Hermeneutics – Page 2 – The Two Cities

St. Augustine’s Institute for Biblical Hermeneutics (Part I)

Dec 6, 2012

The Bible bursts the bonds of our hermeneutical strategies. The Scriptures as the medium of divine communication are what Karl Barth called a “free Bible”. This is good news: the canon imposes itself upon us readers, transgressing the procrustean bed we inevitably bring to the table as interpreters. For Barth this fact necessitates the development of a “free exegesis”, which means that “Bible exegesis should be left open on all sides” and that “self-defence against...

Getting the Most out of Your Bible: Gaining Insights from Genre

Sep 13, 2012

Sound hermeneutics requires an understanding of how communication works. The Bible, after all, is God’s authoritative communication to us. There are three components of communication: words, genre, and message. “Words” refers to what we say; “genre” to the way we say it; and “message” to the reason for saying it.[1] When we decide to communicate, we first determine the point we want to make (message), then the way we want to say it (genre), and...

Paul, the Gladiator Apostle?

May 3, 2012

As fun as flannel-gram Bible stories were, I always found it frustrating (especially when trying to teach with them) that so often, you are short the people and the objects necessary to tell the entire story. Sometimes you just don’t have enough Galilean common folk to make two crowds, or enough leapers or demonized people to do justice to some narratives. But perhaps the most frustrating is when you are missing entire unique characters to...

Hermeneutics of Love (Guest Post)

Dec 28, 2011

Withstanding the apostles and Jesus himself, Saint Aurelius Augustine is arguably the greatest Christian theologian of the first millennium. His contributions to the understanding and development of Bible interpretation are incalculable. He was a man ahead of his time. Indeed many of the current debates on hermeneutics and postmodern literary criticism appeal to Augustine for insight on issues of meaning, role-of reader, and semiotics. Augustine’s hermeneutical reputation is often limited to his allegorical exegesis, yet...

Come, Let Us Go Out into the Wilderness

Dec 25, 2011

The more I read Hebrews, the more I am convinced that Auctor wanted his readers to see themselves as members with OT Israel in their wilderness journeys. I often wonder why Hebrews includes discussion about angels, Moses, the high priest, sacrifices, the tabernacle, and other OT images; but lately I am beginning to think that we as believers are to see ourselves in the a new kind of wilderness, exiled without a home of our own....

Chalcedonian Hermeneutics

Sep 20, 2011

As orthodox Christians we all readily affirm the Chalcedonian Definition of Christology. Jesus the Messiah has two natures; being both completely human and completely divine. These two natures are distinct from each other, yet are united in the single person of Christ. All Christological heresies abandon at least one of these central tenets. We know what we ought to affirm regarding the Word of God made flesh (Jn 1.1, 14), yet when it comes to...

St. Augustine’s Institute for Biblical Hermeneutics (Part I)

Getting the Most out of Your Bible: Gaining Insights from Genre