Hermeneutical Lens Research Articles

Symposium: From coming out to coming in: Roundtable conversation among Southeast Asian queer theologians

Through a roundtable conversation via Zoom, teachers, pastors, and graduate students discussed the place of gender, citizenship, and faith in their identity formation and social accountability to articulate a hermeneutical lens specific to Southeast Asian contexts that shape and critique queer identities. These participants—primarily ministers, theological students, and seminary formators—engaged in organic, fluid, and multifocal turns to capture experiences that undergird the realities of women and LGBTQIQ+ people of faith in the region.

Readers' advisory vs reference: a difference of stance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine how we ought to distinguish between reference and readers' advisory (RA) service, given the latter’s turn toward a whole collection approach. In other words, the paper answers this question: If both reference and RA librarians aim to meet patrons’ information needs and may theoretically do so using the same materials, then how are we to differentiate the two services conceptually?Design/methodology/approachIn this conceptual paper, we posit that we can distinguish between RA and reference using Louise Rosenblatt’s theory of the aesthetic transaction. With this theory in hand, we can redefine the service distinction in terms of the stance – aesthetic or efferent – that the patron expects to take toward the material they seek.FindingsOn our account, the reader’s desired stance becomes a kind of hermeneutical lens through which a library worker may productively evaluate plausible pathways and materials. An aesthetic lens is characteristic of RA; it makes features of potential aesthetic transactions between a particular reader and a particular text (or genre or author’s oeuvre) salient.Originality/valueThe proposed account constitutes a novel application of Rosenblattian response theory, one that grounds and refines the going view that RA’s proper focus is on supporting a particular sort of experience rather than providing particular sorts of texts. This theoretical emendation also better aligns the service distinction with contemporary conceptualizations of RA as a “whole collection” service. Important practical and philosophical implications follow from the new account.

Menstrual Blood and the Blood of Christ: Streams of Strength, Vulnerability, and New Life

ABSTRACT In this article I offer a new womanist perspective for looking at Christ’s blood by interpreting its salvific effects in the context of menstruation. Like menstrual blood, Jesus’ shedding of blood can serve as a reminder of our on-going potential for new life, our need for vulnerability, and the strength we gain through community and individual self-awareness and authenticity. Using menstruation as a hermeneutical lens maintains a central place for the crucifixion in Christianity without condoning violence or substitutionary sacrifice. It affirms women’s bodies and reproductive processes by celebrating menstrual blood as empowering, transforming, and connected to the sacred. These affirmations serve as counternarratives to depictions of menstruation and other aspects of the female body as impure, as deeming women unfit to perform certain functions in the institutional church or society at-large, and as justifying treating women as inferior to men.

Beyond Factories and Laboratories: Reflecting the Relationships Between Archivists and Historians

Abstract In her influential article published in 2016, Alexandra Walsham, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, coined the metaphor that ‘Archives are the factories and laboratories of the historian’. Traditionally viewed as neutral storehouses of official records passively awaiting historians’ scrutiny, conceptions of archives have expanded in recent decades. Archives are now understood as complex social and cultural entities that actively participate in shaping understandings of the past. This paper examines shifting perspectives on the nature and functions of archives through a critical analysis of key debates. Specifically, this paper adopts a hermeneutic lens to critically engage Walsham’s metaphor and move beyond its potential limitations through situated analysis and interpretation. This paper explores how archives are actively implicated in knowledge construction through their contents, organisational frameworks, and interactions with historians. Recognising archives as fragmented, culturally contingent remnants that mediate engagement with the past, the paper calls for collaborative, reflective approaches between archivists and historians. The paper also acknowledges historians’ subjective interpretive roles while advocating consultation of archivists’ contextual expertise. Ultimately, it advances methodological discussions on writing history through a nuanced appreciation of archives as dynamic mediators within historical research, not transparent conduits neutrally supplying facts.

