Biblical Hermeneutics
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PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENETICS ; M. M. NINAN<br />
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." However word meanings change down<br />
through the years. It is evident that we cannot understand what the writer wrote unless we<br />
know his language, the language in which it is written. Hence its gramatical and other verbal<br />
structures.<br />
So also the other factors change.<br />
The text gets its full meaning only in the context of the culture since the words themselves<br />
get its meaning in this way. The Bible was written over a period of about 1400 years.<br />
During that time many historical and cultural changes have taken place. To arrive at the<br />
correct meaning of a passage you must consider when the statement was made and the<br />
historical and cultural situation in which the passage was written and related to.<br />
Cultures change. In various parts of the world and at different times, cultures were/are<br />
radically different from one another. If we are going to understand what God is saying in any<br />
given point of history, we must understand that history and the culture of the time of the<br />
writing of that book of the Bible.<br />
This context of culture, history and politics ends up the immediate context of the passage<br />
itself. A text gets is meaning from the context. Taken out of the context it can be<br />
interpreted even to mean just the opposite of what it was supposed to mean.<br />
Apart from these there are theological historical contexts which are itemized usually as<br />
follows:<br />
THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF CONTEXTUALIZATION<br />
<strong>Biblical</strong> Scholars often use their own theological doctrinal analysis as a basis for interpreting<br />
Bible. However these are not absolute principles because these doctrinal treatments and<br />
doctrines are not accepted universally. As such the interpretations based on these are to be<br />
taken with caution as it can lead to basic contradictions with the interpretation that other<br />
scholars may hold. However they are attempts at systematization of contextualizing and are<br />
effective. The following are some such principles often quoted.<br />
A. The Covenantal Principle:<br />
"We differentiate between the various contracts that God has made with his people;<br />
specifically their provisions, their parties and their purposes."<br />
One of the essential component of historical significance of the writing is based on various<br />
covenants. Others divide history into the dispensational eras where history is divided<br />
into various periods with each period with its own principles. We cannot judge the historical<br />
events without an understanding of these basic historic realities.<br />
The standard description of covenant theology views the history of God's dealings with<br />
mankind, from Creation to Fall to Redemption to Consummation, under the framework of the<br />
three overarching theological covenants of redemption, works, and grace.<br />
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