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Hermeneutical Implications Of Certain Pre-Pauline Passages In The Pauline Corpus Of The New Testament, Inta Ivanovska

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Postmodern linguistics and philosophy have challenged the possibility that an author, a text, or a reader of a text possesses or can possess complete objectivity. It claims that an "independent, objective, reason-driven reader" is merely a "communally dependent, subjective, presupposition-bound agent." Similarly, an author is regarded as subject who through the text merely expresses the perspectives he has acquired through his own, contextually-shaped experiences. Moreover, once created, a text is not to be regarded as an entity which bears its own intrinsic meaning; nor is a text the expression of an "original," authorial intent. Rather, a text is merely a …

The Hermeneutical Principles Of Theodore Laetsch With A Focus On The Relationship Between The Old And The New Testaments, James Bollhagen

Doctor of Theology Dissertation

This dissertation will summarize the findings which resulted from an in-depth study of all the published works of Dr. Theodore Laetsch, professor of practical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. These writings include a commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations, a commentary on the Minor Prophets, and eighty-six articles which appeared in the Concordia Theological Monthly.

The study was undertaken with the specific goal of ascertaining the hermeneutical principles of Laetsch, particularly those principles that address the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. The phrase "hermeneutical principles" will be employed in this paper in the following sense: an exegete's …

Figures Of Speech In Galatians, Jay Currie

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The scope of this thesis will be limited to figures of words or expressions as defined by Terry and Robertson.17 We purposely omit so-called figures of thought (for example, allegory, simile, parallel) since these figures are usually covered adequately in many commentaries and because their inclusion would make this thesis needlessly lengthy.

The Interpretation Of Romans 16:17-20 In Ecclesiology, Richard Kraemer

Bachelor of Divinity

In order to set limits of the kind required it is necessary first to examine the text to the best of one's exegetical ability to determine its meaning--and that in the context of the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. It is equally important to examine- the way in which this text has been subsequently used in the history of the Christian Church. This, indeed, will constitute the bulk of this paper; for the exegetical traditions of interpretation of this passage have a direct bearing on the way it is currently interpreted and will henceforth be interpreted. This is …

Hermeneutic(S) ( Reading Programs In Theology), Martin H. Scharlemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The ancient Greeks called him Hermes. In their view of things he had the job of communicating what the gods on Olympus might want men to know and what human beings, in turn, hoped to bring to the attention of their several divinities. His name therefore went into the making of the word "hermeneutics," which was first used to designate the art of getting one's message across to others and only later began to be applied to the formal study of the rules and principles governing the task of interpretation.

The Hermeneutical Problem And Preaching, V. C. Pfitzer

Concordia Theological Monthly

One is sometimes tempted to the thought that the theologian's work is often carried out not in obedience to the Great Commission of Matt. 28:19 f.: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations … teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," but rather in compliance with an unknown saying which might run: "Go ye therefore and discuss with all nations, … and make into problems whatsoever I have commanded you.” It is thus with some diffidence that I have left the word "problem" in the heading of this paper. But I do it for the following …

Luther's Exegetical Principle Of The Analogy Of Faith, Otto Hof

Concordia Theological Monthly

It was clear to Martin Luther that what was at issue in his discussion with his opponents, with Rome on the one hand and with the enthusiasts on the other, was not so much the question of principle regarding the importance and relevance of the Bible-in whatever way and however qualifiedly its authority was on all sides theoretically acknowledged and practically brought to bear in controversy through argumentation by means of Bible passages - as rather the question concerning the correct interpretation of the Holy Scripture.

Rectilinear Or Typological Interpretation Of Messianic Prophecy?, William J. Hassold

Concordia Theological Monthly

The purpose of this article is not to argue directly for the correctness of the one or the other interpretation, though the writer's preference will, no doubt, become clear; rather it is to give a historical survey of the exegetical literature of the two synods dealing with Messianic prophecy and to show how these two contrasting approaches were held by men who were in church fellowship with each other in The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, all the while disagreeing with one another on this issue. By presenting the argumentation of both sides of the problem, this study …

The Use And Procedure Of Fraternal Admonition According To Matthew 16:15-17, Karl Schmidt

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The basic purpose of this study of Matthew 18:15-17, as is the case with the valid study of any portion of Holy Scripture, is to determine the message which the Lord here speaks to His people today. More specifically, this study seeks to determine two things: (l) whether or not our Lord here lays down an explicit procedure for dealing with the sinning brother, and (2) whether this particular section of Scripture speaks only of personal relationships among Christians, or also of formal ecclesiastical discipline and excommunication.

Genesis Three In The Light Of Key Hermeneutical Considerations, Ralph D. Gehrke

Concordia Theological Monthly

Though the Greek word έϱμηνεύειν has three main shadings (to state, to expound, and to translate) , the basic idea underlying all three meanings is "to mediate understanding."

