Hermeneutical Issues Research Articles

Autism and Biblical Studies: Establishing and Extending the Field beyond Preliminary Reflection

This article considers core issues of practice, method and hermeneutics, as they bear upon the development of a scholarly field concerned with “Autism and Biblical Studies.” A small body of scholarship has begun to bring biblical studies into dialogue with research into autism, and to reflect on the pertinent methodological issues; this article acknowledges the preliminary character of this and reflects upon what might be necessary for this emergent area of interest to be established as a mature field of research. The extending of the discussion to incorporate a range of sub-disciplines, each operating with different core “identifications” of the biblical material, is crucial to this, as is the careful use of insights from postcolonial and ideological critical approaches. Pivotally, however, research must also be shaped and led by those who are themselves autistic, so that autism is properly the subject and not merely the object of research.

СПРИЙНЯТТЯ ПРАВА КРІЗЬ ПРИЗМУ ЮРИДИКО-ЛІНГВІСТИЧНОЇ ТЕОРІЇ

Актуальність статті обумовлюється необхідністю залучення до правознавства результатів досліджень, отриманих міжгалузевою наукою – юридичною лінгвістикою, положення якої є важливим методологічним підґрунтям пізнання права в постмодерному суспільстві. Метою роботи є висвітлення важливості розуміння права в сучасних умовах через юридико-лінгвістичну теорію. Резюмується, що в умовах постмодерного суспільства відбувається переосмислення соціальних явищ, у тому числі й права. Важливим гносеологічним інструментарієм гуманітарної сфери знань стає герменевтичне тлумачення. В умовах усвідомлення того, правові явища та процеси не обмежуються текстом нормативно-правового акту, а право інтерпретується як акт мовленнєвої комунікації, саме юридична лінгвістика може стати адекватною відповіддю на виклики сучасності.

Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil

Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil

“Epistemic injustice” in the administration of mental health legislation

ABSTRACT The concept of “Epistemic Injustice” was used as a tool to interpret practices applied during the administration of Mental Health legislation by the Mental Health Tribunal Scotland. This highlighted instances of being wronged on several occasions in my capacity as a knower. Example contributory factors included the Tribunal structure and sub-optimal application of heuristics by panel members. Factors associated with an appeal process involving a “Designated Medical Practitioner” may offer some potential for improvement of routine application of administrative aspects of Mental Health legislation. Testimonial and hermeneutical issues should be considered.

Mindfulness, Buddha-Nature, and the Holy Spirit: On Thich Nhat Hanh's Interpretation of Christianity

The Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most influential contemporary Buddhist protagonists, and also a famous interpreter of Christianity. In this paper, I will focus on Thich Nhat Hanh's reading of the Holy Spirit. Nhat Hanh's Buddhist pneumatology is mainly informed by the cornerstone of his teaching, mindfulness, which in turn closely connects with the doctrine of Buddha-nature. The doctrinal framework of Nhat Hanh's conception of mindfulness is grounded in the psychology of the Yogācāra school, particularly in its eight aspects of consciousness and the notion of seeds. According to Nhat Hanh, the transformation of unwholesome and the nourishing of wholesome seeds via mindfulness practice is crucial to overcome the hindrances to enlightenment. This is possible because the seed of awakening or Buddha-nature is already ingrained in sentient beings. Nhat Hanh discerns the Holy Spirit as a functional equivalent to the Buddha-nature. I will argue that his reading of the Spirit can be described by three mutually interconnected main characteristics: as an innate, salvific potential, an all-embracing, dynamic force, and further as a foundation for ethical conduct. Finally, I will reflect on a crucial hermeneutical issue emerging from Nhat Hanh's Buddhist pneumatology: Does the right to interpret the Holy Spirit belong to Christians alone?

Radikale Frühaufklärung in Deutschland

Abstract Radical early Enlightenment in Germany. The habilitation paper of Martin Mulsow, now enrichend, provides for a new in-depth look into the scientific discussions of the 17th and 18th century. Though Mulsow treats many subjects and touches issues of law only occasionally, the implication of this new publication reveals many new insights also for legal historians. We see that there was a wide spread belief into the existence of scientific liberty, although there was no law or rule to prove this assumption. Though we find no new Gabriel Naudé, Pierre Bayle, or John Locke, the German professors used their debate in order to extend the topics and opinions which could lawfully be discussed. The hermeneutical issues involve insight also for the history of legal evidence.

