Hermeneutics is the science that gives us the principles of interpretation. These principles guide anybody's system of theology. They ought to be determined before one's theology is systematized, but in practice the reverse is usually true. At least in the awareness of most people, hermeneutics is one of the last things to be considered. Most people know something of the doctrines they believe but little of the hermeneutics on which they have been built. Preferably the principles, and thereby the method, of interpretation should be established before attempting to interpret the Word of God so that the results are a correct interpretation of Scripture and a right system of theology growing out of those interpretations.
While many diverse methods of interpreting Scripture have been proposed over the course of history, today there are basically two distinct hermeneutical methods — the allegorical/spiritual and the literal/plain. The general definitions of both are below:
Allegorical/Spiritual method - the method of interpreting a literary text that regards the literal sense as the vehicle for a secondary, more spiritual and more profound sense. The historical import is either denied or ignored and the emphasis is placed entirely on a secondary sense so that the original words or events have little or no significance.
Literal/Plain method - the method that gives to each word the same exact basic meaning it would have in normal, ordinary, customary usage, whether employed in writing, speaking or thinking. The spiritual meaning of a word or expression is one that arises after the literal designation and is dependent upon it for its existence.
How these two divergent methods of interpretation came into being is an interesting study. I'll write about them over the next several weeks.
(to be continued)
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