Our belief in the inspiration of the Bible is therefore a testimony that the exegesis of the New Testament is not only a problem; it's a real possibility. In the case of the Gospel of John, it has been assumed that some of the narrative material comes from a.
ORTHODOXY AND HERESY IN THE SECONDCENTURY
Even within Paul's corpus we have evidence of some interpretation of earlier epistles in later epistles: for example, the ecclesiastical principles of 1 Corinthians are reapplied in one direction in the Ephesians and in the other in the Pastoral Epistles. Again, it has been observed more than once that the scenes accompanying the breaking of the seals in the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:1 ff.) are constructed on a framework similar to Mc's eschatological discourse.
MARCION AND HIS SCHOOL
The statement that the Galatians were Greeks may mean that they were not Celts ("northern Galatians"); the statement that it was written from Ephesus places it in the same period as the Corinthian correspondence. The letters to the Philippians and Philemon are also said to have been written "from prison in Rome."
IRENAEUS AND ORIGEN
In fact, nothing in the letter to the Romans suggests that the recipients were misinstructed or learned anything. But even when he respected the historical interpretation more, he considered it less important than the allegorical.
THE SCHOOL OF ANTIOCH
He criticizes Herakleon for interpreting the cleansing of the temple in Gnostic terms, but Herakleon and he were not so far apart in their approach. Origen, however, did not consistently maintain his allegorical method; after insisting almost at the beginning of his commentary on John that the cleansing of the temple cannot be understood other than allegorically, he later characterizes it as an account of Jesus.
THE LATIN FATHERS
This treatment of the record is what we now call demythologising, because Origen regards the literal sense as not only insufficient, but as completely unacceptable. 3:6, "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." To be satisfied with the pedestrian level of the literal sense is a sign of soul slavery, when the treasures of the spiritual sense are there for the taking.
THE MIDDLE AGES
The action example is his interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk) where the man walking on the road to Jericho is Adam (mankind), attacked by the devil and his angels, neglected by the priesthood and ministry of the Old Testament, saved from Christ and brought by him to the church, which exists for the refreshment of travelers on their way to the heavenly place. Proposing this last hermeneutical principle for the entire Bible, Augustine follows the precedent of Jesus, for whom the double commandment the beloved summed up the law and the prophets.
ERASMUS
LUTHER
The New Testament is one book, in which are written the gospel and the promise of God, along with the history of those who believed and those who did not believe. So every man can be sure that there is only one gospel, only one book in the New Testament, only one faith, and only one promising God.
CALVIN
But with the elimination of those elements whose title to a place in the canon was excluded by their "unevangelical" content, what remained was self-evidently unanimous.
A POLEMICAL SITUATION
CATHOLIC EXEGESIS
GROTIUS
BACKGROUND STUDIES
TEXTUAL STUDIES
SEMLER AND MICHAELIS
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
GRIESBACH
In relation to his psychological assessment of the Gospel narrative, he interpreted, for example, the resurrection of Jesus as his revival after apparent death, and the supernatural features in the accounts of his appearance to the disciples as a result of preconditions on their part. . Strauss found it impossible to believe in a transcendent God who intervened in the life of the world, and therefore found it impossible to accept the gospel's testimony of Christ.
THE MEYER COMMENTARY
The miracles of the resurrection of the dead, like the resurrection of Jesus himself, were interpreted in terms of the revival of people who were only apparently dead; the superficial piercing of Jesus' side inadvertently performed the beneficial function of phlebotomy. The volume of criticism the work provoked led Strauss to make some concessions to orthodoxy in the third edition (1838), but these were revoked in the fourth edition (1840) - the edition translated into English by George Eliot: The Life of Jesus Critically Examined (1846).
EXEGESIS AT PRINCETON
Paulus, says Albert Schweitzer, "had an invincible distrust of anything that went beyond the bounds of logical thought"; 29 he accepted the gospel story as a whole (placing it within the framework of John's narrative), but rationalized its details so as to evacuate them largely of theological significance and reduce them to the pedestrian level. What he provided was a carefully constructed replacement for the gospel story, based on a complete typology of miracles and myths.
THE TUBINGEN SCHOOL
INTERPRETATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT THE HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT Consider, for example, the extraordinary and unreasonable importance of-. Doubt enters through the window, while inquiry is dismissed at the door. 2X There would indeed be a general admission that approaching the New Testament in a spirit of inquiry is not tantamount to taking unwarranted liberty with a holy book, since the New Testament itself invites a spirit of inquiry.
THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL
With the advent of the twentieth century the center of gravity in New Testament studies was decisively placed in the evangelical tradition. In his hands, Mark emerges as a theologian with his personal interpretation of the evangelical tradition.
