The hermeneutical triangle is a series of three points (author, referents, and reader) which all center around a fourth point, which is the text. By beginning with the text itself and then examining it through the lenses of the other three points you can derive meaning and understanding. This is what hermeneutics is, finding the meaning in a text.
One of the points of hermeneutics has puzzled me, not because I think it unimportant, but because I have been unsure how we can truly go about understanding it fully. This is the referents point of the triangle (and by some extension the reader point as well). Referents deal with understanding what is going on in the world of the author. This means historically and culturally understanding their context. However, this is very difficult for us to do. When dealing with something from the distant past, thousands of years removed from the present day, understanding the culture and ways of thinking of the people in that culture is quite difficult. We may be able to identify some of the historical pieces, but even that will remain incomplete. Further, this seems to rely on the author closely mirroring or embracing what we do know of the culture from that time. This is almost certainly not the case over a collection of books like the Bible. Just in our own time we can recognize that different people speaking to the same events in our time come to very different conclusions and these conclusions may or may not be tied into the broader culture.
Ultimately, hermeneutics will never be perfect because our knowledge is not perfect. While I have particular problems with parts of the hermeneutical triangle, I recognize that we must do our best to deal with these issues of context, even if we assuredly fail to take everything into account.
One of the points of hermeneutics has puzzled me, not because I think it unimportant, but because I have been unsure how we can truly go about understanding it fully. This is the referents point of the triangle (and by some extension the reader point as well). Referents deal with understanding what is going on in the world of the author. This means historically and culturally understanding their context. However, this is very difficult for us to do. When dealing with something from the distant past, thousands of years removed from the present day, understanding the culture and ways of thinking of the people in that culture is quite difficult. We may be able to identify some of the historical pieces, but even that will remain incomplete. Further, this seems to rely on the author closely mirroring or embracing what we do know of the culture from that time. This is almost certainly not the case over a collection of books like the Bible. Just in our own time we can recognize that different people speaking to the same events in our time come to very different conclusions and these conclusions may or may not be tied into the broader culture.
Ultimately, hermeneutics will never be perfect because our knowledge is not perfect. While I have particular problems with parts of the hermeneutical triangle, I recognize that we must do our best to deal with these issues of context, even if we assuredly fail to take everything into account.
Great post! I can understand trying to understand the Word while putting ourselves in that context since we are thousand of years removed. It can even be difficult to understand those who grew up just 100 years ago and how they connected to the Word and to culture.
ReplyDeleteI think this is one of the greatest things about Scripture. It is not just a history book but a living Word. It has impacted generations after generations in our own context and culture.
Great blog!