I. THE NATURE OF THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION A. The idea of theological interpretation 1. Theological interpretation is at the other end of the spectrum from the reductionist HCM in which God and theology are perceived as being outside the purview of the method 2. Similar to canon criticism, but different. a. Canon criticism is concerned with the text as preserved and understood by a particular believing community. b. Theological interpretation is concerned with the text as preserved, rather created by God. 3. Kinds of questions raised: a. Why was the text preserved? b. What does the text reveal about God and his will? c. What does it mean in the context of the whole Bible? 4. The term and concept: Theological interpretation seeks to hear God's voice in the scriptures; it seeks to probe beyond mere historical reconstruction and verbal meanings to a discernment of the message of God in the Scriptures; it concentrates on the prophetic, kerygmatic dimension and the theocentric focus (p. 103) 5. To ignore the theological dimension in favor of the scientific method is actually to be unscientific 6. Theological interpretation is a necessary dimension a. Without theological interpretation, Bible study becomes a shallow, hollow, dead end discipline it doesn t preach very well 1
b. literary and historical interpretation are incomplete as long as they have missed the text's theocentric focus" (p. 104). 7. Theological interpretation is an integral dimension a. This is not another layer of the interpretative methods b. It is part and parcel of the assumptions with which one approaches the text B. Reasons for theological interpretation 1. The First Reason: The Bible Claims inspiration, 2 Tim 3:16-- "Inspiration" a. God, the divine author, works through the human authors b. Like Jesus, the word of God is 100% divine and 100% human c. inspiration calls for a holistic interpretation which probes beyond historical reconstruction and verbal meanings to the message of God (pp., 104-5) 2. The Second Reason: The church accepted the Bible as its standard of faith and practice--the canon a. The assumption that "the Bible is the church's standard of faith and practice... requires a theocentric focus which is able to discern the revelation of God and his will" (p. 105). b. That is, the Bible requires theological interpretation not only because it is the word of God but also because it is the authoritative word about God--his acts, his will, his relation to his creation and to his people (p. 105). 3. The Third Reason: a believing interpreter cannot approach the Bible in a neutral, supposedly objective, fashion but will naturally use a method of interpretation that is informed by that faith commitment (105) 2
a. At the outset every interpreter must approach the Bible with one of two presuppositions: either it is the word of God, or it is not, e.g., Herb and Deutro-Isaiah b. To acknowledge the Bible as God's word is to be in tune with its message c. To disallow it as God's word and force an objective approach means the exegete must still explain the theological intentionality (1) Continued in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin (2) Theological God's divine judgment behind the text (3) Objective the judgment of the author/redactor II. THE PURPOSE OF THE AUTHOR. A. To repeat: The fact that the text is written proves that it is significant. B. The purpose of the human author Greidanus makes and excellent point: In order to get a sense of the purpose of the author, one asks the basic question, Why did the author write (or send) this message? This is one of the more important questions in biblical hermeneutics. Jay Adams asserts: There are few deficiencies in preaching quite so disastrous in their effect as the all-toofrequently occurring failure to determine the telos (or purpose) of a preaching portion. The passage, and therefore the Word of God itself, is misrepresented, misused, and mishandled when its purpose has not been determined, with the direct result that its power and authority are lost. 1 1. A shift from subjectivism a. Knowing the author's purpose--guards against subjectivism b. Should allow the authors to present their message and meaning 1 Greidanus, 106. 3
c. Greidanus s point relative to preachers cannot be overemphasized (p. 107): (1) Preachers are especially prone to impose their own subjective purposes on a text. Because of their training and experience, they have a good idea of what the text will say before they exegete it. Moreover, they have selected the text the text to fulfill a particular purpose in next Sunday s service. Hence the danger is very real that the purpose of preachers will overrule the purpose of the text and in effect silence the text. But James Daane contends rightly that as long as the preacher preaches, listening to Scripture is obligatory. In approaching a text preachers must allow the Scriptures to challenge and question their understanding of it. Daane points to another subtle temptation to be avoided, and that is the concern for application: Eager to discover relevance, the minister never takes time to hear what the text really says.... Application dominates interpretation. Students are particularly prone to this folly and folly it is, for how can one apply what one has not yet heard or understood. (2) Should not be so ready to apply the passage that we do not listen to what it says (3) We do this under the stress each week "to have something to say" (4) Related to this is the problem each of you has, and especially me: that is, studying the scripture in preparation for sermons, classes, and courses, without enough study for ourselves d. Attention should be shifted away from ourselves and our smart application of it, to the scriptures and the purpose(s) of the author(s) e. Author/redactor's purposes ought to be determined from the text itself 2. There is no fallacy in determining the intention of the author from the text 4
