Explain the Purpose of Hermeneutics
The primary need of Hermeneutics is to determine and understand the meaning of Biblical text. The purpose of Hermeneutics is to bridge the gap between our minds and the minds of the Biblical writers through a thorough knowledge of the original languages, ancient history and the comparison of Scripture with Scripture. Through Hermeneutics, Biblical Interpretation can be achieved in three ways; historically, the message and the doctrine.
The Bible is totally authoritive and inspired by God, however is it propositional or not? To be propositional means that God reveals certain truths at which we respond in accepting these truths. These certain truths may be found in scripture, creeds and or the teachings of the church. Non-propositional approach emphasise God revealing himself at which we respond with faith being a personal belief in God, resulting in us developing specific ideas and or propositions about God. A non-propositional view believes the Bible is a source book of many different accounts of human response to the divine.
In Hermeneutics, there are three, among many, significant schools of thought which we are principally concerned; fundamentalism, liberal approach, and traditional interpretations of Scripture. Fundamentalism was first used in the beginning of the 20th century, whose aim was to preserve what they saw as the ‘fundamentals’ of the Christian faith from being eroded by liberal thinking. The fundamentals included the following beliefs; the divinity of Jesus; meaning he was fully God, that God’s ultimate judgement and the existence of heaven and hell and the physical resurrection of Jesus, among others. Fundamentalists believed in the doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration, this is the understanding that, the Bible is the actual word of God to the extent that it was dictated by God, word for word, to the people who wrote it down. To the fundamentals, the Bible is seen as being ‘inspired’ or ‘breathed’ by God in a direct and ‘unmediated’
The Bible is totally authoritive and inspired by God, however is it propositional or not? To be propositional means that God reveals certain truths at which we respond in accepting these truths. These certain truths may be found in scripture, creeds and or the teachings of the church. Non-propositional approach emphasise God revealing himself at which we respond with faith being a personal belief in God, resulting in us developing specific ideas and or propositions about God. A non-propositional view believes the Bible is a source book of many different accounts of human response to the divine.
In Hermeneutics, there are three, among many, significant schools of thought which we are principally concerned; fundamentalism, liberal approach, and traditional interpretations of Scripture. Fundamentalism was first used in the beginning of the 20th century, whose aim was to preserve what they saw as the ‘fundamentals’ of the Christian faith from being eroded by liberal thinking. The fundamentals included the following beliefs; the divinity of Jesus; meaning he was fully God, that God’s ultimate judgement and the existence of heaven and hell and the physical resurrection of Jesus, among others. Fundamentalists believed in the doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration, this is the understanding that, the Bible is the actual word of God to the extent that it was dictated by God, word for word, to the people who wrote it down. To the fundamentals, the Bible is seen as being ‘inspired’ or ‘breathed’ by God in a direct and ‘unmediated’