# BIBL 550 - Hermeneutics

Teacher

Dr. S. Schumacher

Semester

Spring

Duration

8 Weeks

Frequency

Every three years

Credits

5 ECTS

Workload

150 Hours

Module format

Intensive

Applicability

This module is essential in the reading and understanding of the Bible and all academic texts. As such it is a required course for all students.

Course structure

See [module and courses](https://kms.ets-kniebis.de/knowledge/3-modules-courses-mamhmc-86)

Contact time

40 Hours

Self-Study

110 Hours

Participation requirement

See [access to the program](https://kms.ets-kniebis.de/knowledge/2-access-to-the-program-mamhap-85)

Evaluation

Evaluation	Hours	Weight
Phase 1	50	20%
Reading & Reflection paper	50	20%
Phase 2	40	50%
Participation	30	10%
Presentation	5	10%
Exam	5	30%
Phase 3	60	30%
Research Paper	60	30%
Total	150	100%

Content of the Module

This course will deal with the two main aspects of hermeneutics: How do we understand? and, how do we interpret texts? It will explore different epistemological as well as various hermeneutical approaches. Particular attention will be given to more recent hermeneutical approaches. The course wants to assist the student to develop his own hermeneutical approach to Evangelical/Pentecostal provenience.

Learning Objectives

A. General Learning Objectives - Understand and be able to explain the history of biblical interpretation. - Discuss and describe the hermeneutical approaches of the 1st century CE. - Identify key figures in biblical scholarship within the framework of hermeneutics and within the last several centuries and be able to outline and explain their hermeneutical approaches to Scripture. - To grasp and be able to analyze linguistic, sociological, and cultural aspects of an evangelical/Pentecostal hermeneutic. B. Specific Learning Objectives As a result of the activities and study in this course, students should be able to: - assess, evaluate, and discuss different hermeneutical approaches in the context of biblical scholarship over the past several centuries (e.g., in the form of classroom presentations). - examine hermeneutical principles for a Pentecostal/Evangelical approach to hermeneutics and contrast them with other hermeneutical approaches. - gather and organize hermeneutical elements for a Pentecostal/Evangelical interpretive approach to Scripture. - construct one's own hermeneutical approach to Scripture, formulate it carefully, and conclude by classifying or evaluating it in light of other approaches.

Outline

- Introduction - How do we understand? - How do we exegete? - History of hermeneutics - Rabbinic hermeneutics - Jesus as Teacher - Pneumatic hermeneutics - Elements of Pentecostal Hermeneutics - Gospel and synoptic tradition