Christene wat Joodse gebruike opneem: Die Hebrew Roots-leerstellings, beoordeel vanuit Handelinge 10:9-29, Handelinge 15:1-35 en Galasiërs 2 en pentekostalistiese hermeneutiek

Christians taking up Jewish Customs: The Hebrew Roots doctrines evaluated from Acts 10:9–29, Acts 15:1-35, Galatians 2, and Pentecostalist hermeneutics. Numerous Pentecostal and Christian adherents are encountering Hebrew Roots teachings, with a significant global presence, notably in the USA, Israel, Europe, South America, and South Africa. In 2012, the South had a substantial number of adherents. A prominent ministry, 119 ministries, offers an interactive map listing Hebrew Roots ministries worldwide. In South Africa, over 120 such ministries are listed, primarily in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Hebrew Roots proponents claim authenticity by reverting to Jewish and Mosaic roots, advocating adherence to Old Testament precepts, including rituals and customs. This article critically assesses these claims, focusing on key texts such as Acts 10:9-29, Acts 15:1-35, and Galatians 2, in the context of the Mosaic-Hebrew roots movement. This movement argues that non-Jewish Christians should observe the Mosaic laws integral to God’s covenant with Israel. Employing a comparative literature analysis and grammatical-historical exegesis, the study contrasts Pentecostal beliefs with those of the Hebrew Roots movement concerning non-Jewish Christians’ ethical responsibilities regarding the Mosaic laws. The article first outlines the historical evolution of the Hebrew Roots movement, emphasizing its theological foundations. Subsequent sections systematically analyse the scriptural passages, examining their influence on these movements’ doctrines through a Pentecostal hermeneutical lens. One central concern highlighted is the potential for Hebrew Roots teachings to challenge the exclusive role of Christ in salvation by emphasizing adherence to the Old Testament’s legal framework, raising questions about Christ’s divinity.Intradisciplinary/intradisciplinary implications: This research seeks to prompt a critical examination within the field of Dogmatics, specifically with regard to the precise delineation of a Christian’s obligations concerning the Mosaic Law, particularly in the context of the Decalogue.

The Trouble with White Feminist Theologians? Decentring White Normativity in Feminist Theology

Feminist theology has provided a critical hermeneutical lens through which to interrogate hegemonic and hierarchical social and theological structures. Yet, can feminist theology itself be charged with the same paradigmatic problems it seeks to challenge? What exactly do we speak of when we speak of feminist theology? More importantly, who are we speaking of? Drawing from Kyla Schuller’s seminal volume, ‘The Trouble with White Women: A counter-history of feminism’, this article seeks to uncover the foundational connections between the historically ‘white feminism’ of Schuller’s counter-history and feminist theology, examining how, and indeed if, feminist theology contests or colludes with this problematic legacy. Considering post-colonial and intersectional feminist perspectives which trouble epistemological normativity, this article asks, is it possible to decentre, from the centre?

Glossolalia, Spirit baptism and Pentecostals: Revisiting the book of Acts

The debate between cessationists and continuationists is one of the main differences between Protestants and Pentecostals. A central tenet of the discussion is whether the baptism of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by signs such as glossolalia as described by the book of Acts, still occurs today. Most Pentecostals hold that Spirit baptism is distinctive from conversion. The debate is reflected in an article that appeared in HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies by Stevanus. This contribution aimed to reflect on their conclusion that it does not occur, based on the exegesis of relevant passages in Acts, but that Spirit baptism and conversion refer to the same experience. It utilised the hermeneutical lenses of the critical-historical method and Pentecostals’ reading of the biblical text from their metanarrative of God’s ongoing dynamic involvement in the world. Pentecostals emphasise the significance and necessity of continuous authentic charismatic encounters with God to define any doctrine. The study found that a post-conversion experience of the Spirit was normative in Acts and theologically implicit in conversion. It concluded that the Spirit is involved in conversion apart from Spirit baptism, a separate experience empowering disciples for their mission, and the order in which the Spirit reveals divine power to believers does not follow a set pattern.Contribution: The article contributes to a discourse that seldom reaches the academic scene in South Africa but forms a critical element in the difference between Protestant and Pentecostal hermeneutics.

