hermeneutics :: The Tentative Apologist

Post tagged with hermeneutics

What was in Jesus’ hand? Lessons on why you can’t take the Bible literally word for word

October 04th, 201112:55 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

According to a 2007 Gallup survey "About one-third of the American adult population believes the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally word for word." Now let's think about this. Would you please open your Bibles to Revelation 1:14-16: *ahem* "His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like...
Should we really interpret the Bible literally when possible?

July 26th, 201110:53 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

In my previous article I focused on a common hermeneutical principle among fundamentalists. I called it the "literal when possible principle" (henceforth LPP) and I noted an example from it in the writings of John Walvoord, one of the preeminent fundamentalist scholars of the twentieth century. I then presented four arguments against it. Unfortunat...
How fundamentalists undermine the authority of scripture

July 25th, 201110:53 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

Christian fundamentalists like to trumpet the authority of scripture over all things. Unfortunately the way that fundamentalists read scripture tends to undermine that authority. The key problem is that fundamentalists widely subscribe to a hermeneutical (that is interpretive) principle that the text should be interpreted literally when possible. T...
The Tentative Apologist digs into his fan mail ... and comes up with Dostoyevsky

August 18th, 201002:59 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Okay, I guess I’ll have to scrap my short-lived one-article, one-post policy. Once again I’ll wade into the mail bag and answer some of the missives from my legions of adoring fans on the topic of Tobin’s abject failure to present anything like a case against biblical inspiration. Ken Pulliam, ever the model of cool scholarly engagement (in ...
Is the Bible "merely" a product of its times?

June 26th, 201012:14 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Sometimes running a blog is like working on an assembly line stamping widgets. If you go for a bathroom break the line doesn't stop and the widgets pile up and then you never catch up. Unless your blog is your life, that invariably happens. I have a bunch of widgets (i.e. comments) piled up in my absence over the last 36 hours (a long bathroom bre...
Why Mr. A believes we need a historical Adam

March 04th, 201002:27 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Ms. B: Mr. A, you look pensive. Is something wrong? Mr. A: Well before I consider further your attempt to read the Genesis creation and fall narratives as mythical, I need to get something off my chest. Ms. B: Go ahead Mr. A. There are no secrets here. Mr. A: Okay, how can you suggest that Adam might not be a historical figure when he is treated...
Why do people get dumb when they read the Bible?

March 02nd, 201009:27 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

We all know how to read a newspaper. We critically digest the editorial, laugh at the comics, and take note of the movie times. Nor is such interpretive sophistication limited to adults. When it comes to putting the kiddies to bed, we pull a copy of McGillicuddy's Omnibus of Facts and Fun off the shelf. First we read a silly limerick, and little Jo...
Is the Genesis story of creation and fall a myth?

February 19th, 201012:00 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B first begun at "Do Christians need a historical Adam and Eve? (Part 1)": Mr. A: So to sum up our conversation thus far, you're saying that Genesis 1-3 could be a myth that God appropriated as part of his divine revelation. Ms. B: Emphasis on could be, so long as you recognize that "...
Do Christians need a historical Adam and Eve? (Part 1)

February 08th, 201011:51 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

Mr. A: Do Christians need a historical Adam and Eve? Ms. B: Need them for what? Mr. A: To be good Christians. Ms. B: How do you mean? Mr. A: Well, if a Christian interprets the creation and fall of Adam as a mythic story rather than a broadly historical one, what else might a Christian be giving up? Ms. B: Oh, I see. You're worried that if you...

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An exploration of faith, knowledge, reason and doubt (with the occasional trite pop culture reference thrown in for good measure).