An Approach To The Exegesis Of John 10:34-36, Richard Jungkuntz

Concordia Theological Monthly

In the interpretation of John 10:34-36 commentators have generally assumed that behind Jesus' words lies the intent by means of unanswerable formal argumentation to refute or at least to silence His opponents, the Pharisees, who have charged Him with blasphemy for claiming to be divine. A corollary of this assumption is the view that the statement "Scripture cannot be broken" means no more than "Scripture's statements are incontrovertible; if Scripture says something, that something is a fact." Acceptable as such a proposition in itself may be to Christian readers today, as well as to a Palestinian audience in Jesus' day, …

The Posture Of The Interpreter, Martin H. Franzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

Practically everybody in Christendom claims to be in some sense under Scripture. The Liberal feels that he is being "true to the deepest intentions" of Jesus or of Paul when he treats Scripture in his own fashion. Bultmann claims to be dealing so radially with the form of the New Testament message merely in order to confront modern man with what he considers the essential content of the New Testament message. And certainly the Fundamentalist, for all his frequent failure to make the most basic and radical distinction that the Bible itself knows, the distinction between law and Gospel, interprets …

Thinking Clearly On The Rsv, Arthur Katt

Concordia Theological Monthly

Every new translation of the Holy Bible has met with opposition. "Whenever a translation is made, the question of its authority as over against the authority of the original or of earlier translations naturally arises." This was the experience of St. Jerome back in the 4th and 5th centuries, when he produced the Vulgate. "At first his translation was met with antagonism, and it was even declared to be heretical." This was true particularly also of our beloved, time-honored King James Version. It took nearly half a century for it to find general acceptance, and quite a bit of the …

The Historical Method In Biblical Interpretation, Raymond P. Surburg

Concordia Theological Monthly

The failure of exegetes to agree on hermeneutical principles is said to be one of the major causes for the divisions in Christendom, and, as Avey pointed out more than 25 years ago, American denominationalism will not disappear unless all bodies agree on basic principles of Biblical interpretation. Biblical scholars of the liberal tradition claim that the greatest obstacle to any agreement among exegetes lies in the continued use of the so-called dogmatic method inherited from the Reformers. Its advocates are charged that on the assumption that the Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant they employ the prooftext method in …

In Christ Jesus An Approach To The Ε̂ŴΜα Τoȗ Χειδτοȗ Concept Through The Pauline Use Of The E’V Xeidtω̑ Formula, Walter Bartling

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

All modern studies of' the ’ΕνΧειδτοȗ formula have as their starting point the fascinating dissertation of Adolf Deissmann, which appeared in 1892. It is hardly possible to overestimate the influence this book has had upon research in Pauline theology, not only upon study of the problem to which it is immediately directed, but especially also upon inquiries into the nature of Pauline "mysticism". Its influence on interpreters of the δ̂wμαΧειδτοȗ concept will become apparent as we proceed somewhat atlength to present Deissmann’s argument. All modern studies of' the ’Εν Χειδτοȗ formula have as their starting point the fascinating dissertation of …

Haec Dixit Dominus Ii, Th. Engelder

Concordia Theological Monthly

Men are asserting that Luther had no right to say of his teaching: "Haec dixit Dominus." All that he could say was that according to his interpretation of Scripture He said so and so; and as his opponents said the same, the matter is left in doubt; no man can be divinely sure of his doctrine.

The Interpretation Of Difficult Bible Passages, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

What a grand book we have in the Bible! While we are said to live in a new age since scientists 'have learned how to split the atom and there is preached to us the philosophy of collective action in national and international affairs in the · labor world and politics - a philosophy which is definitely in the saddle and riding fast and furiously-we Lutherans cling to the old Book. We say it comes from God and it leads to God.

New Testament Exegesis, Elmer Griesse

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

The purpose of this treatise is, first of all, on the basis of Scripture, carefully to define the various gifts as they are listed in Romans 18, I Corinthians 12-14, and Ephesians 4; at the same time to note concrete examples of these gifts throughout the New Testament writings; secondly, to call attention to a few significant trends in history pertaining directly or indirectly to one or more of the spiritually gifts, and, finally, to state the basic principles which should guide us in our · present day evaluation of spiritual gifts.

Private Interpretation, 2 Pet. 1, 20, W. Arndt

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Besides, for the curbing of quarrelsome spirits, it [i. e. the Holy Synod] has decreed that in matters of faith and morals belonging to the edification which is produced by Christian doctrine nobody, relying on his own wisdom, should twist Holy Scripture to his own understanding or contrary to that sense which the holy Mother Church has held and does hold, whole province it is to judge about the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, or again, that nobody should dare to interpret Holy Scripture itself against the unanimous consensus of the Fathers, oven if interpretations of this …