A Hermeneutical Survey of the Book of Daniel: A Recipe for an Egalitarian Nigerian

The fourth prophetic writing in the Old Testament, known as the Book of Daniel, has recently undergone an English translation. The primary focus of this text is centred on an individual by the name of Daniel. This individual is an ancient figure who is also mentioned in Ezekiel 14:14 and 28:3. Further examples of the aforementioned designation refer to a male progeny of David (1 Chronicle 3:1) and an individual belonging to the sacerdotal ancestry of Ithamar (Ezra 8; 2; Nehemiah 10:6). The afore-mentioned references provide substantiation that this particular terminology was widespread among the Jewish community in the period following the exile. Given the aforementioned, this paper examines the historical context of the individual known as Daniel, the authorship of the text, the discerned symbolic messages and their interpretation, criticism levelled against the book. The examination of the book through a hermeneutical lens is considered appropriate as a blueprint for the establishment of an egalitarian Nigerian society. The methodology adopted in this research is purely qualitative involving content analysis, critical evaluation of biblical text on the subject matter and a hermeneutical survey of scholastic views and analogy on the book of Daniel. The research objective was accomplished through a comprehensive utilisation of textual exegesis. Despite the criticisms levelled by certain scholars, the paper ultimately concludes that the book effectively justifies its relevance to the process of nation building.

Allegory and Ambiguity in Late Antique Canon Lists

AbstractIn the mid-sixth century, Cassiodorus wrote hisInstitutiones Divinarum et Saecularium Litterarumto instruct the monks at Vivarium in their scribal work of collecting, codifying, and copying the Christian Scriptures, along with a vast array of Latin Christian literature. His text remained an essential handbook for monks and nuns working as scribes for centuries. Within it, he includes three authoritative canon lists which he takes from Jerome, Augustine, and the Septuagint. To modern scholars these lists often read as nonsense: he seems entirely ambivalent towards which books are “in” or “out” of the canon, he appears unfaithful to his source material, and none of these lists reflects his own system for listing or grouping the Scriptures. What then is the point of them? The answer lies in the importance that Cassiodorus, and other late antique authors, place on numbers as sources of allegorical interpretation in the search for higher meaning. Through a process of “holy arithmetic”, Cassiodorus presents what he claims is an inner logic of these authoritative canon lists, bringing to light three different hermeneutical lenses for understanding what the Scriptures are. As allegories, those lenses can coexist in a complementary fashion, aiding Cassiodorus in his larger mission to codify a Latin Christian tradition. Examining Cassiodorus’s approach to listing the canon and comparing it to modern scholarship on the subject bring into focus some of the key ways in which our own assumptions and methods differ from those of our late antique sources. It also opens up new possibilities for interrogating these sources.

‘Sharon’s’ blood through Judges 11:31–40: The sacrificial lambs in African women’s lenses

The rate at which women and girls have been ‘butchered’ in Africa before and during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests that violence against women in patriarchal settings is more tolerable. According to Exodus 21:12, Leviticus 24:17, Deuteronomy 12:312, 2 Kings 17:31 and Isaiah 66:3, murder and human sacrifice are an abomination and defile the land. Unfortunately, it is heartbreaking to note how the murder of women finds justification, as shown in Judges 11:31–40. Ironically, in Genesis 22:13, the sacrifice of Isaac is prevented through the provision of a sacrificial lamb. In this conversational platform, an African women’s hermeneutical lens to Judges 11:31–40 enables one to reimagine female bodies and motherhood as a theological phenomenon. It is proposed that ‘Sharon’s blood’ presents murdered women as Mother Earth’s sacrificial lambs of Africa, whose lives do not go unnoticed by God. Reimagining female bodies and motherhood as a theological phenomenon arguably enables the voices of murdered women to cry for justice from beyond the grave. If ‘the Sharons’ and their unborn babies do not receive justice, the ground continues to be defiled by human blood and remains ‘cursed’ (Mi 6:15). We will plant but not harvest; hence, there is a direct relationship between female bodies, motherhood and Mother Earth. One therefore asks: can scholarly conversational platforms enable murdered women of African descent to cry for justice from beyond the grave, allowing for life to flourish ‘again’?Contribution: This article contributed new knowledge to feminist studies by presenting murdered female victims of gender-based violence (GBV) as the sacrificial lambs of Mother Africa, whose innocent blood continues to cry for justice from beyond the grave. From an African hermeneutical lens, this research article reimagined female bodies and motherhood as a theological phenomenon in order to arguably enable the voices of murdered women to cry for justice from beyond the grave.

