Ref.hermeneutics01
Ref.hermeneutics01
Ref.hermeneutics01
Summary
This study is an introductory study of four aspects of hermeneutics: its origin, the
hermeneutical circle, the application and metacriticism. First, besides the legend of God
Hermes, the oracle in the Old Testament introduced as a possibly related origin of
hermeneutics. In addition, the meanings of hermeneutics are explicated, as well. Second, the
definition of the hermeneutical circle is discussed in a comparative way. Especially,
Gadamer's conceptions of historicity and temporality are stressed and then illustrated. And
the different views by Hirsch, Gadamer, Heidegger are compared on a theoretical basis.
Third, I use the genealogies of Jesus Christ and Ecclesiastes to explain the application of
hermeneutics. And finally, metacriticism is introduced as a way of judging the validity of
literary and theological criticisms.
I. Introduction
This study is designed to explore the four essential aspects of hermeneutics, which is not
only a biblical exegesis principle but a literary theory. These aspects include its origin,
hermeneutical circle, applications and metacriticism. Few scholars in Taiwan have been
concentrating on the research of hermeneutics. In addition, when surveying the classical
hermeneutics, I find that the hermeneutical circle laid a solid foundation of applying the
hermeneutical theory to the reading of texts, both biblical and secular. In this paper, I will
introduce a variety of the definitions of the hermeneutical circle introduced by literary
theorists. Besides, I will make some judgments on these. However, it should be noted that the
hermeneutical theorists hardly present real cases illustrating the application of hermeneutics
to the reading of texts, religious or general. In consideration of this weakness of the past
studies, I will introduce a few concrete, applicable examples to help readers have a better
understanding of both the literary theoretical philosophy and its practical application. Finally,
in this study, I am interested in introducing the conception of metacriticism, which will be
illustrated in the critical reading of Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. Hopefully, readers
can have a whole picture of hermeneutics.
The word “hermeneutics” is closely associated with the Greek wing-footed messenger-
god Hermes transmitting the message of the gods to mortals. In other words, he not only
announced them but acted as an “interpreter” who rendered their words intelligible. Indeed,
he renders what is beyond human understanding intelligible.
It is pointed out that we can find a parallel in Exodus 28: 30 in the Old Testament in
which the priests were like the Greek wing-footed messenger. They transmitted the words of
Jehovah through means of Urim and Thummir whose interpretation was objective, for it was
confined to some fixed patterns designed to explain the divine meaning. It is also noted that
in the Old Testament, especially in Moses' days, Israelis sought the will of Jehovah with the
help of the priests, who brought the hidden will of God to light by means of Urim and
Thummim. So, it seems to be assumed that the interpretation of the Urim and the Thummim
could be the genesis of hermeneutics, as well. Hermeneutics is consequently engaged in two
tasks: first, the ascertaining of the exact meaning-content of a word, sentence, text, and the
like; second, the discovery of the instructions contained in symbolic forms.
In addition, the roots for the word “hermeneutics” 1lie in the Greek verb “hermeneuein,”
which is commonly translated as "to interpret," and the noun “hermeneia,” “interpretation,”
accounting for the original meaning of hermeneutics to interpret. The English word “to
interpret” is composed of threefold meanings: to say, to translate, and to explain. Thus, traced
back to their earliest known root words in Greek, the origin of hermeneutics suggests the
process of “bringing to understanding.” In this sense, hermeneutics is the interpreter's system
for finding the “hidden” meaning of the text.
Furthermore, the oldest and the most widespread understanding of the word
“hermeneutics” refers to the principles of biblical interpretation. It is worth mentioning that
the advent of classical philology in the eighteenth century had a profound impact on biblical
hermeneutics, leading to the historical-critical method in theology. And later the interpretative
methods applied to the Bible were also precisely applicable for other books.
