AT21 Intro to Hermeneutics

Autumn 2023

Course Description
An introduction to Hermeneutics via both a survey of how the
Bible has been interpreted through Church History, and studies on
how different genres of Scripture can be responsibly interpreted
today. Throughout the course confidence in the Westminster
Standards as our hermeneutical key to scripture is strengthened by
doctrinal study and evaluation of hermeneutical debates.

Course Objectives
• Demonstrate understanding of the key features of biblical
interpretation through Church History in the patristic, medieval,
reformation, Puritan, Enlightenment and Postmodern eras.
• Articulate and defend the reformed approach to hermeneutics in
Instructor
general.
Rev. Dr. Peter Sanlon
• Explain and appreciate the role of systematic theology and the
Westminster Standards in our confessional interpretation of
Email Scripture.
peter.sanlon@wpts.org.uk • Be able to apply hermeneutical principles that apply to different
genres found in scripture.
• Appreciate the hermeneutical implications of interpreting
Delivery Scripture as the only book which is God’s Word Written.
4h in person
16h via Teams Assessment
2h Guided Reading session 1. Historical Sermon - Write a (2,000 words max) sermon on 1 Cor.
10:1-13 (or any section of it) appropriating the role of a preacher
Course Credits who is of the patristic or medieval era. [Due end of mid term break]
Three 25% of Grade
2. Essay - Write a (4,000 words max) essay answering one of the set
questions. [Due End of Semester] 50% of Grade
3. Final Exam - Students will sit a 2 hour closed book exam under
exam conditions covering the course. 25% of Grade

Required Books that introduce key issues

• Louis Berkhof, Principles of Biblical Interpretation
• Kaiser & Silva, An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics

Additional Books that further survey key issues

• Anthony Thiselton, Hermeneutics: An Introduction
• Abner Chou, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers
• Henning Reventlow, History of Biblical Interpretation (4 Vols)

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When Topics Pre Seminar Reading

Grudem, Wayne. "Scripture’s Self-Attestation and the

God’s Word Written:
Problem of Formulating a Doctrine of Scripture." Chap. 1
8/9
Supernatural
In Scripture and Truth, edited by D. A. Carson and John
10am-noon
1 Hermeneutics
Woodbridge, 19-59. Leicester: IVP, 1983.
Teams
Steinmetz, David. "The Superiority of Pre-Critical
Patristic Hermeneutics
Exegesis,." Theology Today 37 (1980).

15/9

Guided Reading Session

10am-noon

29/9
Ocker, Christopher. "Medieval Exegesis and Origin of
10am-noon
2 Medieval Hermeneutics Hermeneutics." Scotish Journal of Theology 52, 3 (1999):
In Person 328-45.

13/10
Wolthuis, Thomas. "Reformed Hermeneutics: An Outline."
Reformation
10am-noon
3 Pro Rege 39, 4 (2011): 25-38.
Hermeneutics
Teams

Cohen, Charles. "Two Biblical Models of Conversion: An

Example of Puritan Hermeneutics." Church History 58, 2
20/10
(1989): 182-96.
Puritan & Enlightenment
10am-noon
4
Hermeneutics Lloyd, Marc. "What the Bible Says, God Says: B. B.
Teams
Warfield’s Doctrine of Scripture." Ecclesia Reformanda 1, 2
(2009): 183-210.

Vanhoozer, Kevin. (2003). Theology and the condition of

3/11

Postmodern postmodernity. In K. Vanhoozer (Ed.), The Cambridge

10am-noon
5
Hermeneutics Companion to Postmodern Theology (Cambridge
Teams
Companions to Religion, pp. 3-25).

10/11
Horton, Michael. "The Doctrine of the Word of God." In
Confessional
10am-noon
6 The Oxford Handbook of Presbyterianism, edited by G
Hermeneutics
Teams Smith and P Kemeny, 365-80. Oxford: OUP, 2019.

17/11
Auerbach, Erich. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in
Genres: Gospels &
10am-noon
7 Western Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
Parables
Teams 1953, Chapter 2 ‘Fortunata.’

24/11
Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. London: George
Genres: Narrative &
10am-noon
8 Allen & Unwin, 1981, Chapter 1.
Poetry
Teams

Genres: Epistles & Kavin, R. (2022). What if it were True? Why Study the New
1/12
Apocalyptic Testament. New Testament Studies, 68(2), 144-155.
10am-noon
9
Teams Genres: Prophecy & Allen, R. Michael, and Scott Swain. "In Defense of Proof-
Wisdom Texting." JETS 54, 3 (2011): 589-606.

8/12
Webster, John. "Biblical Reasoning." In The Domain of the
Living out God’s Living
10am-noon
10 Word: Scripture and Theological Reason, 115-32. London:
Word
In Person T&T Clark, 2013.

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Please come to each class prepared to discuss your reflections on the Pre Seminar
Reading. These readings are available to download in Teams.

The readings have been selected as they represent significant academic contributions to
the field - they come from a wide range of perspectives and do not necessarily reflect our
confessional view - which we will explore and elucidate in classes.


