon the distorting effects of racism in the reception and modern reading of
the biblical text. Of particular interest is how biblical interpretation and biblical scholarship
have shaped contemporary notions of Whiteness, and vice versa.

Question 3

Ecological Criticism

Answer 3

The youngest among the criticisms discussed this week, ecological criticism tries to think
about the biblical texts in relation to ecology. It will look at such things as ecological imagery
in the biblical texts, or how the biblical text has been used to justify ecocide.