Abstract
Drawing on Jungian psychological type theory, the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching maintains that different psychological type preferences are associated with distinctive readings of scripture. In the present study this theory was tested amongst two groups of ministry training candidates (a total of 26 participants) who were located within working groups according to their psychological type preferences, and invited to reflect on the Johannine feeding narrative (Jn 6:4−22), and to document their discussion. Analysis of these data provided empirical support for the theory underpinning the SIFT method.
Highlights
The SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching belongs to the broad category of hermeneutical approaches that takes reader perspective seriously and recognises the importance of context
What is so distinctive about the SIFT method is that context is not defined by sociological categories but by psychological categories
The psychological categories that define reader perspective within the SIFT approach are derived from the broad field of psychological type theory
Summary
The SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching belongs to the broad category of hermeneutical approaches that takes reader perspective seriously and recognises the importance of context. What is so distinctive about the SIFT method is that context is not defined by sociological categories (as in feminist, liberation or Black reader perspectives) but by psychological categories. The psychological categories that define reader perspective within the SIFT approach are derived from the broad field of psychological type theory. The aspect of psychological type theory directly relevant to the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching concerns the identification of the four key psychological functions that Jung characterised as sensing (S), intuition (I), feeling (F) and thinking (T). Within Jung’s model, sensing and intuition are defined as two contrasting expressions of the perceiving process, and thinking and feeling are defined as two contrasting expressions of the judging process
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