In other words, hermeneutics is derived from the Biblical exegesis, aiming to bring the
1
Webster's Third New International Dictionary says: "Hermeneutics is the study of methodological principles
of interpretation and explanation; the study of the general principles of biblical interpretation.
meaning of the text into light. It is concerned with the meaning of the text. Traditionally, its
focus was on the formulation of rules for the understanding of the text. Furthermore, literary
criticism stresses the textual significance, while hermeneutics, in a sense, does the authorial
meaning.2
However, the word “hermeneutics” has undergone a revision and expansion of its
traditional meaning in recent years. There could be two sides to this historical conditioning:
both the ancient text and the modern interpreter have their own historical conditionedness.
The task of hermeneutics is to facilitate a meaningful interaction between two horizons, is, in
Gadamer's words, fusion of horizons. In other words, hermeneutics is the science of
understanding a thought or event from one cultural context to another. This principle calls for
something called the interpreter's “pre-understanding” which plays an important role in
interpretation. Nevertheless, the “pre-understanding” of the interpreter does not mean that the
focus is now shifted utterly from the past to the present.
In addition, the insight that individual parts are supposed to be dealt with in relation to
the whole marks a significant step in the development of hermeneutics. The anti-dogmatic
self-understanding of early Protestant hermeneutics did not escape a hidden dogmatic: the
presupposition of the unity of the Bible apparent in the hermeneutic principle of considering
parts within their whole. And it is remarkable to attempt to incorporate the specific
hermeneutics of Biblical exegesis into a general hermeneutics' which aims to provide the
rules for any interpretation of signs whether they are of profane origin or not.
Dilthey, a German scholar, is the namer of the concept of ‘a hermeneutical circle.’ The
operation of understanding is seen by Dilthey to take place within the principle of the
hermeneutical circle. He argued that the meaning of the constituent parts of a circle can be
understood only if the whole has a prior meaning, and only when those constituent parts are
understood can the meaning of the whole be grasped. A whole sentence, for instance, is a
unity. We understand the meaning of the individual parts by reference to the whole and at the
same time grasp the sentence's entirety by reference to its parts This then involves a
progressive clarification of mutually conferred meanings Furthermore, meaning is something
historical; it is a relationship of whole to parts observed by us from a certain standpoint. It is
not something outside history but a part of a hermeneutical circle is always historically
defined. That is, meaning is contextual; it is a part of the situation. It could only be
2
For instance, Hirsch holds that the author's intention must be the norm by which the validity of any
'interpretation' is measured. He argues that this intention is a determinate entity.
understood through reference to life itself in all its historicality and temporality, And the
meaning of expression of life could come only through historical understanding.
Indeed, the “hermeneutical circle” was first described in the early nineteenth century by
German theologian Scheleiermacher, and was so named later by Dilthey. According to
Scheleiermacher, a hermeneutical circle describes a paradoxical fact:
Heidegger, however, contends that 'the hermeneutic circle' is an interplay between the
interpreter and a tradition in an open dialect. Following Heidegger, Gadamer holds that the
interpreter is closely associated with the tradition. Thus, once the tradition changes, the
interpretation of the text will differ, too (Hoy, 1978)
Understanding is thus prior to every act of existing. But since the preunderstanding3 of
3
According to Heidegger, the hermeneutic circle can be expressed in two aspects: first, the structure of the
understanding involves a fore-structure which constantly projects upon what is found. Dasein is essentially
interpretive. Second, Dasein is ontologically close to itself. The meaning of this methodological statement can
the text is to some extent prejudicial, the validity of the preunderstanding/presupposition
needs to be based on the ‘hermeneutic circle.’ For the validity of the presupposition is
expected to correspond to the interpretation of the individual parts.
Besides, it is pointed out that Heidegger and Gadamer are commonly interested in the
phenomenological insight that every interpretation draws on anticipations of understanding.
In spite of this basic agreement, there some important differences between Heidegger's and
Gadamer's accounts of the hermeneutic circle.