HISTORY OF RELIGION SCHOOL
Machen gave a reasonable assessment based on the evidence in The Origin of Paul's Religion (1921), and W.'s "new hermeneutics" represents the modern effort to make the message of the New Testament intelligible and relevant to modern man.
GOSPEL CRITICISM
One can see the analogy between this account of the matter and the New Testament teaching of justification by faith; one can agree that in the experience of many, analogy can constitute identity. Form criticism is one of the most useful tools for reconstructing the pre-literary tradition.
THE NEW QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS
A way forward in the pursuit of this task is certainly pointed out by the new search for the historical Jesus. Although the discussion of assumptions has often continued alongside the scholarly study of the New Testament since the time of F.
Bultmann’s comment is apposite: “Every exegesis that is guided by dogmatic prejudices does not hear what the text says, but only lets the latter
The life history of Jesus research provides further confirmation of the impact of presuppositions on historical research and on exegesis. For Barth, the more important and dangerous question was the current meaning of the text.32 The preface continues: "The reader will detect for himself that it has been written with a sense of joyful discovery.
Bultmann quickly joined forces with Barth (though in later years they disagreed on many basic theological issues). Bultmann and Barth both in-
The meaning of Scripture should not be limited to what the text seems to say to me today. Does the interpreter have to share the beliefs and beliefs of the New Testament writers, or can the New Testament be interpreted by a non-Christian?
PART TWO
INTRODUCTION
In semantic theory, the situation should be given equal weight as the linguistic form.” Obviously, this is not far from the traditional concerns of New Testament exegesis, in which the goal is to discover and interpret the meaning of an utterance. in relation to its historical and literary context. If semantics are so important to the interpretation of the New Testament, why did we have to wait until after 1961 for its insights and possibilities to become apparent?
THE INHIBITING EFFECTS OF TRADITIONAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LANGUAGE
Whether such a treatment of the text is justified cannot be determined without careful consideration of the issues discussed in the remainder of this essay. A review of the issues discussed in the remainder of this essay, however, will show that a.
NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION SEMANTICS AND NEW TESTAM ENT INTERPRE T ATIO N
- THE STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO LANGUAGE
- TYPES OF VAGUENESS AND METAPHOR
- How can the Christian be both “righteous” and yet also a sinner? E
- How can Paul place “faith” in contrast to “works” when it is not, as Whiteley puts it, “another kind of work”; it is not a species of the same
Saussure was certainly not the first to show in language what he called "the arbitrary nature of the sign". No, but on the principle of faith." In this form of the text, "boast" occurs only once.
DATE
If the Epistle to the Colossians is dated to the time of fully developed Gnosticism in the second century, the interpreter of its Christology and its allusions to heresy will be obliged to take this into account. Moreover, dating has an immediate effect on determining authorship, for if Colossians is dated to the second century, Pauline authorship is immediately ruled out.
DESTINATION
Accurate dating is impossible in many New Testament writings simply because insufficient information is available. But in most cases an appropriate dating is possible by taking into account available background material and historical allusions that contain time elements.
INTEGRITY
The Old Testament is crucial to properly understanding the message of the New Testament. Used wisely, these materials can add a fundamental dimension to our understanding of the New Testament.
HISTORICAL CRITICISM
Similarly, parallel stories about the same incidents can differ from each other. It must be put into practice to shed light on the nature of the truth to be attributed to the NT.
SOURCE CRITICISM
It is a mistake to suppose that the evangelists will simply have mirrored the ideas of the church and of the time in which they lived. If Mark shows a
The limitations of the arguments based on the internal evidence magnify the potential importance of the external evidence. There has been a tendency in recent years to neglect the statements of the Church Fathers about the writing of the Gospels, perhaps partly because critics on internal grounds concluded that Mark was the first Gospel, thereby contradicting the unanimous testimony of the Fathers and sowing doubt. on their reliability as witnesses.
WHERE THERE ARE NO OVERLAPPING TRADITIONS
The limitations of the methods of source criticism have become clear, and it cannot be assumed that it will always be possible to identify the use of written sources, let alone oral sources, especially if the author was a competent editor. Whether or not any of the evangelists are thought to have been eyewitnesses to the events they describe, it is virtually certain that they would all have been familiar with many of the traditions they record long before they wrote them, and the fact that such traditions can be recorded in the language and style of the evangelist in question is not at all surprising and does not prove anything about the reliability of the tradition.
THE METHODS AND OUTLOOK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS
It is customary to date most of the Pauline corpus with its high Christology before the first of the Gospels. Something similar can be said about the Aramaic flavor of parts of the early chapters of Acts.
