Course Code: BBG01

Biblical Hermeneutics: Methods and Perspectives

BD I, Semester II, 2 Credit Hours, College Paper

Course Objectives

1. To initiate the students into the history, principles, methods and practices of biblical interpretation for engaging in Christian ministry.
2. Special attention will be given to the various emerging methods and approaches in biblical interpretation.
3. An awareness of these methods and approaches will help students know the importance of understanding the context of the text as well as their cultural contexts in the process of biblical interpretation.

Course Requirements

• Final Examination: 60%
• Internal Assessment: 40%

Course Outline

1. Introduction

• What is hermeneutics? Exegesis and Hermeneutics
• Why biblical exegesis and hermeneutics?
• Where does meaning lie? Text, author, reader? [past or present?]
• Two Horizons and Fusion of Horizons
• Hermeneutical circle, Hermeneutical spiral
• Objectivity and subjectivity questions in hermeneutics

2. Historical and Philosophical Contexts of Biblical Interpretation in the West

• The Biblical Period: Scripture interpreting Scripture; Qumran use of scripture, Jesus, Paul and the early Christian use of scripture.
• The Patristic period: Allegorical method; Tradition as authority in biblical interpretation
• The Medieval period: Dogmatism, scholasticism
• The Reformation Period: Sola Scriptura, Gospel-Christ centered interpretation, etc.
• The Enlightenment Period: Rationalism, Empiricism, Romanticism, Existentialism
• Historical-critical methods: Source, form and redaction criticisms.
• Various types of interpretation: A critical appraisal

3. The Cultural Criticisms and Liberationist Readings of Scripture

• Readings prompted by third world theologies of liberation: Latin American liberationist, Feminist, Dalit, Adivasi, Tribal, etc. theologies.
• Social-Scientific Criticism
• Sociological Methods: Structural Functionalism and Cultural Materialism
• Cultural Anthropology
• Socio-Literary Method
• Materialist Reading
• Socio-Political Reading

4. The Postmodernist Phase of Biblical Interpretation

• Poststructuralism and Deconstruction
• New Literary Critical readings—narrative, reader-response, etc.
• New Historicism
• Autobiographical Readings
• Ideological Criticism
• Subaltern Studies
• Feminist and Womanist Readings
• Postcolonial Studies

5. Interpretations of Scripture in India

• Survey of biblical interpretations in India
• Vedic, Philosophical, Missionaries, Indian Christians
• Methods of biblical reading and hermeneutics emerged in India: Dvani reading, Dalit, Adivasi and Tribal readings of Scripture