The Gibean solution (Jgs 19-21) - a mirror to reclaiming women dignity in Zimbabwe

Chronicling the history of gendered and sexualised violence in Zimbabwe, our article upholds the view that what transpired in Judges 19:20–48 offers the contemporary readers some important lessons that are worth pondering over. Looking through feminist hermeneutical lenses, we engage in a comparative analysis of the gender-based violations, human rights abuses, and the lack of hospitality depicted in Judges 19–21 with the lived realities of Zimbabwean women in our contemporary times. The discussion draws to a close by proffering a theology of restorative justice. It is our argument that Zimbabwe needs healing through a non-retaliative response to some wrongdoing that prioritises repairing harm and the recognition that maintaining positive relationships with fellow humans is a core human need. This is the only way forward to reclaim and restore the humanity and dignity of women exposed to diverse forms of gender-based violence in our Mother Earth.Contribution: This article reveals the link between the violations and brutality endured by the woman in Judges 19–21 with the history of sexualised violence in Zimbabwe. It is worth noting that in African Traditional Religion, the three worlds (spiritual, natural, and human) are intertwined and make up the cosmic totality; sexually violating women is tantamount to desecrating Mother Earth.

Juridical Analysis of the Implementation of Islamic Criminal Law in Aceh from the Perspective of Legal Hermeneutics

This study aims to determine the concept of the application of Islamic criminal law in Aceh and to analyze it using the perspective of legal hermeneutics. The research method used is a normative legal research method with statutory approaches (Statute Approach) and case approaches (Case Approach). The study shows that enforcing Islamic criminal law in Aceh is in the context of maintaining the five basic human needs, namely the maintenance of religion, soul, mind, lineage, and property. These five basic needs are necessary for humans. This is determined nothing but to maintain the existence of the five basic human needs, or in other words, the punishments are prescribed solely for the benefit of humans. The current implementation of Islamic law in Aceh is still within the corridor of the trilogy of religious harmony, namely inter-religious harmony, internal religious harmony, and inter-religious harmony with the Government. So if viewed through a hermeneutic lens, Islamic criminal law is basically to achieve harmonious and ideal societal conditions. In implementing Islamic criminal law, the role of all parties is needed, one of which plays an important role is the role of the family. The role is the primary milestone for providing education about Islamic law so as not to become a person who violates Islamic law.

Tracing Bathsheba’s Metamorphosis through the Lens of Trauma and Recovery

Abstract Bathsheba’s story is split by a wide chasm of male-dominated texts, spanning from 2 Sam 11–12 on one end to 1 Kgs 1–2 on the other—a literary rift that has long presented a problem for scholars attempting to discern a coherent development and appraisal of Bathsheba’s character throughout. This study highlights the ways in which the biblical depiction of Bathsheba resists simplistic interpretations and instead evinces a coherent, upward crescendo of character development through a combination of literary analysis and the hermeneutic lens of trauma and recovery, the latter of which highlights the suppression and growth of communicative agency throughout. The first section asserts that the trauma of rape is apparent and so recognized in 2 Sam 11:1–4 through its evocative synthesis of contextual setting, Hebrew terminology, and syntax. The second section analyzes 2 Sam 11:5–12:25, paying special attention to instances in which Bathsheba’s body “speaks” (i.e., nonverbal activity). The final section examines the emergence of Bathsheba’s verbal expression in 1 Kgs 1:1–2:25, elucidating an inverse relationship between David’s waning health and Bathsheba’s ascending voice. Together, these sections attest a consistent and coherent development of dynamic resiliency on the part of Bathsheba within the Hebrew text.

Prayerful persistence: Luke 18:1–8 through the lens of resilience

The parable of the widow and the unjust judge is unique to Luke. It forms part of three other parables shedding light on the coming of the Son of Man. It also bears striking resemblances with the parable of the friend at midnight, but unlike the friend of midnight, persistence is a focal point for interpreting the parable. There is an intersection between the parable of the unjust judge and resilience theory. Resilience may be understood as the ability to have positive, better-than-expected outcomes in the face of adversity. The widow persists and manages to persuade the judge to aid her plight. Accordingly, this article explored the intersections between resilience theory and the parable of the unjust judge as an interpretive aid.Contribution: This article explored a multidisciplinary approach to Luke 18:1–8. Resilience theory was incorporated with exegesis, thereby offering another hermeneutical lens to the text that enriches our understanding.