SOURCE CRITICISM ILLUSTRATED
MYTHS
Despite these difficulties, then, form criticism has drawn valuable attention to the question of Sitz im Leben. Davies, “Reflections on a Scandinavian Approach to the Gospel Tradition”, in The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount (Cambridge 1964) p.
TRADITION HISTORY
AN EXAMPLE OF LITERARY CONSIDERATIONS
Third, the identity of the "children of wisdom" in the Luken sequence is already evident by the word naivtwv, which negatively excludes John and Jesus (7:33f) and positively takes a& d Aa&. THE HISTORY OF THE TRADITION OF NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION is of course in accordance with the Old Testament tradition of the children of wisdom as.
AN EXAMPLE OF HISTORICAL UNIQUENESS,
NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION TRADITION HISTORY that use of "Kingdom of God" characterizes the teachings of Jesus and. Calve & “An Inquiry into the Criteria for Distinguishing the Authentic Words of Jesus”, NTS pp.
REDACTION CRITICISM
- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
- A PERICOPE FROM MATTHEW
- A SAYING IN MATTHEW
- THE JESUS OF HISTORY DEBATE
- THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOSPELS
- THE INTENTION OF THE EVANGELISTS
Redactional criticism has an obvious bearing on the question of the authority of the Gospels (and indeed the New Testament in general). The final implication of redactional criticism for the study of the Gospels concerns the intent of the evangelists.
HOW THE NEW TESTAMENT USES THE OLD
INTRODUCTORY FORMULAS
Introductory formulas often underline the divine authority of the Old Testament, not abstractly, but within the correct interpretation and application of its teachings. I3 Both types of quotations contain creatively altered textual forms that facilitate an eschatological reapplying of the Old Testament passages, similar to those found in the Qumran scrolls, I4 to the experiences and understanding of the early church.
FORMS AND TECHNIQUES IN QUOTATION
It can be presupposed, as it is in rabbinic writings, in the formula "have you not (0.) read?" "That is, "you have read but have not understood." This formula is found only in the New Testament on the lips of Jesus and usually in a biblical debate or exposition. Something similar is the n&5 d l6yoq ("faithful is the word") passage in the pastoral letters.
QUOTATION AND MIDRASH
In the application of the Old Testament to the New, the implicit midrash appears in a double content, in interpretive changes of quotations from the Old Testament, and in more elaborate forms. The general outline of this pattern, with some variations, occurs quite frequently in the New Testament.
SALVATION AS HISTORY
Dodd, mentioned above (p. 201), argues that the quotations of "testimony" in the New Testament are derived from the Midrashes, ie. The concept is most evident in the way the New Testament relates present and future events to the events, persons, and institutions of the Old Testament.
TYPOLOGY
NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION HOW THE NEW TESTAMENT USES THE OLD by Jesus and His disciples, a two-step fulfillment. Because it is precisely within the framework of the community that the individual's decision is made:
OTHER PRESUPPOSITIONS
Targum, Midrash and the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 2 (1970), pp. The New Testament Evidence for the Presence in the Jerusalem Church of the Virgin Mary and the Brothers of Jesus (Gal.
THE DOGMATIC APPROACH
Exegesis means interpretation, and when we apply the term to the books of the New Testament, we can begin with a preliminary definition of the task. We can note these when we set down some of the different ways in which the approach to the interpretation of the New Testament has been understood.
THE IMPRESSIONISTIC APPROACH
First, there is the problem of the best New Testament text in the original Greek. However, this is a tendency that must be restrained as we give due recognition to the demands of grammatical-historical requirements.
THE MEANING FOR THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The transmission of the text of the New Testament has been affected by historical circumstances, and since we do not possess the original autographs for inspection, it behooves us to use all available means to recover the text that stands closest to the original. According to the purpose of the latter, the reader professes a desire to study and listen only to those parts of Scripture which.
SALVATION HISTORY
The criteria by which we can decide what constitutes sensus plenior are (a) an authorization in the New Testament that justifies the "fuller meaning" to be attributed to an Old Testament passage. A more careful way of framing the interrelationship between the Old Testament preparation for Christ and the fulfillment in the New is in terms of typology.
LITERARY FORM
APPROACHES TO THE EXEGESIS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT so that the Lord of the Bible can speak to his people in extraordinary ways, . however much we may want to guard against the haphazard method of selecting the Bible and showing the unwary its hidden pitfalls). First, the principles will be given in the form of questions; and then we will devote the remainder of the essay to some illustrations of the type of literature found in the New Testament.
BACKGROUND
That activity is located in the temporal and spatial framework of the history of Jesus Christ and the apostolic church; and whether we like it or not, we are locked into this segment of world history for the location of redemption and its inspired interpretation. For this reason, it remains the indispensable source of our knowledge of God and his ways with men.