Bibliography

Essential Readings

• Adams, Daniel J. Biblical Hermeneutics: An Introduction. SSC: TTL, 1987.
• Barton, John, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation. Cambridge: CUP, 1998.
• Boer, Roland. Last Stop Before Antarctica: The Bible and Postcolonialism in Australia. Sheffield: SAP, 2001.
• Bray, Gerald. Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present. Leicester: Apollos, 1996.
• Chalcraft, D.J., ed. Social- Scientific Old Testament Criticism. Sheffield: SAP, 1997.
• Clines, David and Stephen Moore, eds. Auguries: The Jubilee Volume of the Sheffield Department of Biblical Studies. Sheffield: SAP, 1998.
• Coggins, R.J. and J.L. Houlden. The SCM Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation. London: SCM Press, 1990.
• Collins, A.N., ed. Feminist Perspectives on Biblical Scholarship. Scholars Press, 1985.
• Dube, Musa. Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible. St. Louis: Chalice, 2000.
• Elliott, J.H. Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament. London: SPCK, 1995 (1993).
• Fee, Gordon. Gospel and Spirit: Issues in Hermeneutics. Hendrickson, 1991.
• Fiorenza, Elizabeth. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. London: SCM, 1983.
• Fiorenza, Elizabeth, ed. Searching Scriptures: A Feminist Introduction. London: SCM, 1993.
• Fiorenza, Elizabeth. The Power of the Word: Scripture and the Rhetoric of Empire. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007.
• Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and Method. London: Sheed and Ward, 1975.
• Gottwald, Norman K., ed. The Bible and Liberation: Political and Social Hermeneutics. Revised Edition. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1993.
• Green, Joel, et al., eds. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. IVP, 1992.
• Kaiser, W.C. and M. Silva. Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics. Michigan: Zondervan, 1991.
• Kennedy, G.A. NT Introduction through Rhetorical Criticism. UNCP, 1984.
• Longenecker, R. Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period. Eerdmans, 1999.
• Marshall, I.H. New Testament Interpretation. Eerdmans, 1977.
• Massey, James, ed. Dalit Bible Commentary Series. Delhi: CDS, 2008.
• Moore, Stephen. Poststructuralism and the New Testament: Derrida and Foucault at the Foot of the Cross. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994.
• Moore, Stephen & F.F. Segovia, eds. Postcolonial Biblical Criticism: Interdisciplinary Intersections. London: T & T Clark International, 2005.
• Noble, P.R. The Canonical Approach: A Critical Reconstruction of the Hermeneutics of Brevard S. Childs. Leiden: Brill, 1995.
• Osborne, G.R. The Hermeneutical Spiral. INP, 1991.
• Perrin, N. What is Redaction Criticism? London: SPCK, 1970 (1969).
• Petersen, N.R. Literary Criticism for New Testament Critics. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.
• Pathrapanka, L. Text and Context. Bangalore: Dharmaram, 1993.
• Porter and Evans, eds. New Testament Interpretation and Methods. SAP, 1997.
• Praveen P.S. Perumalla. “Justice and Peace in the Context of Conflicts of Plurality of Edith: Persuasions in the Scriptures,” In Solomon, Ranjan and P. Mohan Larbeer (eds). Hermeneutics from a Palestinian’s Perspective. Bangalore: BTESSC, 2015, pp. 197-210.
• Pui-Lan, K. Discovering Bible in a Non-Biblical World. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1995.
• Pui-Lan, K. Introducing Asian Feminist Theology. Sheffield: SAP, 2000.
• Pui-Lan, K. Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology. Louisville: WJK Press, 2005.
• Ricoeur, Paul. The Rule of Metaphor: Multi-Disciplinary Studies of the Creation of Meaning in Language. London: Routledge, 1978.
• Scot, MacKnight, ed. Introducing New Testament Interpretation. Michigan: Baker, 1989.
• Segovia, F.F. Decolonizing Biblical Studies: A View from the Margins. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2000.
• Sugirtharajah, R.S. Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism: Contesting the Interpretations. Sheffield: SAP, 1998.
• Sugirtharajah, R.S., ed. Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World. Revised and Expanded Edition. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2006.
• Stephen, M. Hermeneutics and the Bible. Qikos Publications, 2003.
• Stephen, M. Introducing Postmodernism and Postcolonialism. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Co., 2013.
• Samuel, Simon. “And They Crucified Him: A Postcolonial Reading of the Story of Jesus.” Dehradun: Thadathi, 2012.
• Samuel, Simon. “Decolonizing Biblical Studies,” in Theological Research in the Global South: Prospects and Challenges, ed. P.G. George. Serampore: Dept. of Research, 2015, pp. 55-74.
• Simonetti, M. Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994.
• Soares-Prabhu, George. Theology of Liberation: An Indian Biblical Perspective. Collected Writings of Soares-Prabhu. Edited by Francis D’Sa. Pune: Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, 2001.
• Surekha, Nelavala. “‘My’ Story is ‘Our’ Story: An Autobiographical Feminist Reading of the Hemorrhaging Woman.” In Gurukul Journal of Theological Studies 20/1 (2009): 3-17.
• Tate, Randolph. Interpreting the Bible: A Handbook of Terms and Methods. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2006.
• Thiselton, A.C. Hermeneutics: An Introduction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.
• Thiselton, A.C. The Two Horizons: New Testament Hermeneutics and Philosophical Descriptions with Special Reference to Heidegger, Bultmann, Gadamer, and Wittgenstein. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.
• Victus, Solomon. “Monotheism, Monarchy, Monoculture.” Asia Journal of Theology, Bangalore: BTESSC/SATHRI, Vol. 24, No. 2, Oct. 2010, pp. 179-196.
• West, G.O. Hermeneutics of Liberation: Modes of Reading the Bible in the South African Context. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 1991.
• West, G.O. The Academy of the Poor: Towards a Dialogical Reading of the Bible. Sheffield: SAP, 1992.

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