Proportionality and the Bindingness of Fundamental Rights

The success of proportionality tests in national fundamental and international human rights contexts can be explained as a reaction to the problem of the legal bindingness of these guarantees. Fundamental and human rights guarantees are often accompanied by provisions that allow legislatures to limit their exercise. But how is it possible for legislatures, which are empowered to limit the exercise of rights, to be bound by them? This paper focuses on the legal bindingness of such rights in the German constitutional context and evaluates the principle of proportionality as a solution to this hermeneutical issue. It will show how the original hermeneutical problem of bindingness resurfaces within the proportionality principle, a principle that would be misunderstood if viewed solely as an instrumental and normative rationality test. With the help of the appropriateness criterion – proportionality in the narrow sense – doctrinal structures specific to the different fundamental rights are shaped, which contribute significantly to the substantive bindingness of these rights. This tendency becomes very prominent in a more recent series of decisions of the German Federal Constitutional Court in national security cases. The development in Germany has been very influential in the international reception of the principle of proportionality and enables us to better understand and reconstruct the mechanics of its workings in other constitutional and international human rights contexts as well.

«ЗМІСТОВНО-ПІДТЕКСТОВА» ІНФОРМАЦІЯ У СЕМАНТИЦІ ІНШОМОВНОГО ТЕКСТУ: ГЕРМЕНЕВТИЧНИЙ ПІДХІД

The article focuses on the problems of translation in the field of hermeneutics, understood as a methodology in the activity of an interpreter, the doctrine of the interpretation of texts, as a component of the transmission of information in a communicative aspect. The relevance of the study is caused by the special attention of modern linguistics to the under-researched issues of hermeneutics related to the problems of transmission of foreign language text semantics in translation. The process of translation in the aspect of hermeneutics is regarded as the optimum search and decision-making process, which corresponds to a specific set of functional criteria of translation, which can take many divergent forms. The translator carries out a number of specific translation activities: the choice of linguistic means and means of expression in the translation language, replacement and compensation of nonequivalent units. The search for the optimal solution itself is carried out using the “trial and error” method. The translator always acts as an interpreter. Within the boundaries of a individual utterance, it must be mentally reconstructed as conceptual situations, the mentally linguistic actions of the author, which are verbalized in this text.

Calibrating Study and Learning as Hermeneutic Principles Through Greco-Christian Seeing, Rabbinic Hearing, and Chinese Yijing Observing

Study is recently re-invoked as an alternative educational formation to disrupt the learning trap and trope. This paper calibrates study and learning as two hermeneutic principles and correlates them with seeing, hearing, and observing as three onto-epistemic modes that respectively underpin Greco-Christian, Rabbinic, and ancient Chinese exegetical traditions. Linking study and learning with the hermeneutic issues of language, text, meaning, and reality, my calibration unfolds in four steps. First, I introduce an epistemic aporia encountered in interpreting some Chinese educational “wind” texts, exposing our naturalized reasoning of learning along a representational enclosure. Second, turning to Susan Handelman’s writing, I trace this learning-as-representation enclosure as being conditioned upon the Greco-Christian exegetical mode of seeing, meanwhile correlating study back with the Rabbinic hearing hermeneutic. Third, I move on to explicate an onto-cosmological Yijing observing, proffering a study hermeneutic as a movement of observing, following, and attuning to wendao, literally put, “a crisscrossing pattern that (re-)turns with dao.” Finally, I re-observe and study the crisscrossing Chinese educational “wind” texts, evoking a Chinese “wind-teaching” sensibility so far rarely discerned through representational thinking and learning.

‘Einer Frau gestatte ich nicht, dass sie lehre‘ (1 Timotheus 2:12): Exegese – Hermeneutik – Kirche

This article is an exercise in combining the exegesis, hermeneutical issues and application of 1 Timothy 2:12 in ecclesial contexts where this prohibition is still taken seriously as a Pauline injunction or, at least, as part of the canon of the Church. It surveys representative proposals in New Testament studies of dealing with this least compromising assertion regarding the teaching of women in early Christianity. It discusses the hermeneutical issues involved in exegesis and application and how one should relate this prohibition to other New Testament references to women and their role in the early Christian communities. In closing, the article discusses whether and how this assertion can still be relevant in contemporary contexts when and where women have a very different role in society and church.