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Historical Sermon

Due: End of Mid Term Break

Write the transcript for a sermon on 1 Cor. 10:1-13 (or any section of it)
appropriating the role of a preacher who is of any of the patristic or
medieval era.

Max. 2,000 Words excluding Bibliography.

There should be no footnotes in the sermon manuscript, however any cross-references within
the Bible should be referenced in the text with brackets.

Write the sermon as if you are a preacher from the era you select - your sermon must read as if
you only have access to the knowledge and outlook that would have been possible in that era.

Preface your sermon with a two to three sentence introduction explaining what era you are
from, what kind of preacher you are taking on as your voice, and what sort of congregation you
are preaching to. The preacher you play the character of in your sermon is unlikely to hold the
same convictions about theology or hermeneutics as yourself. e.g. a patristic preacher may use
allegory in ways you would not; a medieval preacher may affirm philosophers you would not.

e.g. I am a preacher in the second century who has learned the Christian faith from
apologists and my congregation meet in secret due to severe persecution from the Roman
state.

e.g. I am a monk preaching at my medieval monastery to fellow monks in medieval era.

Please include a short Bibliography of books you have consulted in order to inform your
appropriated historical perspective. These should include both some primary and secondary
texts.

Your sermon must demonstrate the hermeneutical principles fitting for that age being used in
preaching the passage given. You are aiming for a credible recreation of an era, method and
ethos.

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Essay
Due: Last day of Semester

Max. 4,000 Words excluding Bibliography, including Footnotes.

Select one of these questions to write on. The Bibliographies are indicative — you are
encouraged to supplement with your own wider reading. Be sure to include engagement with
primary texts such as a Church Father’s sermon, the Westminster Standards etc.

1. To what extent does the recent resurgence of interest in patristic Bible

interpretation (exemplified by Craig Carter) require reformed hermeneutics to
deliver on its promise?
Carter, Craig. Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the
Genius of Premodern Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2018.

Bromiley, Geoffrey. "The Church Fathers and Holy Scripture." In Scripture and
Truth, edited by D. A. Carson and John Woodbridge, 199-220. Leicester:
IVP, 1983.
Godfrey, Robert. "Biblical Authority in the 16th and 17th Centuries: A Question of
Transition." In Scripture and Truth, edited by D. A. Carson and John
Woodbridge, 225-43. Leicester: IVP, 1983.
Dockery, David. Biblical Interpretation Then and Now: Contemporary
Hermeneutics in the Light of the Early Church. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992.

Helm, Paul. "Westminster and Protestant Scholasticism." In The Westminster

Confession into the 21st Century, edited by Ligon Duncan, 99-116. Fearn:
Mentor, 2004.
Lane, Anthony. John Calvin: Student of the Church Fathers. Edinburgh: T&T
Clark, 1999.
Muller, Richard. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. 4 vols. Grand Rapids:
Baker, 2003, Vol. 2, Chapter 7 “The Interpretation of Scripture.”

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2. What does it mean theologically and in practice to embrace the Westminster
Standards as your confessional hermeneutical approach to Scripture? (If your
tradition is not Presbyterian, you may substitute a different Confessional Standard after consulting
with teacher)

Allen, R. Michael. "Confessions." In The Cambridge Companion to Reformed

Theology, edited by Paul Nimmo and David Fergusson, 28-43. Cambridge:
Cambridge University, 2016.
Calhoun, David. "Old Princeton Seminary and the Westminster Standards." In The
Westminster Confession into the 21st Century, edited by Ligon Duncan,
33-62. Fearn: Mentor, 2004.
Hunsicker, David. "The Westminster Standards and the Possibility of a Reformed
Virtue Ethic." Scotish Journal of Theology 71, 2 (2018): 176-94.
Letham, Robert. The Westminster Assembly: Reading Its Theology in Historical
Context. Phillipsburg: P&R, 2009, Chapter 7 ‘Holy Scripture.’
Murray, John. "The Theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith." In Collected
Works, 241-63. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1982.
Turretin on Confessions of Faith - 18th Topic, Q30 (Vol. 3, p.281).

3. How would you seek to convince a person steeped in the postmodern

hermeneutical outlook to affirm the Westminster Confessional Standards as
their confessional hermeneutical approach to Scripture?

Allen, R. Michael. "Confessions." In The Cambridge Companion to Reformed

Theology, edited by Paul Nimmo and David Fergusson, 28-43. Cambridge:
Cambridge University, 2016.
Bannerman, James. The Church of Christ. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2016, Part
3, Div. 1, Ch. 2-3 ‘On Confessions.’
Carson, D. A. The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism. Leicester:
Apollos, 1996.
Grenz, Stanley. A Primer on Postmodernism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
Turretin on Confessions of Faith - 18th Topic, Q30 (Vol. 3, p.281).
Vanhoozer, Kevin. (2003). Theology and the condition of postmodernity. In Kevin
Vanhoozer (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology
(Cambridge Companions to Religion, pp. 3-25).

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