Reception Theory and Biblical Hermeneutics

David Paul Parris

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9781556356537
  9781498251754
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630878153
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Traditional methods employed in biblical interpretation involve a two-way dialogue between the text and the reader. Reception theory expands this into a three-way dialogue, with the third partner being the history of the text's interpretation and application. Most contemporary biblical interpreters have ignored this third partner, although recently the need to include the history of interpretation has gained some attention. This book explores the hermeneutical resources that reception theory provides for engaging the history of biblical interpretation as a third dialogue partner in biblical hermeneutics. The first third of this work explores the philosophical background and hermeneutical framework that Hans-Georg Gadamer provides for reception theory. The center of this study examines how this hermeneutical approach is fleshed out by Hans Robert Jauss. Jauss not only builds upon Gadamer's work, but his literary hermeneutic provides a model applicable to the biblical text and its tradition of interpretation. The focus for the final third of the book shifts toward three studies that seek to demonstrate the applicability of various aspects of reception theory to biblical interpretation.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Cultivation of Tradition
• Chapter 2: Tradition and Hermeneutical Understanding
• Chapter 3: Play, Performance, and Provocation
• Chapter 4: Jauss and His Challenge to Literary History
• Chapter 5: Horizons, Levels of Reading, and Aesthetic Experience
• Chapter 6: Macro and Micro Shifts in a Tradition
• Chapter 7: The Summit-Dialogue of Authors and the Reception of the Wedding Feast
• Chapter 8: A Classic Conclusion
• Bibliography