A Heart Lost in Wonder: The Life and Faith of Gerard Manley Hopkins by Catharine Randall (review)

Reviewed by: A Heart Lost in Wonder: The Life and Faith of Gerard Manley Hopkins by Catharine Randall Philip Ballinger A Heart Lost in Wonder: The Life and Faith of Gerard Manley Hopkins. By Catharine Randall. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2020. Pp. 195. $22.95 paperback. ISBN: 978-0-8028-7770-3.) Professor Randall offers readers a refreshing and succinct reflection upon the life, writings, and faith of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Her book is scholarly in its roots yet purposefully accessible to a wide audience as an introduction to the person, art, and religious experience of Hopkins. Randall's presentation of Hopkins contains no hint of hagiography. The Hopkins portrayed is fully human—brilliant, loved, not always understood, steel-willed at times, physically fragile, and substantially plagued with neuroses and depression. Her realistic portrayal of Hopkins makes his incarnation-amplifying faith and chiming poetic creativity all the more shining and striking. A reader new to Hopkins, however, may underappreciate the degree to which the joyful and playful seasoned much of his life. Professor Randall describes her method in this biography as holistic. This means that the chronologies of Hopkins' life and writings do not always correspond, particularly in the first chapters of her book. She purposefully follows this method to heighten a "you are there" feeling and face-to-face encounter with Hopkins (p. xiv). More importantly, she hopes that this interpretive biography will assist readers in seeing Hopkins' life through the prism of his theology. I think her method will help a new Hopkins reader move to the heart of the matter with alacrity. A reader familiar with Hopkins, however, may experience some disorientation. Professor Randall quickly moves the reader into the mainstream of Hopkins' faith and art—the world of the senses is the high road to the world of the spirit. Woven through by this contextual theme, her summative recounting of Hopkins' childhood, education, conversion to Roman Catholicism, and formation and life as a Jesuit priest is substantive and, at times, innovative. For example, while discussing how Hopkins experienced nature, Randall offers the possibility of some neurological idiosyncrasy as the cause. While I do not think that Hopkins was in some altered state in his perception and experience of beauty in nature, I appreciate the thought-provoking discussion. In any case, Professor Randall here introduces a hermeneutic lens through which she views Hopkins—he is an "ecstatic," "one who entered into and took on the life around him in an imagined, artistic creation of a new form of participation in essence" (p. 59). [End Page 418] While focusing upon Hopkins' Jesuit formation and training, Professor Randall justifiably discusses at length the probable influence of Duns Scotus. In this context, she suggests and supports the possibility of influence by the Cappadocian fathers. This offers her a creative opportunity to introduce the patristically-rooted and currently prevalent theme of the Cosmic Christ into the discussion of Hopkins' theological thought and its expression in prose and poetry. Her following analyses of Hopkins' "The Wreck of the Deutschland" and "The Windhover" compellingly bring this Scotian influence and theological theme to life. Professor Randall's last chapter, "Desolation," portrays the final years of Hopkins' life in Dublin as a time of internal disintegration and physical collapse. She weaves Hopkins' own words and the reflections of others to show how near he was to madness and even temptation to suicide. It is a dark, distressing portrayal rooted in primary sources and well conveyed by the author. Then, in the last pages of her book, Randall wonderfully describes Hopkins' sudden break into light as best expressed in his poem "That Nature Is a Heraclitean Fire and of the Comfort of the Resurrection." She suggests this re-enlightenment is a return to or remembering of an earlier shining faith in and perception of the Cosmic Christ in creation. This end time and last flash of creativity in Hopkins' life seems not so much a resolving denouement as a kind of resurrection from darkness and internal death. I wonder if Hopkins' experience of abandonment by God was so discontiguous from the end of his life and his final words—"I am so...