LOGICAL ASPECTS OF LEGAL HERMENEUTICS

Problem setting. The generally accepted need for interpretation and interpretation is associated with the problem of ambiguity in the use of language systems. The task of interpretation and interpretation is to clarify the content of the subject of thought, which in some way corresponds to the object. Of particular significance today is the problem of understanding and rationalizing the ways to achieve it in the law with the use of logical knowledge, awareness of the social consequences of the results of legal interpretation and legal interpretation.Recent research and publications analysis. The logical aspects of legal hermeneutics, in particular, the logical mode of interpretation, have been incorporated into the history of legal hermeneutics from the outset and continue to evolve in the theory of law, to find their embodiment in modern hermeneutics and new legal sciences, such as legal technology. Among modern logical and legal studies it is necessary to note the works of E. V. Buligin, works on the methodology of law R. Tsipelius, domestic researchers on the issues of legal hermeneutics P. M. Rabinovich, hermeneutic logic O. M. Yurkevych, and others.Paper objective. The purpose of the article is to explore the logical foundations of legal hermeneutics.Paper main body. Legal hermeneutics is a system of rules for the interpretation of laws. A literal interpretation is carried out in order to establish the general meaning of the legal text containing the normative provisions. "Spirit" is not subject to literal interpretation. In the Anglo-American system, they are referred to as "originality" and "nonoriginalism". In legal hermeneutics, different ways of interpretation are distinguished: grammatical, special legal, logical, systematic, historical, evolutionary, and teleological. Legal hermeneutics refers to so-called "dogmatic" hermeneutics. Logical interpretation involves clarifying the structure of logical forms of thought, establishing their correctness according to the criteria of truth. A systematic interpretation is an analogue of a contextual approach. Historical interpretation is carried out using etymological analysis. The interpretation of the rules of law can be formal and informal. The principle of logic is one of the general principles of the interpretation of the law. The logical method of interpretation is most often used in cases where it is not possible to understand the unfortunate grammatical form when conflicts are found between individual norms, etc. Hermeneutical logic is used, if necessary, for additional explanatory procedures - interpretation and interpretation.Conclusions of the research. Results: the definition of a set of logical tools that is used in legal hermeneutics: a logical method, logical principles, a logical way of interpreting and interpreting legal norms. Novelty: clarified the differences between the tools of formal logic and hermeneutic logic in legal hermeneutics. The practical significance: application in legal methodology, legal hermeneutics and practice of interpretation of legal norms.

A missional hermeneutic for the transformation of theological education in Africa

The wide acceptance and maturation of the theology of missio Dei is the most important development in the theology of mission in recent times. It introduced a radically new understanding of mission and theology, and flowing from that a re-appropriation of ecclesiology. Mission studies are also characterised by a new appreciation of mission from the margins: liberation theology and the associated discourses on decoloniality, deep engagement in contextuality and the explosion of missional ecclesiology (missional church). This apostolic orientation of the church is of the utmost importance in the reflection on the future of theology. This research attends to the postcolonial discourse as an important critique of colonialism and understands the emancipation of Africanised or decolonised theological education as an inevitable and positive development. Contextual sensitivity, attention to diverse power structures and a predisposition to appreciate diversity open imaginative possibilities for theological education. This leads to the argument that decolonial African theology must confront issues of biblical hermeneutics. The proposal of this research is that missional hermeneutic is an excellent starting point. It describes the contours of a missional hermeneutic, attending to mission as central to the Biblical story, the meaning of mission and the conviction that reading Scriptures constitutes an essential part of missional praxis. Missional hermeneutic is a centring vision and purpose for theological education. The argument is for a missional curriculum that defines a centre that unifies the various disciplines, one that places mission and missiology at the heart of theological education.

