Hermeneutics?

Question

How many people have taken hermeneutics? And how many people absolutely loved it? If you've taken hermeneutics, from what school did you take it from and why did you enjoy it so much?


Maybe I'll post why I enjoyed it so much! =) I took hermeneutics from Tydale Theological Seminary and Bible Institute.

Answer 1

I studied it twice. First in the Jesuit novitiate in Los Gatos, CA, and second at a so. baptist seminary (Mill Valley, CA).

Made all my earlier attempts at fully interpreting the scriptures look primitive and naïve.

From there I recommend persons take philosophy, logic, and theology coursework before taking their first courses in studying the biblical texts.

Edit: Yes, "Seal..." we know what the word means, hence the question, no?

Answer 2

Absolutely loved it? No.

It is a very valuable field of study, easily confirmed by noting some of the horrors perpetrated in this forum by those with no knowledge of it.

But it raises problems as well as resolves them.
Different hermeneutics applied to the same text derive different meanings and implications. (Goldingay, "Approaches to old Testament Interpretation" was a good example)
In which case, one is left either with a post-modernist splintered or personal approach to truth, or trying to find some higher criterion by which to assess the different hermeneutic frameworks.
And that, of course, threatens to require a meta-hermeneutic: how will you evalute the evaluative frameworks?
(declaring every methodology other than one's own wrong is horrendously simplistic, but is regularly observed in action.)

I recommend "Truth is stranger than it used to be: biblical faith in a postmodern age" by Middleton and Walsh.
I'm not sure the authors make their case for a positive post-modern reading of the bible, but they understand the issues and develop them very clearly.

It carries a review comment "All thinking Christians should read this book." but I don't think it was a best seller.

Answer 3

Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts. In contemporary usage in religious studies, hermeneutics often refers to study of the interpretation of Biblical texts. It is more broadly used in contemporary philosophy to denote the study of theories and methods of the interpretation of all texts and systems of meaning. The concept of "text" is here extended beyond written documents to any number of objects subject to interpretation, such as experiences. A hermeneutic is defined as a specific system or method for interpretation, or a specific theory of interpretation. However, the contemporary philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer has said that hermeneutics is an approach rather than a method and, further, that the Hermeneutic circle is the central problem of interpretation.

Essentially, hermeneutics involves cultivating the ability to understand things from somebody else's point of view, and to appreciate the cultural and social forces that may have influenced their outlook. Hermeneutics is the process of applying this understanding to interpreting the meaning of written texts and symbolic artefacts (such as art or sculpture or architecture), which may be either historic or contemporary.

In the last two centuries, the scope of hermeneutics has expanded to include the investigation and interpretation not only of textual and artistic works, but of human behaviour generally, including language and patterns of speech, social institutions, and ritual behaviours (such as religious ceremonies, political rallies, football matches, rock concerts, etc.). Hermeneutics interprets or inquires into the meaning and import of these phenomena, through understanding the point of view and 'inner life' (Dilthey) of an insider, or the first-person perspective of an engaged participant in these phenomena.

Answer 4

"Hermeneutics may well be defined because of fact the form and learn of theories of the translation and understanding of texts. In modern-day utilization in religious examine, hermeneutics refers back to the learn of the translation of religious texts." Its no longer in basic terms understanding the phrases nonetheless. With Hermeneutics you inspect the subculture the author is writing in, the time they're writting besides as in context.