Modern Gnosticism: F.W.J. Schelling's Philosophy as an Expression of Valentinian Theology

According to scholars as influential as Hans Urs von Balthasar, Eric Voegelin and Cyril O'Regan, what was once rejected as an esoteric second century Christian heresy, has, and indeed continues to, exert a significant amount of influence over modern philosophy and theology in the form of ancient Gnosticism. While a variety of major studies have applied this hermeneutical lens to evaluate and better grasp Hegel's philosophical system, very few have sought to interpret Schelling's philosophy in this manner, when there seems to be ample evidence to suggest that Schelling consciously adopted Gnostic philosophy, particularly Valentinian speculation, alongside other theosophic proposals, when constructing his own ideas. And, given the rise of theological systems, notably from the East, although not exclusively, in the guise of Sergius Bulgakov, that are heavily indebted to Schelling and are currently exerting a notable influence on contemporary Anglophone systematic theology (theologians such as John Milbank), it would seem beneficial for such a study to be conducted to better grasp certain trends in current, mainstream, theological proposals.

The Virgin Mary's Book at the Annunciation: Reading, Interpretation, and Devotion in Medieval England

The Virgin Mary's Book at the Annunciation: Reading, Interpretation, and Devotion in Medieval England

A re-reading of Judges 19 in juxtaposition to the Zimbabwean women’s vulnerability to ‘punitive rape’

With the rise of feminist thinking, the phenomenon of the rape culture has admittedly drawn the attention of many academics especially in biblical studies. While several academics have done a commendable job of demonstrating how ancient biblical stories can have a bearing upon elements of the modern rape culture, the bulk of the literature has been penned from a Western standpoint and it is only by inference that one can find a resonance with the African situation. Given that the rape culture is not just a Western phenomenon but a pervasive global challenge, this article introduces an African perspective on this matter. Wearing feminist hermeneutical lenses, the article engages in a comparative analysis of the gender-based violations, human rights abuses, and the absolute lack of hospitality depicted in Judges 19–21 with the experiences of a Zimbabwean woman, Rutendo Munengami. It then taps into the lived experiences of the given women as resources which can be used to seriously think about the ugly dehumanising effects of rape and in so doing, bolster efforts towards combating the modern rape culture. In this article, it is our contention that people, the world over, and the Zimbabwean society in particular, need to earnestly acknowledge the pain and anguish experienced by the Levite’s concubine as well as Munengami and other countless women who have been victims of rape. We conclude the article by restating that wherever the rape culture is prevalent, people need to embrace and uphold the principles of human dignity, hospitality, justice and equality, and resolutely move away from a culture of denial and apathy when it comes to issues of rape.Contribution: This article juxtaposes the experiences of the sexual violence endured by the concubine in Judges 19 and that of a Zimbabwean woman, Rutendo Munengami. It concludes by proffering possible ways of curbing the rape culture which has crept into Africa like a cancerous worm.

Student Reflections on the Essential Role of the Holy Spirit in Counseling Education

This article examines the unique position in which emerging counselors find themselves, as they seek to enter the professional field amidst a worldwide pandemic and numerous other national and global hardships. From a student perspective, the authors survey the distinctive traits of Christian counseling education, Christian counseling, generally speaking, and the importance of theological and spiritual formation for the emerging counselor. More specifically, the authors discuss three theological concepts that have been identified as critical in the development of their Christian counselor identity, foundation, and future practice. The first theological consideration is the essential role and ministry of the Holy Spirit who provides supernatural peace, joy, and comfort, aiding emerging counselors in their ability to be competent therapists in tenuous times; bridging the gap from education to practical application. The second concept considered is the imago Dei, as the hermeneutical lens by which the Christian counselor affirms the worth of all human beings created in the image of God, enabling the counselor to provide empathy and unconditional positive regard for all clients. The third consideration is the missio Dei, or mission of God, as a core conceptual belief by which to understand the role of the Christian counselor, and counseling profession, as a redemptive participation in and with the Spirit of God.

Healing for the Soul: Richard Smallwood, the Vamp, and the Gospel Imagination, by Braxton D. Shelley

<i>Healing for the Soul: Richard Smallwood, the Vamp, and the Gospel Imagination</i>, by Braxton D. Shelley