Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Steps in the Hermeneutics Process {1,006 words} [1]
I. Historical-Cultural and Contextual Analysis
A. Determine the general historical and cultural milieu of the writer and his audience.
1. Determine the general historical circumstances.
2. Be aware of cultural circumstances and norms that add meaning to given actions.
3. Discern the level of spiritual commitment of the audience.
B. Determine the purpose(s) the author had in writing a book.
1. Noting explicit statements or repeated phrases.
2. Observing parenetical or hortatory sections.
3. Observing issues that are omitted or focused on.
C. Understand how the passage fits into its immediate context.
1. Identify the major blocks of material in the book and show how they fit into a coherent whole.
2. Show how the passage under consideration fits into the flow of the author's argument.
3. Determine the perspective which the author intends to communicate - noumenological (the way things really are) or phenomenological (the way things appear).
4. Distinguish between descriptive and prescriptive truth.
5. Distinguish between incidental details and the teaching focus of a passage.
6. Identify the person or category of persons for whom the particular passage is intended.
II. Lexical-Syntactical Analysis
A. Identify the general literary form.
B. Trace the development of the author's theme and show how the passage under consideration fits into the context.
C. Identify the natural divisions (paragraphs and sentences) of the text.
D. Identify the connecting words within the paragraphs and sentences and show how they aid in understanding the author's progression of thought.
E. Determine what the individual words mean.
1. Identify the multiple meanings a word possessed in its time and culture.
2. Determine the single meaning intended by the author in a given context.
F. Analyze the syntax to show how it contributes to the understanding of a passage.
G. Put the results of your analysis into non-technical, easily understood words that clearly convey the author's intended meaning to the English reader.
III. Theological Analysis
A. Determine your own view of the nature of God's relationship to man.
B. Identify the implications of this view for the passage you are studying.
C. Assess the extent of theological knowledge available to the people of that time (the "analogy of Scripture").
D. Determine the meaning the passage possessed for its original recipients in the light of their knowledge.
E. Identify the additional knowledge about this topic which is available to us now because of later revelation ("the analogy of faith").
IV. Literary Analysis
A. Look for explicit references which indicate the author's intent regarding the method he was using.
B. If the text does not explicitly identify the literary form of the passage, study the characteristics of the passage deductively to ascertain its form.
C. Apply the principles of literary devices carefully but not rigidly.
1. Simile
a. Characteristic: an expressed comparison.
b. Interpretation: usually a single point of similarity or contrast.
2. Metaphor
a. Characteristic: an unexpressed comparison
b. Interpretation: usually a single point of similarity.
3. Proverb
a. Characteristic: comparison expressed or unexpressed.
b. Interpretation: usually a single point of similarity or contrast.
4. Parables
a. Characteristic: an extended simile - comparisons are expressed and kept separate; the story and its meaning are consciously separated.
b. Interpretation: determine the focal meaning of the story and show how the details fit naturally into that focal teaching.
5. Allegories
a. Characteristic: an extended metaphor - comparisons are unexpressed and intermingled; story and its meaning are carried along together.
b. Interpretation: determine the multiple points of comparison intended by the author.
6. Types
a. Characteristic:
(1) There must be some notable resemblance or analogy between the type and its anti-type.
(2) There must be some evidence that the type was appointed by God to represent the thing typified.
(3) A type must prefigure something in the future.
(4) Classes of the type and its anti-type: persons, events, institutions, offices, and actions.
b. Interpretation:
(1) Determine the significance within the time and culture of both the type and its anti-type.
(2) Search the text for the point(s) of correspondence between the type and its anti-type as they relate to salvation history.
(3) Note the important points of difference between the type and the anti-type.
7. Prophecy
a. Characteristic:
(1) Be aware that the style is generally figurative and symbolic.
(2) Watch for supernatural elements such as information conveyed by the announcement of angels, by visions, or by other supernatural means.
(3) Notice the emphasis on the unseen world that lies behind the action of the visible world.
(4) Follow the action to its usual conclusion by a sovereign intervention of God.
b. Interpretation:
(1) Determine the specific historical situation surrounding the composition of the writing. Study intervening history to see whether or not the prophecy has been fulfilled.
(2) Study parallel passages or other cycles within the same prophecy for further information.
(3) Analyze whether this passage is part of a progressive prediction, is capable of developmental fulfillment, or includes prophetic telescoping.
V. Comparison with Others
A. Compare your analysis with that of other interpreters.
B. Modify, correct, or expand your interpretation as appropriate.
VI. Application
A. Principalizing: Based on a historical-cultural, contextual, lexical-syntactical, and theological analysis of the narrative portion, ascertain by deductive study (1) the principle(s) that the passage was intended to teach, or (2) the principles (descriptive truths) illustrated within the passage that remain relevant for the contemporary believer.
B. Transcultural transmission of biblical commands
1. Discern as accurately as possible the principle behind the command.
2. Discern whether the principle is transcultural or culture-bound by examining the reason given for the principle.
3. If a principle is transcultural, determine whether or not the same behavioral application in our culture will express the principle as adequately and accurately as the biblical one.
4. If the behavioral expression of a principle should be changed, suggest a cultural equivalent that will express the God-given principle behind the original command.
Endnotes
1. Henry A. Virkler, Hermeneutics - Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1981), pages 239-244.
Tom of Bethany
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Bible Truth 2: Legitimate Hermeneutics
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