First, Heidegger does not speak of the circle of the whole and its parts, but often of the
circle between understanding and its unfolding in the interpretative process. However,
Gadamer clearly associates the idea of circularity with the idea of the coherence of the whole
and the parts. The circle7 for Gadamer does describe the constant process that consists in the
revision of the anticipations of understanding in terms of a better and more cogent
understanding of the whole. Gadamer would see in this coherence of the whole and the parts
a criterion of correct understanding (Gadamer, 1972). This coherence of the whole and parts
is guided by what Gadamer calls the anticipation of perfection.
Third, Heidegger insists on the fact that understanding is oriented towards the future,
while Gadamer prefers to insist on the determination of understanding by the past. Gadamer
argues that the past stamped us through its effective history, and that if we seek to illuminate
this history, perhaps we can make ourselves conscious of and overcome some of the
prejudices.9
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory
above the heaven....When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon
and the stars, which thou hast ordained;... Thou madest him (man) to have dominion
over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and
9
See The Philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer, The Library of Living Philosophers, vol. XXI, edited by L.E.
Hahn, 1997, 95
10
God is, on the one hand, the universal Plentitude, whose happiness is consummated within his own circle,
who supports himself upon the basis of his own all-sufficiency and his own end and center.
oxen, yea, and the beast of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and
whatsoever passeth through the path of the seas...
This poem is characteristic of the Hebrew world view. Just as God is the center of the
universe, man rules over all creation.11 The created world is confined in an absolute
patriarchal power frame. This biblical cosmology affects the projection and unfolding of
consciousness for human beings who write and interpret texts in terms of their cosmology.12
And as a result, the biblical exegesis used to be stated within a pre-understanding, which
functions as a holding center of the construction and meaning manifestation of the texts.
Besides advancing the circular relationship between the detail and the whole13, Gadamer
proposes the concept of ‘historicity’ in the interpretation of texts. Accordingly, philosophical
hermeneutics breaks with the development of hermeneutics as a general theory dealing
merely with the methods of understanding and interpretation of texts as represented by the
tradition of Schleiermacher and Dilthey. Indeed, Gadamer's theory precisely relies on the
historicity of human experience and life. In applying the hermeneutic theory of
understanding, Gadamer demonstrates how historicity constitutes the mode of being. The
historicity of understanding revealed through language belongs to ontological conditions of
human existence. That is, Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics is a project which both
appropriates the finite and historical nature of human experience of the world. It is also noted
that the historicity of experience and understanding demonstrates the limitation of the
experiences. It follows that based on the temporality of life experience are Gadamer's
understanding of the universality of language and the concept of historical continuity.
However, the meaning of Being as well as the truth revealed through language is also
concealed by language. Thus, this represents a historical limitation for any theory claiming
absolute validity.
Based on this philosophical reasoning, we can see that the being of the Word in the
beginning in the first chapter of Gospel of John is supposed to be manifested and understood
in terms of temporality and historicity, that is, the life experiences of the incarnation of the
Word. By this, we can get an insight into the different ontological structure of the being of the
11
In the twentieth century, however, these centers were destroyed. In the eyes of post-structurists. since there are
no absolute or fixed points, the universe is decentered.
12
Since, according to Aristotle, art is the imitation of Nature, and Nature is the manifestation of the perfection of
God, it follows that “your art is the grandchild of God.”
13
Gadamer defines the 'hermeneutic circle' as follows: "We remember here the hermeneutical that we must
understand the whole in terms of the detail and the detail in terms of the whole…It is a circular relationship in
both cases. The anticipation of meaning in which the whole is envisaged becomes explicit understanding in that
the parts are determined by the whole" (Gadamer, 1972)
incarnated flesh, who is full of grace and truth in the limited temporality of this earth.