a. That is the only place one can logically find it. b. This method is less subjective than searching for it outside the text! c. Though at times complex, attention should be given to the intention of the text, because that is the foundation of interpretation--where it begins 3. Determining the purpose authors used particular motifs which identified their purpose a. Often stated it directly, Jn 20:31 b. Redaction criticism often helps by noting the composition as a whole, the vocabulary and comments of the author especially in introduction and conclusion, and the author s changes in sources and interpretative comments in the `seams' between sources (p. 110) NOTE: In Amos 7:10-17 this is revealed in the attitudes exhibited by Amaziah and Amos as well as their conversation. c. Rhetorical criticism helps: exposing climatic lines, repetition..., chiasm, and inclusio... can disclose literary motifs which provide clues for discovering the overall purpose of the author NOTE: In Amos 7:10-17 this is revealed in the shift from the first to third person, the shift from visions report to narrative and back again, the increasing in intensity of the each successive vision, and Amos' inability after the first two visions to intercede. d. Kaiser's advice relative to four ways to observe the intention: (1) Preface, conclusion or body of text (2) Parenthetical sections 5
(3) Historical section and how the facts are chosen and arranged (4) What thematic ideas are exhibited by the topical sentences. e. All or combinations of these may illuminate the intention C. God's ultimate purpose 1. The immediate purpose may point to a broader purpose, which is usually exhibited in light of the whole canon 2. This fuller sense, senus plenior, goes beyond the intention of the original author, e.g., 1 Pet 1:18's explanation of the prophets a. Must be used with great caution, however b. Real danger is reading subjective opinions into the text eisegesis c. Only safeguard is that the fuller sense should be established only on the basis of biblical evidence 3. Comparing scripture with scripture scripture interprets scripture nudges interpreters beyond the immediate purpose of human authors to the overall purpose of the primary Author (p. 112) 4. Progressive revelation as revelation was continually revealed, successive revelation built upon and expanded upon its predecessor 5. Determining God's ultimate purpose is revealed in the canon D. Keep in mind: all of this involves "theological interpretation," NOT "application." III. THE BIBLE'S THEOCENTRIC PURPOSE: reveal God to man. A. Theocentric interpretation 1. Religious literature: relates to and describes God 2. God-centered focus: Von Rad observed 3 genres: 6
a. Record of God's miracles--god in the open--crossing the Red Sea b. Record of people's actions--god behind the scenes--joseph's statement in Gen 50:20 c. Record of God's "providence"--his word works out what is happening--book of Kings, "it came to pass according to the word of" 3. Contrast to anthropocentric interpretation a. The 2930 biblical characters allow great opportunity for preaching and learning b. The real danger, though, is the often subtle shift from the centrality of God to the centrality of humans c. We have focused on these characters as moral examples, rather than ordinary, imperfect human beings d. This usually undercuts the purpose of the Bible and replaces it with the exegete's agenda e. These characters should not be discussed in isolation, but as they relate to the larger story and to other characters f. Exegetes "ought to employ biblical characters the way the Bible employs them, not as ethical models, not as heroes for emulation or examples for warning, but as people whose story has been taken up into the Bible in order to reveal what God is doing for and through them..." 2 B. Christocentric preaching demands that neither the Bible characters nor 20th c. man be the focus, but Christ; but texts are often forced to speak of Christ in ways inappropriate for them 2 Greidanus, 118. 7
1. Christocentric and theocentric allows the text to speak of Christ in legitimate ways, without forcing the text 2. According to Greidanus, Christocentric interpretation Moves from the fullness of revelation in the New Testament to a new understanding of God's revelation in the Old Testament. In preaching an Old Testament passage, one may indeed be able to move from the Old Testament to the New Testament by way of promise-fulfillment, topology, development, or parallels, but the essence of Christocentric preaching lies not in the lines drawn from the Old Testament to the New Testament but in the prior move in the opposite direction--the move from the fullness of the New Testament revelation to a new understanding of the Old Testament passage. 3 IV. THE PURPOSE OF PREACHERS TODAY. A. The purpose of the sermon can be determined (when the right passage is picked) when the purpose of the passage has been determined--the exegete tries to do what the text is trying to do B. Application for today is demanded by the concept of theological interpretation 1. Its foundational assumption is that God is behind the writing of the text 2. If, therefore, it was needed and useful way back then it must be just as needed and useful now 3. But this must be done only in legitimate ways 3 Greidanus, 119. 8