The Philosophical Framework for Biblical Interpretation

Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation

Moish Silva, Series Editor

Volume 2

MEANING AND JNDERSTANDING

The Philosophical Framework for Biblical Interpretation

.on

ZondervanPublishineHouse

Academic and ProfessionaT Books

Grand Rapids, Michigan A Division of HarperCollinsPttbfithers

Meaning and Understanding Copyright 0 1991 by Royce G. Gruenler

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan Publishing House Academic and Professional Books

1415 Lake Drive S.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Gruenler, Royce Gordon.

Meaning and understanding : the philosophical framework for

Biblical interpretation / Royce Gordon Gruenler.

p. cm. - (Foundations of contemporary interpretation : v. 2)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN O-310-40931-4 :

1. Bible-Hermeneutics. 2. Meaning (Philosophy) I. Title.

II. Series.

BS476G78 1991

89-28700

220.6'01-dc20

CIP

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (North American Edition). Copyright 0 1973, 1978, 1984, by the International Bible Society. Used by

permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means--electronic. mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Edited by Gerard Terpstra and Leonard C. Goss Cover Design by Art Jacobs

Printed in the United States of America

91 92 93 94 95 / CH I IO 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In Grate&l Memory of Faith&l Teachers

Fred Carl Kuehnev Robert K. Rudolph Theophilus J. Hevter

CONTENTS

Editor's Preface

ix

Introduction

xi

Part 1: Hermeneutics from the Perspective of European Idealism

1. Understanding the Kantian Legacy

21

2. The Kantian Legacy in the Nineteenth Century

47

3. Twentieth-Century Continental Idealism

73

4. Exegetical Application: Gabriel Marcel on Creative

Fidelity and Disposability

111

Part 2: Hermeneutics from the Perspective of Anglo-American Realism

5. British Schools of Realism

129

6. American Schools of Realism

157

7. Biblical Application: The Augustinian Realism of

Michael Polanyi

177

For Further Reading

203

Index of Authors/Titles

207

Index of Subjects

213

Index of Biblical Passages

223

EDITOR'S PREFACE

The present work, volume 2 of Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation, serves a twofold purpose. In the first place, it functions as a bridge between volume 1, which was primarily historical in character, and the other books in the series. The first volume could deal only superficially with the modern period. In contrast, Professor Gruenler is able to focus, with some detail, on those philosophical developments of the last two centuries that most directly affect biblical interpretation.

In the second place, however, the author moves beyond historical description to critique the basic assumptions of contemporary theological scholarship. By doing so, he seeks to provide a coherent philosophical platform on which responsible exegesis may rest. Biblical interpreters, not infrequently, go about their work as though they were immune to the nonChristian, and even anti-Christian, bias that characterizes modern Western thought. A careful reading of this book should quickly dispel that illusion.

The author is uniquely qualified to deal with these concerns. As a highly respected New Testament scholar, he is fully aware of teh et chnical problems faced by biblical exegesis. Earlier in his career, however-indeed, prior to his commitment to the evangelical faith-he was a teacher of philosophy and religion, and in that capacity he had opportunity to reflect on the broad, basic questions posed by the great thinkers of civilization. If he writes aggressively and with conviction, the reason is not to be sought in the kind of knee-jerk overreaction typical of some Christian groups, but rather in his first-hand acquaintance with two opposing principles of thought.

Young students of the Bible may be inclined to set aside

ix

X

MEANING AND UNDERSTANDING

philosophical discussion as abstract or theoretical or irrelevant. They only do so at their peril. The demands of contemporary society call for biblical interpreters willing to confront the tough questions head-on. Professor Gruenler will prove a wise guide in that task.

Moists Silva

INTRODUCTION

God's common grace in creation affords a vast fund of knowledge that Christians as well as non-Christians may draw on. This is the assumption of the Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation series and of this particular volume on the philosophical underpinnings of biblical interpretation. The book concludes realistically, however, that in spite of common data and often common methodology, there remains a basic and unresolved conflict between evangelical and nonevangelical scholars. While the latter generally attempt to separate faith and objective historical reality into compartments, evangelicals are strongly committed to historical questions in context of the authority and reliability of Scripture.

The underlying principles of biblical hermeneutics accordingly are bound up with fundamental epistemological questions of knowing. Evangelicals are committed to the belief that the Holy Spirit gives the believer a new understanding to acknowledge and enjoy God and what he has made and that the Spirit's internal testimony works in accord with his general revelation in the created world. On the one hand, Scripture implies that knowledge of God and of the world comes "naturally" by way of God's common grace in creation, as he sustains and interprets whatever he brings into being and places knowledge of himself and the world in the human mind. Hence his self-disclosures in Scripture, in the world, and in human experience are interrelated. Classical biblical passages that espouse this view are Psalm 19:1-6 a n d R o m a n s 1:19-20. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , m o s t philosophies do not reckon with scriptural teaching about the heredity of sin, which has infected the natural order and the reliability of the mind to discover ultimate truth (Rom. 1:18,

xi

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