Near Victoria Island, British Columbia
Photo Credit: JAC
Resources:
Hermeneutics is all about the science and art of interpretation and in this case we are interested in it particularly in order to understand the meaning of the Scriptural text. In the face of that task there are, for starters, obstacles such as the distance of time(s) between when it was written and today, geographical and cultural distances and the “distance” mediated to us by theories of language/meaning which might be employed in the process.
The point of the scholarly discipline is come up with the most probable understanding of the meaning of the text where what the readers who were intended to read it plays an important part in that process.
Thus, the rules and methodology employed in the hermeneutical task plays an important role in our goal of achieving theological acuity because we are dealing with an ancient and for many of us, a cross-cultural text. And if that wasn’t enough challenge there is also the need to consider and justify our particular choice among the theories in philosophy of language that underly all our work. The resources on this part of the site are meant to help you appreciate the problems and yet help you work your way through this interpretative minefield, with the aim of getting closer to the truth of what the Biblical text asserts.