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Scriptural Hermeneutics
Scriptural Hermeneutics and Ricoeur’s Thought
Scriptural hermeneutics is the scholarly field of biblical interpretation. Historically, it developed as an effort to interpret and reinterpret the biblical story in the context of times, such as the reinterpretation of the story of Israel in the Psalms and the Prophets as well as their reinterpretation in the New Testament in the light the Lord Jesus Christ’s life (Porter and Stovell 13). However, Friedrich Schleiermacher, referred to as the founder of modern hermeneutics, introduced the form of hermeneutics that focused on contextual interpretation; that is, on the author’s mental and sociohistorical context in understanding biblical texts (14). Ricoeur’s contribution to the field came through his so-called phenomenological hermeneutics, which argued that hermeneutics is grounded on phenomenological assumptions as phenomenology is grounded on hermeneutical assumptions (Kaplan 17). It means that what was experienced by biblical personalities was always correlated with how it was experienced (18)
Comparison of the Lonergan and Aquinas Theological Method
The primary difference between the Lonergan and the Aquinas theological methods reside from the understanding of knowledge and the method used to achieve such understanding. Aquinas provided the basis for such method as a cumulative process but was limited by the context of his time (e.g. Aristotelian science). Conversely, Lonergan, aided by the notable development of the human knowledge of the material universe, managed to go beyond the Aquinas method, without discarding it, and succeeded in perceiving a developed understanding of understanding itself and perceiving the knowledge as a structure involving experiencing, understanding, and judging wherein understanding constitutes the key moment in knowledge (Sala n. p.).
Works Cited
Kaplan, David M. Ricoeur’s Critical Theory. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press,
2003. Print.
Porter, Stanley E. and Beth M. Stovell. “Introduction: Trajectories in Biblical Hermeneutics.” (9-
24) Porter, Stanley E. and Beth M. Stovell (eds.), Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012. Print.
Sala, Giovanni B. Method in Theology. Buzzelli, Donald, trans. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
<http://lonergan.org/dialogue_partners/Sala/Method_in_Theology.htm >