Examination

See Evaluation

Core Literature

**Textbooks:** Archer, Kenneth J. *A Pentecostal Hermeneutic for the Twenty-First Century.* London: T&T Clark International, 2004. Cross, Terry. *What Can Pentecostal Theology Offer Evangelical Theology*. JPT 10.2 (2002), pp. 44-73.\*\* Hempelmann, Heinzpeter. *Wie wir denken können.* Wuppertal, 2000, Ss. 103-112. Longenecker, Richard N. *Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period.* Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1975, pp. 6-35.\*\* Maier, Gerhard. *Biblical Hermeneutics*. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 1994, pp. 333-373. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Biblische Hermeneutik*. Wuppertal: Brockhaus, 1990, Ss. 295-331. Maltese, Giovanni. *Geisterfahrer zwischen Transzendenz und Immanenz.* Göttingen: V&R Unipress, 2013.\*\* Riesner, Rainer. *Jesus als Lehrer.* Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1984, Ss. 102-352. Smith, James K. A., *T**hinking in Tongues*. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010.\*\* Thiselton, Anthony C. *New Horizons in Hermeneutics*. Zondervan, 1997, pp. 142-178; 204-236. Yong, Amos. *The Spirit of Creation* (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011).\*\* ***\*\*****Required Readings* Aichele, Georg et al. *The Postmodern Bible*. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995. Archer, Melissa L. *“I Was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day”: A Pentecostal Engagement with Worship in the Apocalypse.* Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2015.\*\* Barthes, R. *The Pleasure of the Text*. Translated by Richard Miller. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 1975. Borg, M. and N. T. Wright. *The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions*. Harper San Francisco, 1999. Branson, M. L. and C. R. Padilla, eds. *Conflict and Context: Hermeneutics in the Americas*. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Bultmann, Rudolf. *Jesus and the Word*. Fontana Books, 1934. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *New Testament & Mythology and Other Basic Writings*. Translated and edited by Schubert M. Ogden. Fortress Press, 1984. Conzelmann, H. und A. Lindemann. *Arbeitsbuch zum Neuen Testament*, Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1975. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Interpreting the New Testament. An Introduction to the Principles and Methods of N.T*. Exegesis. Peabody, 1988. Croatto, J. S. *Biblical Hermeneutics*. Translated by Robert R. Barr. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987. Crossan, J. D. *In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus*. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1973. Crossan, J. D. et al. *The Jesus Controversy: Perspectives in Conflict*. Philadelphia, PA: Trinity International Press, 1999. Culler, Jonathan. *On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism after Structuralism*. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982. Davis, Ellen F. and Richard B. Hays, eds. *The Art of Reading Scripture.* Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003. Derrida, Jacques. *Dissemination.* Translated by B. Johnson. The University of Chicago Press, 1981. Dieterich, Jörg, Hrsg. *Streiflichter zur Wissenschaftstheorie*. Friedensau, 1999. Eagleton, T. *Literary Theory: An Introduction*. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1983. Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. *Bread Not Stone*. Boston, NJ: Beacon Press, 1984. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *The Power of Naming*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Wisdom Ways*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001. Foucault, Michel. *The Foucault Reader.* Edited by Paul Rabinow. New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1984. Fredriksen, Paula. *From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus.* New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Language, Hermeneutic, and the Word of God: The Problem of Language in the New Testament and Contemporary Theology*. New York: Harper & Row, 1966; reprint: Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1979. Frei, H. W. *The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative: A Study in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Hermeneutics*. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1974. Frestadius, Simo. *Pentecostal Rationality: Epistemology and Pentecostal Hermeneutics in the Foursquare Tradition.* London/New York: T&T Clark, 2020.\*\* Froehlich, Karlfried. *Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church.* Translated and edited by K. Froehlich. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1984. Gadamer, Hans-Georg. *Philosophical Hermeneutics*. Translated and edited by D.E. Linge. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 1976. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Truth and Method*. 2nd ed. Translated and revised by J. Weinsheimer and D.G. Marshall. New York, NY: The Continuum Publishing Company, 1975. Gilligan, C. *In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982. Green, Chris E. W. *Toward a Pentecostal Theology of the Lord’s Supper: Foretasting the Kingdom.* Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012. Haacker, Klaus. *Biblische Theologie als engagierte Exegese*. Wuppertal: Brockhaus, 1993. Habermas, Jürgen. *On the Pragmatics of Communication*. Edited by Maeve Cooke. Massachusetts: MIT, 1998. Hegel, G. W. F. *Reason in History*. Translated by R.S. Hartman. The Liberal Arts Press, 1953. Kaplan, D. M. *Ricoeur’s Critical Theory.* New York, NY: State University of NY Press, 2003. Hempelmann, Heinzpeter. *Wie die wahre Welt zur Fabel wurde. Christliches Wahrheitszeugnis und postmoderner Wahrheitspluralismus.* 4 Bände. Witten, 2008 (Band 4). \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Wie wir denken können*. Wuppertal: Brockhaus, 2000. Kelly, S. *Racializing Jesus: Race, Ideology and the Formation of Modern Biblical Scholarship.