Foundations of Christian thought and practice: a model for replacing Old and New Testament surveys with an innovative approach to teaching religion in 21st century colleges and universities

Institutions of faith can no longer assume students of faith, and institutions of faith can no longer assume that a survey of the Old and New Testaments in today’s college curriculum will provide the necessary elements to develop, sustain, and nurture biblical literacy in students. Nor can it be assumed that this antiquated model will equip today’s students with a framework or worldview that values the relevance of religious and biblical studies. This new course (Foundations model) we propose would not attempt to compete with the content coverage of the Old and New Testament survey courses, but rather we would introduce a new concept of teaching religion, which would be thematically-based and require students to learn to articulate a Christian worldview in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. This Christian worldview would be developed throughout the course and based on assumptions, themes, and ways of thinking (issues of hermeneutics) introduced throughout the course. A descriptive recounting of the Foundations model will provide an example of what it means, or rather looks like, to effect religious education and spiritual development in the lives of students at a Christian liberal arts college or university. The Foundations model incorporates six key elements which are as follows: 1. Thematic Organization (not book-by-book survey content) 2. Specialized Workbook Focused on Themes for the Course 3. Weekly Critiques 4. The Final Worldview Paper 5. Integration of the Latest Technology 6. The Role of the Instructor and Peer Mentors.

Hermeneutics of Translation as Methodological Basis of Adequate Translation of Scientific and Technical Texts

The article focuses on the problems of translation in the field of hermeneutics, understood as a methodology in the activity of an interpreter, the doctrine of the interpretation of texts, as a component of the transmission of information in a communicative aspect. The relevance of the study is caused by the special attention of modern linguistics to the under-researched issues of hermeneutics related to the problems of transmission of foreign language text semantics in translation. Key words: hermeneutics, information, interpretation, text, translation, communication.

Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif by Bryan D. Estelle

Reviewed by: Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif by Bryan D. Estelle Matthew Seufert bryan d. estelle, Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018). Pp. xiv + 392. Paper $40. "This book is about the continuing thread of the exodus motif in the Old Testament and New Testament" (p. 2). It has an introduction, eleven chapters, and a conclusion; its appendix (25 pp.) sketches the views of Julia Kristeva, Mikhail Bakhtin, Umberto Eco, and Ferdinand de Saussure and means "to introduce the reader to some of the significant hermeneutical issues to be faced in intertextuality" (p. 351). Estelle espouses his own hermeneutical position in chap. 1: "The centrality of Scripture is Christ." "The exodus motif is one important way that the Bible tells us about Christ. … [It] offers a way of explaining God's grand narrative … of redemption for sullied, sinful men, women, and children" (p. 5). For E., the Bible (consisting of the Old and New Testaments) is God's inspired, unified word with Christ at the center; chaps. 4–11 track the language, themes, and theology of the exodus as they recur throughout the Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra-Nehemiah (exile and postexile), Mark and Matthew, Luke-Acts, Paul, 1 Peter, and Revelation. The motif climaxes in the NT with the spiritual reality of God's delivering the people from their spiritual slavery through the work of Christ and bringing them through the wilderness of this world into the divine presence to worship God forever in the world-to-come. "The exodus motif is much bigger than … liberation of the Hebrews from the iron furnace of the Egyptians" (p. 93). "It includes in story format, and with broad brush strokes, the whole matrix of Christian salvation" (p. 104). The second chapter contextualizes all of this by starting with the biblical account of creation. E. interprets Adam as a priest-king in the sanctuary of God who was banished because of disobedience; "all the subsequent covenantal eras or epochs, including the role of the exodus within those patterns of interim structures, serve the unfolding development and plan of God's salvation of a people for himself" (pp. 69-70), returning humanity to and establishing them in their original dwelling with God. "Creation is therefore the foundation for salvation and election, the creation of a royal priesthood people of God" (p. 69). [End Page 309] In the third chapter, E. examines the exodus material itself and identifies the main elements of the event: liberation/deliverance, the divine warrior, the sea crossing, which "may be seen as a new creation or rebirth" (p. 109), wilderness wanderings, Sinai, the mountain of God, "representing God's presence to these liberated Hebrew slaves" (p. 103), the land, and union and communion with God, "the ultimate bliss envisioned by the story" (p. 104). On E.'s reading, the exodus echoes creation and is typological of Christian salvation. At creation, God subdued the waters of chaos to bring forth order and created humanity to dwell in God's presence. In the exodus, he subdued Pharaoh and his army, "an incarnation of the chaos dragon" (p. 117), to bring forth a people to dwell with God and sing God's praises, typical of the final redemption, "the original redemption writ large" (p. 208), "liberation from the bondage of Satan and sin and release from the curse of death so that Christians could receive their inheritance" (p. 250). The value of this book is in its view and presentation of the unified whole. For those committed to or interested in the developing story line of the OT into the NT, from creation to new creation, the book is worth the read. E. also brings together, engages, and builds upon previous exodus studies; much of the book interacts with secondary literature. I found this to be helpful when dealing with the exodus theme itself, as these other studies confirmed a lot of what constituted the foundational material for E.'s study—seeing the exodus motif in a particular book. But E. also touches on many significant issues that are not directly concerned with how the exodus is used by the biblical writers (e...

