CULTURE, HERMENEUTICS & BIBLICAL THEOLOGY SESSION 1

CULTURE, HERMENEUTICS &

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

SESSION 1

Andreas J. Kostenberger

Session 1: Culture, Hermeneutics & Biblical Theology

The Challenge of Culture

Hermeneutics

Biblical Theology


The Challenge of Culture: Hot Topic

Issues related to marriage and gender are hot topics in our culture.

Heterosexual marriage is increasingly marginalized and alternative lifestyles and gender identities are relentlessly promoted.

In the US, public support for gay marriage just passed 60 percent. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on same-sex marriage next month.

Our cultural vocabulary is expanding to include terms such as “transgender,” “gender-fluid,” and “gender-variant.”


The Challenge of Culture: Recent News

Consider a few recent examples from the news:

“Transgender Lives: Your Stories!As part of a series of editorials about transgender

experiences, we are featuring personal stories. Welcome to this evolving collection. Here’s a list of some organizations that offer support and information.” (New York Times, May 5, 2015)


The Challenge of Culture: Recent News

A workout facility in Michigan revoked a woman’s membership who complained about a transgender man using the woman’s locker room.

NBC news ran a story in April 2015 about a transgender 5-year old (girl) whose parents are helping her live as a boy.

Cultural vignettes in God’s Design for Man and Woman: A Biblical-Theological Survey.


The Challenge of Culture: 3 Imperatives

We need to address issues related to marriage and gender sensitively, knowledgeably, and biblically.

We need to return to the Scriptures and restore the biblical foundations for men’s and women’s identities and roles.

We need to study Scripture with a sound hermeneutic and from a biblical-theological perspective.


Hermeneutics: Definition

Hermeneutics = the method and art of biblical interpretation.

“Method”: there are rules and principles to follow.

“Art”: interpretation is more than just following a series of steps to get the right answer.


Hermeneutics: Goal

The goal of interpreting Scripture is to understand what the author intended to communicate.

We come to the Bible as listeners and learners.


Hermeneutics: Method

Scripture should be interpreted according to its 3 primary contexts: History/Culture

Literature/Language

Theology

Köstenberger & Patterson, Invitation to Biblical Interpretation, For the Love of God’s Word



History/Culture Who is writing? When and where are they writing?

Who is being addressed?

What issues are being addressed?



Literature/language What words or themes are addressed and repeated?

Are there transitional words? How do they relate the passage to what comes before and after it?

Are there words or images that require further study?



Theology Are there certain important doctrines touched upon in the

passage?

Are there issues that might be difficult to apply today?

What does the passage say about God?

What else does the author/Scripture teach on this topic?



Case Study from 1 Peter 3:1-7:“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—4but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.



5For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 7Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”



History/Culture The kind of jewelry women wore in the first century, hairstyles,

clothes

Marital roles in the first century: Jewish, Greco-Roman; e.g. women expected to take on husband’s religion

Showing honor: honor-shame culture, how show honor? What does “weaker vessel” mean?

Language of heir, inheritance in v. 7 (see earlier in epistle)



Literature/Language Genre: Epistle

Context: House table (instructions to members of ancient household) starting in 2:13

“Likewise” in 3:1 ties passage in with preceding section (topic: unjust suffering by hands of those in authority)

“Likewise” in 3:7 indicates shift to new address



Theology What God approves: different from what the world prizes or

values. Women are to be counter-cultural.

Example of Sarah obeying Abraham, calling him lord: raises question of application: should women today obey their husbands and call them “lord”? (Example: at Will & Kate’s wedding, “obey” struck from vow.)

Answer to prayer: What does it mean that prayers are hindered? Whose prayers are hindered? The couple’s? The husband’s?


Hermeneutics: Art

“Art” tries to capture the intuitive aspect of interpretation (like speaking a language, cannot reduce to a formula).

Strive to exhibit sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and a listening spirit.

Sensitivity: We want to read with charity and love.

Thoughtfulness: We want to read thoughtfully, trying understand the original situation of the author and readers.

Listening: We want to put ourselves in the first readers’ shoes.


Biblical Theology: Definition

Biblical theology is the outcome of proper interpretation.

Biblical theology is the study of the Bible on its own terms and in its own conceptual categories.

As a method, Biblical theology is essentially historical, inductive, and synthetic.


Biblical Theology: Characteristics

Historical “Historical” means that the goal is to understand what a verse

or passage meant in a given setting. It seeks to be sensitive to the unique context of Scripture and

where a passage occurs in the history of redemption (e.g. Deborah).



Inductive “Inductive”: inferring meaning without importing extraneous

information. We don’t create our own meaning; we receive what God has

communicated to the first readers, and now to us, through his Word.

This means we’re descriptive, seeking to use the terms and categories given by the text, not categories we bring to the text.



Synthetic “Synthetic” refers to putting the pieces together. While biblical theology seeks to understand the text in its own

setting and on its own terms, it also wants to understand how texts fit together.

This is done at the level of individual books, authors, corpora, and canon.


Biblical Theology: Questions

Most broadly, biblical theology asks the question: What is the relationship between the Testaments, between the OT and the NT? Is there a given plan in the OT that is later changed in the NT? Or is God’s plan unified?

What about the different portions of the OT? How do the foundational chapters of Genesis relate to the rest of the book after the fall of humanity took place? And how does Genesis relate to the other historical books as they tell the story of life in ancient Israel?



Moving to the NT, how does Jesus’ teaching relate to the practice of the early church as we read about it in the book of Acts?

And what about Paul? Is his teaching on this issue consistent with the practice of the

early church? Is his teaching consistent with his own practice as he goes

about planting churches across the Mediterranean? And is he consistent in teaching on the topic in his various

letters, such as Galatians and 1 Timothy?



Finally, what about the remaining NT letters and the book of Revelation? How do they relate to Paul’s letters, and how does Revelation bring closure to the entire canon of Scripture?


What’s Ahead

Men and women in the Bible: a biblical-theological survey of how Scripture presents male and female identities and roles.

Genesis 1-3 (Session 2)Rest of the OT (Session 3)Jesus and the early church (Session 4)Paul (Session 5)Rest of the NT (Session 6)Application (Q&A Session)

Documents

CULTURE, HERMENEUTICS & BIBLICAL THEOLOGY SESSION 1