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

Schneiders: From Exegesis to Hermeneutics 27Nor did the exegete have to deal with the theological and pastoralimplications of what he or she uncovered. The exegete's task was touncover and deliver what the sacred author meant to say. It was theproblem of the theologian to figure out what that might mean today andof the pastor to apply it to the life of the Church.However, this relatively airtight division of labor within which thebiblical exegete engaged in a purely scientific investigation of historicaldata innocent of responsibility for its theological or pastoral implications, broke down during the second phase. There were several factors inthe breakdown, but I will mention only two, one extra-ecclesial and oneintra-ecclesial. First, let us look at the outside influence. Since WorldWar Π, religious studies departments have been springing up on universitycampuses all over the country while divinity schools and theologateshave increasingly sought the university milieu rather than theisolated seminary as the proper context for the preparation of theologiansand ministers. 17 Consequently, biblical studies has found itself inthe midst of the multi-disciplinary and increasingly inter-disciplinaryatmosphere of the modern world of higher education. No longer isbiblical study defined exclusively by the historical disciplines. Sociology,psychology, literature, philosophy, and aesthetics are also raisingquestions in regard to the interpretation of biblical texts. 18 As a widevariety of nonhistorical humanistic disciplines has been applied toscriptural materials the focus of interest has shifted from an exclusiveconcern with what the text meant in the past to a concern with what thetext has meant in the course of its transmission and especially to what itmeans today. Once the Catholic biblical scholar begins to see the contemporarymeaning of the text, rather than its original meaning, as theultimate object of biblical interpretation he or she is no longer immunefrom the theological or pastoral consequences of his or her work.The effect of this extra-ecclesial influence toward concern with thecontemporary meaning of the text has been reinforced by the changingter (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1965); A. Dulles, Revelation Theology: A History (NewYork: Seabury, 1969); Theology, Exegesis, and Proclamation, ed. R. E. Murphy. Concilium,vol. 70 (New York: Herder and Herder, 1971); E. Schillebeeckx, Revelation andTheology, tr. N. D. Smith, 2 vols. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1967-1968).17For an interesting summary of the present situation of biblical studies in the U.S.A.and a comparison and contrast of the university vs. seminary context, see P. J. Achtemeierand G. M. Tucker, "Biblical Studies: The State of the Discipline," and W. Brueggemannand D. A. Knight, "Why Study the Bible?", Bulletin of the Councu on the Study of Religion11 (June 1980), 72-76 and 76-81 respectively. See also P. Henry, New Directions in NewTestament Study (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979), esp. pp. 17-20 and 264-66, and "ThePlate Tectonics of New Testament Study," Theology Today 37 (April 1980), 51-58.18It is extremely interesting to note the five headings under which the Society forBiblical Literature organized its Centennial Program in Dallas, TX, November 5-9,1980:Approaches to the Bible through Language Analysis; Approaches to the Bible throughSocial Analysis; Approaches to the Bible through the Question of Meaning (hermeneutics);Approaches to the Bible through History and Archaeology; The History and Sociology ofBiblical Scholarship.