How Wide Are ‘‘The Gates Of Zion’’ A Textual, Translational, And Performative Study Of Psalm 87

Psalm 87, a joyous “Song of Zion,” presents us with a rather controversial religious poem that scholars and commentators roundly debate, with respect to the Hebrew text itself, its interpretation, and its overall strophic organisation. This study explores some of the salient hermeneutical issues, which revolve around an identification of the presumed divinely begotten inhabitants of “the City of Zion,” and comes to a new conclusion with regard to the structure of this psalm that relates in turn to its apparent intended meaning. These observations form the basis for evaluating several recent translations—first, a traditional “formal correspondence” liturgical version, and secondly, more “functionally equivalent” renditions, one in English, another one in Chichewa, a Bantu language of south-central Africa. The primary aim of these latter versions is to express the translated text in a more dynamic manner that highlights the psalm’s oral-aural features, as well as its potential for contemporary performance.

The Drama of Infertility: Reading Isa 56:1-8 from a Krobo Perspective

AbstractIn most cultures in Ghana, both male and female infertility are believed to be a curse and a sign of an unfruitful life. The ability to procreate thus defines the identity of the person and his/her existential value in relation to others. Furthermore, childlessness becomes an overwhelming drama as it is perceived to depict an inferior state of being or a life of incompleteness. This type of social identity construction raises serious hermeneutical issues in its engagement with the Judeo-Christian message of inclusiveness. Against this backdrop, this study reads the drama surrounding infertility within the Krobo worldview from the horizon of Isa 56:1-8, using the Communicative hermeneutic approach. Our findings are that an engagement between the Krobo worldview and the Isaian text creates both tension and transformation. The tension comes about because of the contrast of views; and the transformation resides in the change of perspective. The text provides a rich and an alternative understanding of infertility: another way of being and not a curse.

"Blues o Wielkim Ptaku" Kazimierza Świegockiego w perspektywie lektur hermeneutycznych

Kazimierz Świegocki’s Blues o Wielkim Ptaku from point of view of hermeneutic reading In this article I presented a general assumption of hermeneutics as a theory of literature and a research attitude. I used its various elements in my interpretation of the poem Blues o Wielkim Ptaku of the modern Polish poet, Kazimierz Świegocki. I put the general hypothesis of interpretation and then I verified it by examining the specific elements of the text. I discussed the role of the title and date of creation, the way of speaker’s creation and the lyrical hero, the importance of symbolism and shape of the world presented. I described this poem as referring to issues of cosmogony, ontology, metaphysics and hermeneutics as explaining the order of the universe.

Implications and Prospects of Jewish Jesus Research

Consideration of a recent monograph by Walter Homolka invites evaluation of Jesus’ Judaic identity, as well as the hermeneutical issues implicit in approaches to Jesus from the perspective of Judaism and especially by Jewish practitioners. Issues of historiography and Christology naturally emerge from those reflections. Homolka’s application of postcolonial theory is assessed, as well as his linkage between Jewish reclamation and “the Third Quest of the historical Jesus.” The work of David Flusser and “the Jerusalem School” takes up attention in relation to Homolka’s argument. Progress occasioned by interaction with R. G. Collingwood’s view of history is considered, using the term “rabbi” as a lens of analysis. Homolka’s book closes with an argument for factoring Trinitarian perspectives within historical work. The essay concludes with a cautionary observation that claims of Jesus’ divine nature, as well as assertions of his Resurrection, are eschatological and transcendent evaluations, and so not strictly historical.

The Bible in a Disenchanted Age: The Enduring Possibility of Christian Faith

The Bible in a Disenchanted Age: The Enduring Possibility of Christian Faith