Long Essay Flashcards
Summarize the history of Hermeneutics as discussed in class. What are the unique hermeneutical contributions and/or drawbacks in each era of church history (early church, Middle Ages, Reformation, modern/higher critical)?
Early church: Early Christian writers worked diligently to understand the relationship between the OT and the NT. They were trying to think about how the OT and NT relate in terms of being one story. Early Christian writers were very interested in allegorical interpretation usually in the way we use typology. Some tried to synthesize Scripture with philosophy, an example is Justin Martyr. Some wanted to understand the canonical relationship between books of scripture. Some also struggled to understand the role of the literal sense of scripture and took the allegorical approach too far. Some would even say that an event in the OT didn’t actually happen was still true in the spiritual sense.
Middle Ages: They recognized that the scripture is the word of God in origin. They recognized that all of scripture is one grand story. They reflected on interpretive principles for exegesis. There is a focus on the study of the Bible in translation which led to Jerome to translate the Bible from Greek into Latin. There was also some allegorical interpretation, but some definitely took it too far. Aquinas contributed the idea of the “Quadriga” which partly parallels modern interpretive techniques. Sensus literalis (historical sense), Sensus allegoricus (the allegorical sense or spiritual meaning), sensus moralis (the moral sense or application), and Sensus anagogicus (the eschatological sense, redemptive-historical sense).
Reformation: Corrected errors that appeared in the Middle Ages. Thanks to Renaissance Humanism, the Reformation was able to make use of newly restored Greek texts to clarify errors that appeared. They also did not like using allegory. They emphasized Hebrew and Greek for interpretation. They liked translations, but they saw the originals as authoritative. There was a focus on Christ as the center of scripture. Every Christian has the right to interpret scripture without the magisterial authority of the church.
Modern/Higher Critical: In the wake of the Reformation, there were those who remained loyal to scripture and those who wanted to dispose of the supernatural elements in it. These two forces battled over the differences in the texts and led to the emergence of high textual criticism. Lower Critcism is about looking at and comparing the different manuscripts, Higher Criticism is about rejecting the notion of the transcendent and then assuming everything in scripture should be viewed through that lens.
Explain how the ancient Hebrew order of the books in the OT canon can be helpful for Hermeneutics. Be sure to discuss the major three sections, and the order of some of the books within those three sections.
Point 1: The basic structure of the Law (Covenant), Prophets (Former: Covenant history and Latter: Covenant legal proceeding), and Writings (Living under the covenant). (Supporting point using Luke 24:44)
Point 2: This structure is reflected in the NT using the gospels as covenant, Acts as covenant history, and epistles as living in the covenant.
Point 3: There is a prologue (Genesis) and an epilogue (Revelation) that open and close creation and tie everything together. (Gen 1-2 creation, Gen 2 marriage, Gen 3 cursing of Satan paralleling Rev 20 the crushing of Satan, Rev 21 marriage of the church and Christ, and Rev 21-22 new creation.)
Discuss the clarity of Scripture as it relates to Hermeneutics. Make sure you explain what Scripture itself says about its own clarity, and Scripture’s own limitations on clarity as discussed in class.
Point 1: Scripture indicates that it is transformative (Isaiah 55:11), clear on Doctrine (John 20:30), and clear on obedience or practice (Deut 30:11-14).
Point 2: Scripture is not alike clear on all topics due to God not revealing everything (Deut 29:29), some passages being harder to understand than others (Romans 11:33), scripture is hidden from those perishing (2 Cor 4:3), and even believers misunderstand it due to remaining sin (Hebrews 5:11).
Point 3: Taken together, this means that scripture feeds the minimum of what is needed for eternal life, this life’s most important topic.
Discuss how Hermeneutics relates to Logic, Biblical Theology, Systematic Theology, and Historical Theology
Point 1: Hermeneutics uses Logic as logic is consistent with God’s nature and humans use an analogical version of it. Humans use logic by stacking syllogisms together reach conclusions. (Example: Trinity). Humans do not use it without limit (WCF we use logic when it is a good and necessary consequence.)
Point 2: Biblical theology is about tracing the content of scripture by theme as it is revealed progressively. Hermeneutics helps us understand how this happens in scripture as we study BT.
Point 3:Systematic Theology is about organizing scripture by topic and arranging it logically. Hermeneutics is necessary to obtain the information of scripture used this way.
Point 4: Historical Theology is about tracing the development of Christian thought and challenges to it over the course of history. Hermeneutics is necessary in those battles in our ongoing quest to better understand and articulate the contents of scripture as Christians engage the world and create creeds and confessions.
Explain the relationship between Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15. Is Matthew quoting Hosea out of context?
Point 1: First, considering Hosea 11:1, the context describes Israel as returning to Egypt, which happens in being sent to Babylon. Thus the text is calling for a second exodus. This exile has happened as a result of their disobedience.
Point 2: The second exodus happens when Christ comes and Matthew uses it in view of this. Jesus is the herald of the second exodus and it is through him that Israel returns.
Point 3: Matthew does not stand alone. Paul also uses Hosea this way in Romans 9 at the fulfillment of the Jew-Gentile church which were both not his people at the time of Christ’s coming.