This is why only two genealogies were stated in four gospels–the Gospel of Matthew
and the Gospel of Luke. The former depicts Jesus as the descendant of a kingly race, so he
needs a genealogy to introduce his holy origin. In addition, in the Gospel of Luke, described
as a man, Jesus accordingly needs a genealogy to explain his family history. However, in the
Gospel of Mark. Jesus' experienced his life as a slave, who therefore does not need a
genealogy introduce his obscure ancestors. Likewise, exceeding the temporality of this world,
Jesus in the Gospel of John was described as God with universal plenitude. Hebrew 7: 3 says,
“Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, nor
end of life; but made like unto the Son of God.” Therefore, it is inferred that the pre-
understanding of each gospel as well as the incarnated Word's historicity determines whether
the genealogy will appear in the biography.
In addition, take Ecclesiastes, for instance, as well. As mentioned before, the meaning of
Being and the truth revealed through language is also concealed by language. The fore-
structure of Ecclesiastes is found in words with which it begins and ends–“A vapor of
vapors/vanity! All is vapor!” The presupposition is echoed in the constantly recurring phrases
such as “a vapor and a grasping at the wind,” and “this too is a vapor.” The word “hebel,”
“vapor” or “breath,” connotes what is visible or recognizable, but insubstantial, momentary,
and profitless. In fact, with particular shades of meaning, the individual parts of the book
explain and approve the presupposition found coherent in different contexts.
These hermeneutical principles are not simply applied to biblical textual interpretation
but rather are drawn from a wider sphere of experience, including history, art and moral
practice. In other words, if the principles of understanding language were formulated, these
would comprise a general hermeneutics. Such a hermeneutics could serve as the basis and
core of all “special” hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is no longer seen as a specifically
disciplinary matter belonging to theology; it is the art of understanding any utterance in
language.
V. Metacriticism
Take Song of Songs in the Old Testament, for instance. Some critics hold that this book
is erotic14 and sexual. This denies the centrality of the cross and seeks to find meaning in
human reason and experience. Christian theology must offer a universal critique of life and
thought, and even a metacritique of other criteria of thought, understanding and action. We
must show how the cross of Christ or the Christ-event has become a metacritique of all
theories of meaning. Some metacritics say that the presupposition of interpreting the Bible is
Christ and his cross.15 If we agree with this comment, in the shadow of the cross16, sexual
flesh is nowhere to be found especially in the Biblical text. Can it stand the test of a meta-
criticism where Christ and his cross remain the heart of understanding?
For example, the song in addition, some metacritics say that the terminology of the Song
of Songs is deeply associated with the essence of Christ. signifies a life of experiencing the
inner, deep, intimate, spiritual communication or union with Christ. The song of songs means
a life of lives. And indeed, in terms of logic, the Song of Songs is a counterpart to
Ecclesiastes. The recurring theme of Ecclesiastes is vanity in vanity. However, the theme of
the Song of Songs is the fullness of the union with Christ.
VI. Conclusion
In conclusion, the Word in the beginning was incarnated into the flesh, full of grace and
truth. And the incarnated flesh confined in historicity and temporality of this earth manifested
and interpreted the invisible God through means of His life experiences. The exegesis of the
Word forms the origin of hermeneutics. And the nature of circularity of the being of God lays
a formidable foundation of the formation and application of the hermeneutic circle. In
addition, the historicity and temporality forges the horizon, be of the author or of the reader.
This calls for the fusion of horizon, and leads to the controversial issue on ‘meaning’ and
14
Such comments may be directed to [email protected]
15
For Thiselton, the heart of biblical metacriticism is Christ, who is the center of the biblical texts and their
subsequent interpretation.
16
The message of the cross is not merely context relative but offers a universal critique even though it was
given in a particular socio-religious context.
'significance.’ And in this paper, I illustrate the application of hermeneutics by Messiah's
genealogies and Ecclesiastes. Theoretically, these applications are based upon the notions of
presupposition and historicity. Finally, I propose that metacritique can be seen as kind of
hermeneutics, which tries to establish general rules of interpreting all signs or texts, and to
establish the supreme status and authority behind the texts.
References