Herman-what?
When you read my papers or blogs, you will eventually come across the term hermeneutic. Simply speaking, a hermeneutic is how, and from what perspective, you read a written work. For this blog I am interested in biblical hermeneutics. Meaning that I encourage a proper understanding of the Bible, and advocate for what I believe is the best perspective with which to approach Scripture. Here are three examples of different hermeneutic methods.
Allegorical
An allegorical hermeneutic attempts to “read into” Scripture some “spiritual” meaning even into a real/physical or literal event or thing.
For an example of this type of hermeneutic I will take the account found in Matthew 8:23-26.
“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he [Jesus] was asleep”.
Matthew 8:24 ESV
This may be allegorized by saying that the boat represents all of us as individuals, the sea is life, and the storm is troubles and trials that we all must face. If, however, we have faith we do not need to fear the storms of life because we serve the one whom the “winds and sea obey!”
Reader Response
A reader-response hermeneutic claims that meaning resides only in the mind. The meaning of the author is only in his mind. We cannot access the mind of another; therefore, we can never acquire the authors intended “meaning.” If the author is still alive, we could ask him, but then we only understand what we perceive the author intends to communicate and so on and so on.
Using the same passage as above, a reader-response hermeneutic may say that since I have never been on a boat on the Sea of Galilee in a storm, then I cannot know what Matthew intended me to understand, but I have been on a turbulent airplane during a storm. In my experience that was really scary and I was afraid we might crash and die. Plus, I got motion sick so I can imagine that the disciples were sea sick and scared that they would crash and die. So their reactions are completely reasonable. But once the sea was calm it was like when we flew out of the storm and the rest of the flight was smooth. Therefore, when I read this passage, it makes me think about how that fear went away after we got past the storm.
Historical-Grammatical
A historical-grammatical hermeneutic says that we should take the passage in its proper grammatical context and view it through the lens of its historical situation.
With this same passage in view the reader with a historical-grammatical hermeneutic would read that while the disciples were on a boat in the Sea of Galilee a storm come upon them. While they were all afraid that they would be sunk by the waves, Jesus was asleep. This would be understood to be a real event that took place during the time of Jesus’ ministry, literally in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and not an allegorical story to teach a spiritual message. That being said, spiritual applications may be drawn, but only if properly understood grammatically and historically first. It is ok to try and put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, but in order to do that we have to first know where their shoes were. Only then can we make a proper analogy.
The Only Hope for a Correct Interpretation
Dr. Tom Howe explains that;
Evangelicals cling to the possibility of a correct interpretation because intuitively we all know that there is absolute truth that is universally valid. Although the fact of conflicting interpretations is part of the history of interpretation, this does not indicate that objectivity is not possible. Not only is it the case that there are correct interpretations, but on the basis of this it is possible to adjudicate between interpretations.[1]
In order for there to be “correct interpretations,” those interpretations must be based off of something objective. Allegorical interpretations and the readers feelings or personal interpretations are open to other interpretations. If we take what the author says first and foremost, interpreting it on the basis of proper grammar, and in the context in which it was written then we should more often than not arrive at a common understanding with others who take the same approach. With a proper, objective interpretation, we then are free to draw parallels, create analogies, and/or posit applications for our lives today.
[1] Thomas Howe, Objectivity in Biblical Interpretation (2015), 323.