CULTURAL SETTING
THEOLOGICAL PURPOSE
An example of this interrelationship between the whole and the parts is the book of Revelation. We will now review sample examples of the major literary forms found in the New Testament.
GENRE
Kiimmel made some important caveats regarding this theory, namely that there are frequent breaks and interruptions in the flow of the letters (e.g., Phil. The similarities of the New Testament apocalypses to their Jewish counterparts are important to note, even if there are important differences. .
HYMNIC AND POETIC FORMS
Sentences of the Holy Law” 4' and these are all variations of the legal principle of lex talionis. These poetic forms make the short verse one of the most precious examples of a literary piece in the entire New Testamem4*.
LITURGICAL EXPRESSIONS
There are two particular examples of the use of Amen in Paul's letters, which take on a distinct meaning. It is found in the New Testament in Revelation 19:1, 6 as a song of triumph to celebrate the victory of the heavenly army.
FIGURES OF SPEECH AND LITERARY DEVICES
Sanders, “The Transition from Opening Epistolary Thanksgiving to Body in the Letters of the Pauline Corpus”, JBL pp. Gundry, “The Forma, Meaning and Background of the Hymn Quoted in 1 Timothy 3: 16”, në Apostolic History and the Gospel , Ese të paraqitura tek F.
EXEGESIS IN PRACTICE
TWO SAMPLES
The centurion's creed is one of the two central statements in the story. We have already dealt with the disobedience of the spirits in the days of Noah.
DEMYTHOLOGIZING - THE PROBLEM OF MYTH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT*
NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION DEMYTHOLOGIZATION - THE PROBLEM OF MYTH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT The impact of the History of Religion School on the problem of myth in. In short, Bultmann's statement of the problem of myth in the NT is insufficient because the questions, What kind of myth.
THE NEW HERMENEUTIC
LANGUAGE AND PRE-UNDERSTANDING
Historical understanding always presupposes a relationship between the interpreter and the subject, i.e. Even on a purely linguistic level, the interpreter's subjectivity plays a positive role.
THE INTERPRETER AND THE TEXT
This is why the new hermeneutics has certain connections with the new quest of the historical Jesus. Fuchs writes: "In the preaching of the resurrection, the historical Jesus himself has come to us.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Interpretation and Authority Within the Bible
The best known example of the way in which the teachings of the Old Testament were reinterpreted in Christ is found in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). Some of the issues regarding Jesus' ipsissima verba have been discussed above.
Interpretation and Authority Today
Aland drew attention to this in his important monograph, The Problem of the New Testament Canon. The authority of the New Testament, properly understood, will never be fully experienced in this life.
EXPOUNDING THE NEW TESTAMENT John Goldingay
Resymbolize and remythologize so that the meaning of the original can be felt anew (rather than just reusing biblical symbols just because they are biblical). Note that "implications" indicate what is implicit in the inherent meaning of the text itself.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
But these may simply be for illustrating a detail of the argument or pointing out where to find deeper thoughts on a particular point. Since these lists were compiled, Paternoster Press has begun publishing the equivalent of the microscope in The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, edited by Colin Brown (3 vols, 1975-78).
THE HISTORY OF NEW TESTAMENT STUDY
Interpretation of the New Testament aims to be a telescope hovering over the subject of the title. K~~MMEL, The New Testament: The History of the Investigation of its Problems (London: SCM Press 1972).
PRESUPPOSITIONS IN NEW TESTAMENT CRITICISM
COBB, Jr, The New Hermeneutic = New Frontiers in Theology, ii (Nju Jork: Harper dhe Row 1964). CULLMANN, “The Necessity and Function of Higher Criticism”, në The Early Church (Londër: SCM Press 1956), f.
SEMANTICS AND NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION
QUESTIONS OF INTRODUCTION
THE RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND
RIC HARDSON , The Miracle Stories of the Gospels (London: SCM 1941)
B ULTMANN , Existence and Faith (London: Hodder and Stoughton 196 1)
SMITH, Jr, The Composition and Order of the Fourth Gospel (New Haven: Yale University Press 1965). K~SEMANN, "The Problem of the Historical Jesus," in Essays on New Testament Themes (London: SCM Press 1964), p.
APPROACHES TO NT EXEGESIS
EXEGESIS IN PRACTICE: TWO EXAMPLES
DEMYTHOLOGIZING - THE PROBLEM OF MYIH IN THE NT
Robinson (ed.), The Future of Our Religious Past: Essays in Honor of Rudolf Bultmann (London: SCM Press. 1971), pp. The Pattern of Christian Truth: An Investigation of the Relations Between Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Early Church (London: Mowbrays 1954).
EXPOUNDING THE NEW TESTAMENT
