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

Schneiders: From Exegesis to Hermeneutics 31decide how the normativity of biblical material is to be understood or tofunction. The nature of Scripture as inspired literature, its relation todivine revelation, and its function as canonical text in the Church areregarded as fundamentally theological rather than biblical questions.The task of the biblical scholar is to deliver the contents of the Book to theChurch for use in its ongoing theological-pastoral enterprise and then towatch vigilantly over the use of those contents to make sure that they arenot violated by their integration into the larger project. 27The theory of Scripture operative in this second model is obviouslymuch more adequate than that of the proof-text model. Scripture isregarded as the source of a foundationally normative contribution to theongoing tradition of Christian life and thought, but as a source whichwas composed in a distant time, place, and culture and which was fixedin the circumstances in which it was composed. Consequently, thetheory of interpretation in this model is essentially that determined byhistorical critical methodology in conjunction with a theology whichtakes seriously both Scripture and Tradition as two aspects of the singlereality of divine revelation. 28There are two separate tasks implied in this theory: the task offinding out what the text meant, and the task of figuring out what the textmeans. The first, which is essentially a matter of disinterested researchinto objective and unalterable historical facts, is the primary work of theexegete who can certainly be held responsible for the correct use of thebest available methods and the prudent presentation of his or her findingsbut who cannot be held responsible for the content of the data itselfwhich would be the same whether or not it was ever brought to light. 29The second task, figuring out what the data means for today's church, isessentially a theological and pastoral task. The theologian incorporatesthe biblical data into the theoretical syntheses which give contemporaryexpression to the faith and pastors work out the implications of the faithso expressed for contemporary Christians. As I have said, this model ofthe Bible as theological source book with its implied theory of interpretationas historical critical exegesis is the most widely accepted todaypp. 3-19, gives a nuanced treatment of the question of the mutual influence of biblical data,theology, and dogma.27 The ongoing discussion among biblical scholars about the use of biblical materialsin such works as Küng's On Being α Christian, Schillebeeckx's two-volume christology(see note 20 above), and the CTSA study by A. Kosnik et al., Human Sexuality (New York:Paulist, 1977), as well as in official Church documents are examples of this vigilance on thepart of the professional community.28It is to be noted that Dei Verbum, while it did not reaffirm the post-Tridentineposition that there are two distinct sources of revelation, but insisted on the unity ofScripture and Tradition as the one sacred deposit of the Word of God committed to theChurch, nevertheless did not resolve the tension between these two aspects to the satisfactionof either Catholic or Protestant theologians (see pars. 8-10 of Dei Verbum and Ratzinger'scommentary).29See note 25 above.