UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

GEC RE 001 - GOD’S SAVING

ACTION IN HISTORY, OUR STORY:
FROM ABRAHAM TO JESUS
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 The Bible
BIBLICAL INSPIRATION
Bible scholars may disagree among themselves as to
the interpretation of one or another passage in the
Bible, but all concur that the Bible is the inspired word of
God.
We cannot fully explain the supernatural process of
inspiration which brought about the writings of the Bible.
The hint, though, is given in 2Tim. 3:16 where the
phrase "inspired by God" is the English translation of the
Greek theopneustos which literally means, "God-
breathed."
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BIBLICAL INSPIRATION The Bible

The Spirit of God is frequently represented as

breath (Hebrew - ruach).
This means that God's breath (the Holy Spirit)
produced the Scriptures.
In another New Testament passage we read
that those whom God chose to write his
message were "men moved by the Holy Spirit"
(2 Pet. 1:21).
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EXEGESIS
 Gk. exegeisthai, "to draw out")
 a method or process of drawing out the meaning of a
given text, i.e. "the original intention of the writer, and
the meaning the passage would have held for the
readers it was first intended" (R.T. France, 1992:252).
 This objective discipline of ascertaining the literal
meaning of the text involves several approaches, which
we call biblical criticism.
 That means that the interpreter is led to his
conclusions by following the text.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EXEGESIS
The process of exegesis involves:
1) Observation
 what does the passage say?
2) Interpretation
 what does the passage mean?
3) Correlation
 how does the passage relate to the rest of the Bible?
4) Application
 how should this passage affect my life?
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EISEGESIS
 is the interpretation of a passage based on a
subjective, non-analytical reading.
 The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,”
which means the interpreter injects his own ideas
into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.
The Process of Eisegesis involves:
1) Imagination:
 what idea do I want to present?
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EISEGESIS
The Process of Eisegesis involves:
2) Exploration
 what Scripture passage seems to fit with my idea? and
3) Application
 what does my idea mean?
Notice that, in eisegesis, there is no examination of the words
of the text or their relationship to each other, no cross-
referencing with related passages, and no real desire to
understand the actual meaning. Scripture serves only as a
prop to the interpreter’s idea.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EXEGESIS VS EISEGESIS
In this two conflicting approaches in Bible study
between Exegesis and Eisegesis, obviously, only
exegesis does justice to the text.
Eisegesis is a mishandling of the text and often leads to
a misinterpretation.
Exegesis is concerned with discovering the true
meaning of the text, respecting its grammar, syntax, and
setting.
Eisegesis is concerned only with making a point, even at
the expense of the meaning of words.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EXEGESIS VS EISEGESIS
In 2 Timothy 2:15 commands us to use exegetical
methods: “Present yourself to God as one approved, a
workman who does not need to be ashamed and who
correctly handles the word of truth.”
An honest student of the Bible will be an exegete, allowing
the text to speak for itself.
Eisegesis easily lends itself to error, as the would-be
interpreter attempts to align the text with his own
preconceived notions.
Exegesis allows us to agree with the Bible; eisegesis seeks to
force the Bible to agree with us.
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 Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EXEGESIS
Biblical criticism is generally divided into three types
corresponding to the three moments in the speech act:

(Sender) (Message Sent) (Receiver)

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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

EXEGESIS
Thus, contemporary biblical criticism is often
classified as

(Author, (Receiver of
historical
situation, (Analysis of the the text
theological texts as it and/or
concerns, process of
etc.) stands.) reading.)
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

In Through the years, scientific methods or

approaches have been adopted in the study of biblical
texts.
We shall limit our discussion to selected approaches
on biblical criticism: textual, historical, source, form,
redaction, literary, narrative and feminist.
Historical- critical and redaction-critical approaches
follow the diachronic method in their efforts to determine
the matrix of the biblical text— the culture of the time, the
socio-political situation then, the background and
intention of the author.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

In textual criticism, source criticism, and form

criticism, which are all related approaches to the
historical- critical exegesis, the world of the text
intersects with the world of the author.
Narrative criticism and feminist criticism both adopt
the synchronic approach as the world of the reader
intersects with the world of the text.
All of these approaches virtually lead directly and
systematically into hermeneutics.

