FROM EXEGESIS TO HERMENEUTICS - Rice School of Pastoral ...

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38 HORIZONSwhich they are used. 53 Since I consider the proof-text model completelyinadequate, I will not take time to evaluate the quality of the researchwhich produces the "appropriate" texts nor the character of the texts inrelation to their theological or pastoral contexts.The historical-critical model of exegesis is, as I have said, the modelwithin which most reputable biblical scholars are presently working.Insofar as the researcher assigns him or herself the sole task of discoveringwhat the ancient author said and meant within his own historicalcontext the historical data discovered may be more theological or practicalin content depending on the context, but it has a predominantlytheoretical relationship to pastoral activity in the contemporary Church.In other words, the scholar is explicitly refusing to draw conclusionsfrom what the biblical author thought or said to what the contemporaryChurch should think or do. Now, obviously, if the results of biblicalresearch are to have any impact on contemporary faith and practice,someone has to work out the implications of the historical data for thepresent time. In fact, what tends to happen is that ecclesially-mindedexegetes who are theologically informed and pastorally sensitivesuggest areas in which their data might have a bearing 54 and theologiansgo to work to incorporate the data into speculative positions and syntheseswhile pastors try to apply the data to practical questions and situations.So far, this division of labor has not proven highly successfulalthough the speculative work of the theologians has been somewhatmore impressive than the practical performance of pastors. 55 In myopinion, the fundamental reason for the limited success of this model isthat biblical research which stops short at exegesis is truncated andtherefore does not produce a full and mature understanding of the text 56and theological interpretation which does not engage the text itself but atruncated report of the text's meaning is biblically stunted fromthe start.The pastoral problem is even greater because it is frequently involved ina naïve direct application to the present situation of material whose realapplication is to another time and culture. This often results in rigid,unnuanced moral positions which are strangely out of touch with contemporaryexperience precisely because nothing in the historical biblicaldata directly addresses the modern aspects of the issues whichactually gave rise to the problem at this point in time. 57M For example, Ex. 3:14 has been used as a proof-text for the theoretical assertion ofGod's aseity; 1 Cor. 11:3 has been used as a proof-text for the practical dispensation of thesubordination of women to men in marriage."This is what R. E. Brown does, for example, in Crises Facing the Church and in TheCommunity of the Beloved Disciple (New York: Paulist, 1979)."Again, the use of biblical data in official documents such as those on contraception,the ordination of women, and sexual ethics must be recalled with regret.^This is the point of Gadamer's treatment of application as essential to the work ofinterpretation.57 This is strikingly true of the documents mentioned in note 55.
Schneiders: From Exegesis to Hermeneutics 39The third model, the hermeneutical, offers some possibilities that anexclusively exegetical model does not. But it also places heavy demandsand responsibilities on the Catholic biblical scholar. In this model theinterpreter is not permitted to stop short with what the ancient authorsaid but must wrestle with the impact of what was said upon today'sfaith. The exegete, in other words, must become both spiritually maturebeliever and adequately trained theologian. 58 He or she must face theresponsibility of really interpreting the biblical text, not just decipheringan ancient document. But, to do this, the biblical scholar must not onlybe allowed the freedom to apply appropriate methods of research andreport neutral data, but also must be respected in the exercise of ecclesiallyresponsible theological and pastoral initiative within the commontradition. Biblical scholars, if they are to be prophetic servants of theWord in the Church and not just impassive academic valets bringing outthe dusty papers from the family archives, must become full partnerswith theologians and pastors in the exercise of the Church's teachingmission.Conversely, theologians must become sufficiently able in the biblicaldisciplines that they can enter into the process of interpretation of thebiblical scholars and not just pick up the latters' conclusions. Andpastors must learn to contribute to this collaborative project their ownexperience and concerns. They must learn to formulate the speculativequestions from a pastoral perspective and surface the practical implicationsof academic proposals without claiming to teach what they do notunderstand or substituting the exercise of official authority for the realauthority of learning and compassionate love. 59 In short, the teachingministry of the Church, it seems to me, must cease to be a fragmentedoperation of competing experts attempting to fence off their own sphereof influence, and become a cooperative service of fully and equallyparticipating members who strive to enhance and enlarge each other'scontribution while trying to improve the quality of their own. Such aministry would not only call the members of the Christian community tothe table of the Word, but prepare that table with the nourishment thatproduces mature sharers in the mission of preaching the Gospel to everycreature.58 1 have argued this position at length in a paper entitled, "Freedom: Response andResponsibility—The Vocation of the Biblical Scholar in the Church," which will bepublished in the forthcoming volume of the Proceedings of the Villanova TheologyInstitute, 1981.59 An excellent treatment of the relationship of knowledge to teaching and both toauthority in the Church can be found in B. Cooke, Ministry to Word and Sacraments(Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976), pp. 405-521, esp. pp. 513-20.
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