Hermeneutic Modalities in the Exegesis and Theology of Petr Pokorný

Abstract

Petr Pokorný (1933-2020) was a long-time professor of New Testament at the Evangelical Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague. He authored a number of books and studies in which he dealt directly and indirectly with hermeneutical issues important for the proper understanding and reliable interpretation of the biblical text. In 2005, in collaboration with 12 other authors, he published a kind of hermeneutical compendium, or rather a modality of the hermeneutical approach to Scripture, entitled Hermeneutics as a Theory of Understanding from Basic Questions of Language to the Interpretation of the Bible (508 pages). Part of Pokorný's Hermeneutics (pp. 17-215) was published in 2011 in the English translation Hermeneutics as a Theory of Understanding. Pokorný did not intend to present the traditional history of hermeneutics or to create a foundational theoretical work. As he notes, he was initially inspired by Paul Ricoeur and his hermeneutical practice, but developed his own stance based on his own understanding of the problems of interpreting Scripture and his critical reflections. He admits that he does not address some of the issues of hermeneutics and that there are several ways to process the material of hermeneutics. Therefore, his work can be considered as hermeneutic modalities rather than a finished compact hermeneutic work. Nevertheless, in Professor Pokorný we can read a lot of useful and rich material from different areas of hermeneutics, such as: Language as a coding system, symbol and metaphor, text between tradition and future, reader and text, genre, various methods of interpretation, strangeness and attractiveness of texts, history and revelation, revelation and testimony, etc. Based on this hermeneutical set and other exegetical works, the reviewer attempts to highlight these modalities and provide a definable picture of Pokorný hermeneutical approaches and procedures.