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Biblical Interpretation The Bible

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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible
Hermeneutics
 In Greek hermeneuein — "to explain" is the theory of
reading, interpretation, and understanding of a text
whether written or serving as documents of life.
 In Greek mythology, Hermes (the messenger of the
Olympian gods; his counterpart in Roman mythology is
Mercury) was the son of Zeus and Maia. His role was
to convey and to make intelligible for mortals the
message of the gods.
 Hermeneutics has become a popular methodology
today adopted by disciplines like philosophy, literature,
cinematology, psychology, and biblical studies.

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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible
Hermeneutics
 Applied to the biblical text, hermeneutics covers the entire
process of biblical interpretation. Traditionally,
interpretation takes three forms: speaking, translating,
and explaining.
 Of the three forms, according to Sandra Schneiders, the
most important meaning of interpretation is explanation.
 It is the activity of establishing the text "in its otherness,
so that it does not say what we project into it but says to
us what it has to say. Moreover, "explanation is the
process of clarifying the meaning of the text by abolishing
all the obstacles to understanding offered by the text
itself. (1991: 17:126) 16
Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

Hermeneutics
 However, the process of interpretation, called
"explanation" which involves the work of exegesis and
criticism, is never complete until the "fusion of
horizons" or the integration of the meaning of the text
into the world of the reader has been accomplished.
 This hermeneutical moment is called "understanding."
Understanding, in the words of Schneiders, "is the
event in which the text's meaning comes home"
(1991:97).
 Understanding happens in the process of
appropriating the meaning of the text in our concrete,
existential lives.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

Hermeneutics
According to two major contemporary theorists of interpretation,
Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer, real interpretation leads
towards actualization, that is, in the mutual transformation of text
and reader through application (Gadamer) or appropriation
(Ricoeur).
What is demanded from a reader is a spirit of openness and
good will. Ricoeur applies a dictum from St. Anselm to the act of
reading the sacred text: "To understand, it is necessary to
believe; to believe, it is necessary to understand" (Essays, p. 58).
An act of faith calls for an obedient response to God's call but we
have to listen first to what God has to say by a reflective reading
and understanding of His word.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

Hermeneutics
The German philosopher Gadamer explains the interpretative
process in terms of the interplay of the world behind the text,
the world of the text, and the world before the text.
 The world behind the text (the world of the author) views
the text as a window, a source of information about the
author, the addressees and the world in which they
lived, i.e, everything that gave rise to the text.
 The world of the text serves as a mirror which reflects
the interrelationship of the elements that make up the
text. In the process of engaging the text, or entering into
this world, the readers begin to understand themselves
better. They realize what they are not and what they
could or should be.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

Hermeneutics
 The world before the text (the reader) concerns the world of
meaning that the text generates. The text does not only
inform but also transforms when we begin to realize its
significance and accept the challenges it offers.
 How is God addressing us and inviting us to enter into a
dialogue and to participate in his work of salvation?
 How does the message of the Bible enlighten the here and
now, the situation that we find ourselves involved in which
calls for a response according to the spirit of Christ and the
values of the gospel?
 How can we discern God's will in making a decision?
 How are we called to make an act of faith when there are
no neat answers to moral dilemmas we face at present?
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible

Summary
The exegesis and biblical criticism, on one hand, intend to
establish the ideal meaning of the text.
Their fundamental concern is: what does the text say?
They are dominated by historical and literary methods.
The biblical text is read primarily with an objective of
information (i.e. to be intellectually enlightened).
Here, we are on the level of interpretation as explanation.
Hermeneutics, on the other hand, is concerned with the
integral process of interpretation resulting [understanding in
the full sense of the word.
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Approaches to Biblical Interpretation The Bible
Summary
This happens when the meaning of the text fully grasped is actualized in
the lives of readers who appropriate it.
The biblical text is read in view of transformation, (i.e. for personal
conversion).
Understanding (called "application" or "appropriation"), is the concern of
hermeneutics and the ultimate goal of interpretation.
Interpretation, therefore consists of "the dialectical process of
explanation and understanding" (1991:17)
Explanation is attempted in the exegetical and critical moments of
interpretation, while understanding is sought in the hermeneutical
moment.
Yet, all of these interpretative processes are inseparably connected.
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 The Bible

References:
Bragado, Erlinda H., Monera, Arnold T., “Kaloob :
Interweaving's on the Christian story”, Malate,
Manila, Philippines : De La Salle University
Press, 1998.

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 The End
Thank You
very Much!!! 25