Advanced Hermeneutics

The Course Description

An advanced seminar in biblical hermeneutics designed to prepare students to develop and perfect skills and expertise in analyzing interpretive problems, bringing biblical and doctrinal resources to bear on such problems, investigating and developing solutions, and communicating solutions through writing, teaching, preaching, and other informational venues in Christian ministry and higher education.

The Course Objectives

  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the canons of biblical interpretation.
  • Define and evaluate various methods of biblical interpretation used throughout the history of theChristian Church and theology.
  • Demonstrate sound hermeneutical skills in their interpretation of Old and New Testament textsincluding a self-conscious understanding and critique of the interpreter’s own ideological andtheological motives.
  • Demonstrate competence in exegetical and research skills.
  • Apply the teachings of Scripture to foment strong biblical convictions and to respond biblicallyand theologically to modern issues in Christian ministry and contemporary culture.

Research Paper

click here to read the paper

The Course Required Reading

Barr, James. The Semantics of Biblical Language. London: SCM, 2012 (1961). ISBN: 978-1- 592-44692-6; 320 pages.

Carson, D. A. “Theological Interpretation of Scripture: Yes, But ….” Available online athttp://simeondata.org/cst/media/doc-dacarson-tis.pdf, 20 pp.

Cotterell, Peter, and Max Turner. Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1989. ISBN: 978-0-830-81751-1; 348 pages.

Frei, Hans. The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980 (1974). ISBN: 978-0-300-02602-3; 347 pages.

Hirsch, E. D. Validity in Interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967. ISBN: 978-0-300-01692-5; 302 pages.

Köstenberger, Andreas J. and Richard D. Patterson. Invitation to Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-825-43047-3; read only chaps. 1, 12, 13, 15; 135 pages.

Lee, John A. L. A History of New Testament Lexicography. Studies in Biblical Greek 8. New York: Peter Lang, 2003. ISBN: 978-0-820-43480-3; read only pages 1–199.

Longenecker, Richard N. Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. ISBN: 978-0-802-84301-2; 198 pages.

Vanhoozer, Kevin J. Is There A Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-310- 32469-0, 485 pages.

Wright, N. T. The New Testament and the People of God. Christian Origins and the Question of God 1. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992. ISBN: 978-0-800-62681-5; read only pages 1– 144.