Topic 4- Ways of Interpreting Scripture

Some Christians believe the Bible was inspired. This means... (tick all that apply)

• The Bible is incapable of being wrong as it is God's Word; there is no error or contradiction, it is inerrant.

• God inspired the authors to create their writings through the gift of the Holy Spirit; God is working through the authors

• The synoptic Gospels 4-source hypothesis correct and the writers used shared sources to create their text.

• The writers were inspired by God and the life and teachings of Jesus; the writers are true authors.

The New Testament writers made use of Jesus methods of ________, for example the use of proof-texts. Early Christian theologians, such as Origen, were involved in biblical _______.

• Eisegesis

• Sitz im Leben

• Proto-Gospel

• Exegesis

______, in the first part of Summa Theologicae, addresses the nature of theology, including Scripture. For him, Philosophy is built on human reason and Scripture is another form of knowledge inspired by God. The purpose of Scripture is to make known the truths necessary for salvation.

• Aristotle

• Plato

• Kant

• Aquinas

Aquinas said that Scripture can be seen to have different levels of meaning or senses. The two main ways Aquinas interprets Scripture are:

• Literal & Liberal

• Literal & Spiritual (Allegorical, Moral and Analogical)

• Spiritual (Allegorical, Moral and Analogical) & Metaphorical

• Literal & Fundamentalist

The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, was a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the 18th Century. It is characterised by:

• The idea that the progress of humanity could be advanced through rational thinking

• The idea that empirical observation reveals the truth behind human society and the universe

• Questioning the truth of knowledge, including religion; scepticism

• Favouring deism, God is non-interventionist; for example rejected miracles

Which of the following is not an Enlightenment thinker?

• Hume

• Kant

• Descartes

• Aquinas

Schleiermacher suggested that Scripture should be interpreted as a hermeneutic circle. This means (tick all that apply):

• The meaning is found within the historical, cultural and literary setting

• The circle is never-ending because there are improvements in the understanding of language and history.

• The text cannot have a fixed meaning, making exegesis necessary.

• The Bible is inerrant and should be interpreted literally

________ notes that in the modern period, biblical interpretation has become more complex: reflecting the increased acceptance... of rational methods of interpretation grounded in the assumption of the Enlightenment.' He identifies four methods: Rational, Historical, Sociological, Literary.

• Immanuel Kant

• Jack Dominion

• Alistair McGrath

• Albert Schweitzer

Looks at the biblical texts as literature. A branch of the Historical approach.

• Rational

• Historical

• Sociological

• Literary

The truth is found though intellect and reason is the definitive authority. Branch of natural theology.

• Rational

• Historical

• Sociological

• Literary