* Routledge, 2002. Kwok, Pui-Ian and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza eds. *Women’s Sacred Scriptures*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998. Land, Steven Jack. *Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom.* Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2010.\*\* Larkin, William J., Jr. *Culture and Biblical Hermeneutics*. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1998. Lentricchia, Frank. *After the New Criticism*. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1980. Martin, Lee Roy. *The Unheard Voice of God: A Pentecostal Hearing of the Book of Judges.* JPSUP 32. Dorset: Deo Publishing, 2008. McConnell, Frank, ed. *The Bible and The Narrative Tradition.* Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1986. McQueen, Larry R. *Joel and the Spirit: The Cry of a Prophetic Hermeneutic.* Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2009. Moore, Rickie D. *The Spirit of the Old Testament.* JPTSup 35. Dorset: Deo Publishing, 2011. Moore, S. D. *Literary Criticism and the Gospels: The Theoretical Challenge*. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1989. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Poststructuralism and the New Testament: Derrida and Foucault at the Foot of the Cross*. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1994. Moore-Jumonville, R. *The Hermeneutics of Historical Distance: Mapping the Terrain of American Biblical Criticism, 1880-1914*. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002. Mosala, I. J. *Biblical Hermeneutics and Black Theology in South Africa*. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989. Mouton, E. *Reading a New Testament Document Ethically*. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002. Palmer, R. E. *Hermeneutics: Interpretation Theory in Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, and Gadamer.* Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1969. Pelikan, J. *Jesus through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture*. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985. Pope-Levison, P. and J. R. Levison. *Jesus in Global Contexts*. Louisville, KY.: Westminster, John Knox Press, 1992. Potok, C. *In the Beginning*. Fawcett Crest, NY: Ballantine Books, 1975. Ricoeur, Paul. *Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative, and Imagination*. Translated by D. Pellauer. Edited by M. I. Wallace. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Freud & Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation*. Translated by D. Savage. New Haven, CT: Yale, 1970. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *From Text to Action: Essays in Hermeneutics, II*. Translated by K. Blamey and J.B. Thompson. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1991. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action and Interpretation.* Edited and translated by John B. Thompson. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 1981. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning*. Fort Worth, TX: Texas Cristian University Press, 1976. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Oneself as Another*. Translated by K. Blamey. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1992. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient*. New York, NY: Penguin, 1978. Said, E. W. *Culture and Imperialism*. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1993. Schottroff, Luise, S. Schroer, and M. T. Wacker. *Feminist Interpretation: The Bible in Women’s Perspective.* Translated by M. Rumscheidt. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1998. Schnabel, E. J. und Heinz-Werner Neudorfer. *Das Studium des Neuen Testaments*. 2 Bände. Wuppertal: Brockhaus, 1999. Stadelmann, Helge. *Evangelikales Schriftverständnis: Die Bibel verstehen – der Bibel vertrauen.* Muldenhammer Hammerbrücke: Jota Publications, 2005. Stuhlmacher, Peter. *Jesus of Nazareth; Christ of Faith*. Translated by S. Schatzmann. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Vom Verstehen des Neuen Testaments*. NTD 6. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986. Sugirtharajah, Rasiah S. *The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial, and Postcolonial* *Encounters.* Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation*. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2002. Thomas, John Christopher. *The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary.* Cleveland, TN: CPT Press, 2012. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *The Spirit of the New Testament.* Dorset: Deo Publishing, 2005. Segovia, Fernando F. and Mary Ann Tolbert, eds. *Teaching the Bible: The Discourses and Politics of Biblical Pedagogy.* Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998. Thiselton, Anthony C. *New Horizons in Hermeneutics*. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Two Horizons*. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1980. Via, Dan Otto. *The Parables: Their Literary and Existential Dimension*. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1967. Wariboko, Nimi. *The Pentecostal Hypothesis: Christ Talks, They Decide.* Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020.\*\* Weaver, Walter P. *The Historical Jesus in the Twentieth Century: 1900-1950*. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1999. Wessels, Antonie. *Images of Jesus: How Jesus Is Perceived and Portrayed in Non-European Cultures*. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990. West, Cornel. *The Cornel West Reader*. New York, NY: Basic Civitas Books, 1999. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. *Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity*. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1982. Wilder, Amos N. *Early Christian Rhetoric: The Language of the Gospel*. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1971. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. *On Certainty*. Edited by G. E. M. Anscombe and G. H. von Wright. New York, NY: Harper Torchbooks, 1969.

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