Hermeneutics - 6

6.  Interpretation of middle age

 

In the Middle Ages, there were very few creative academic activities, and only researched the works of the early fathers.

And the interpretation of the Bible was heavily influenced by tradition and followed an allegorical interpretation.

However, the Bible interpretation of the Middle Ages believed that every passage of Scripture had four meanings.

(In some cases, I believed there were seven meanings.)

a)   The literal meaning shows us what God and our ancestors did.

b)   The allegory means show us where our faith is hidden.

c)   Moral meaning gives us the laws of everyday life.

d)   The mystical and spiritual (analogy) meaning shows the end of our struggle.

 

   For example, the interpretation of water is

1. The literal meaning is usually water,

2. In the allegorical sense, the doctrine of baptism,

3. Living in a moral sense,

4. It is interpreted as the mysterious meaning of the water of life in Jerusalem.

 

 In addition, Jerusalem appears below Galatians 4:22.

In a literal meaning is a historical city,

In the allegorical meaning is the Church of Christ,

In the moral meaning is the human soul,

The mysterious meaning is interpreted as the heavenly Jerusalem.

 

7.  Interpretation of reformism

 

1) Desiderius Erasmus (1466. 10. 27~1536. 7. 12)

Erasmus used an allegorical method of interpretation, forcing moral meaning.

It also published the New Testament in Greek (including Latin translation

and commentary), so that many people would understand it.

Since 1517, the New Testament epistles and the Four Gospels have been

interpreted, and historical and contextual interpretations have been made.

 

 2) Martin Luther (1483~1546)  

Martin Luther changed the direction of Bible interpretation.

He turned the authority of the Catholic Church and the Pope only to that of the Bible (sola scriptura).

No one can be higher than the Bible.

He said that the interpretation of the Bible should not follow the four interpretations of the Middle Ages but only the basic meaning of the Bible.

Therefore, the Latin Bible was translated into the German Bible so that all believers could read and understand the Bible.

His translation recognized the need for the Holy Spirit and made a Christ-centered interpretation. He emphasized the faith of Paul's epistles, but undervalued James and Revelation, and had low emphasis on conduct.

 

3) John Calvin (1509~1564) 

Martin Luther was bold, and John Calvin was thorough and prophetic.

Calvin insisted on knowing what the Bible's author intended. And

He did not agree with Luther's claim that Christ should appear anywhere in the Bible, but He believed that the Holy Spirit's illumination was absolutely necessary to understand the Bible.

He followed the grammatical-historical interpretation and thought "the Bible interprets the Bible." (Scripture interprets scripture.)

 

Calvin tried to find the meaning of the author by studying context, grammar, words, and parallel passages.

       

8.  Interpretation of later reformism (1550-1800)

 

1) confessionalism

 Emphasis was placed on creed and dogma after Calvin's death. When the Catholic Church condemned Protestantism, it stipulated the content and scope of the Reformation.

And Protestantism created its own creed.

 

2) pietism

In situations where the dead dogma or dead orthodox is lifeless and only dogmatical debate, repent, censure, mourn and pray for the Bible Studying will reveal the core of the truth. Says Philipp Jacob Spener (1635-1705).

 He was the leader of the Pietism Movement. Pietism must have made a major contribution to the study of the Bible, but did not interpret grammatically and historically, but did the subjective interpretation of the interpreter. So he thought only of godly moralism.  

 

3) Rationalism

I think human reason has the ability to judge right and wrong.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679, British philosopher, claiming good and evil theory) and Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677, Dutch philosophers claiming pantheism, <pantheism, pan nature + theos god, and creation as a whole>. is representatives of rationalism.

 

This rationalism is linked to naturalism, humanism, and empiricism.

Rationalism, which emphasized the judgment of the human brain, had a profound effect on theology and interpretation of the Bible.

Here, liberal theology was born.

Originally, God's work regarded the act of faith as valid.

However, the rationalism influence emphasized right and wrong according to the judgment of reason, and faith and revelation were gradually ignored.

 

9.  Modern age (1800 - current)

 

1) liberalism

Rationalism is the foundation of liberalism.   

Previously, the Bible valued the sacredness of God's Word.

However, this era claims that the author of the Bible is human.

Some have different inspirations according to the Bible. Insisted.

Another theologian claims that the supernatural part of the Bible should be removed.

Therefore, he argues that we must eliminate the fall of human being, hell, virgin birth, death of Christ, and miracles.

It is also tolerant of alcohol and tobacco.

 

2) Neo-orthodoxy

 

When it turned out that the liberal theology of the 19th century was wrong, neo-orthodox began to emerge.

Neo-orthodox is in the middle of liberalism and orthodoxy.

Liberalism thinks that the Bible appeared as a result of human religious ceremony.

 

Orthodoxy believes that the Bible is the word of God.

Neo-orthodox does not accept both.

They believe that the Bible is a human witness of God's revelation.

They do not accept Bible inerrancy.

It is said that there may be errors in the Bible, and it does not matter much if there are errors.

Karl Barth is the founder of neo-orthodox.

 

3)  New Hermeneutic

 This school was born after World War II (1939~1945).

This method was initiated by R. Bultmann and his disciples.

This school does not follow the principles of Bible interpretation based on the Bible text,

I am interested in how to interpret the entire New Testament.

This school “The New Testament teaches the hermeneutics of faith, and the New Testament teaches the language of faith.

NT teaches the hermeneutic of the faith, NT teaches the word of faith.”

They say, "God does not interpret the Bible, but humans interpret it on their own." Claim.

 

4) Modern age critical interpretation method

 a) Historical criticism

 b) Form criticism

 c) Source criticism

 e) Redaction criticism

  f) Literary criticism