WANTED: Quotes on hermeneutics reducing pre-suppositional abuse of the Scriptures

***Semper Fidelis*** · #1 (**permalink**) 10-19-2009, 05:15 PM

I'm looking for some quotes from any authors that point to the value of a proper hermeneutical approach to reduce the prejudice and baggage that we bring to interpreting any document much less the Word of God.

I'm looking for any quotes:

1. That point out that we bring out presuppositional baggage to the Word. It seems that the repeated Scriptural injunctions about our "slowness to hear" are apropos.

2. That enjoin our serious study of the Word because we need to overcome our sinful tendency to be slow of hearing.

3. How a disciplined hermeneutical process assists in coming to the correct meaning of a text.

Any other helpful quotes are appreciated.

Please, if you have it, could you cite the work that you got the quote from?

Ask Mr. Religion · #2 (**permalink**) 10-19-2009, 06:27 PM

In my opinion, no interpreter approaches a text apart from his presuppositional framework. And claiming one does not have a presuppositional framework is one.

For example William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard assert (Introduction to Biblical Interpretation), “No one interprets anything without a set of underlying assumptions,” and Elliott Johnson asks (Expository Hermeneutics: An Introduction), “Can the meaning be textually determined when it must be construed by an interpreter? And is not an interpreter’s pre-understanding (not textually based) necessary to construe the meaning correctly?”

For an example of hermeneutics run amuck, see
http://www.tms.edu/tmsj/tmsj12i.pdf

On the topic of general revelation and hermeneutics, see also
http://www.tms.edu/tmsj/tmsj9a.pdf

Lastly, see Hanko's Issues in Hermeneutics here:
http://www.prca.org/articles/issues_...meneutics.html

AMR