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    Kubat and Rikka Contextual Approach

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    john umaru rikka
    Basically, every approach to the biblical text is contextual, so the phrases are a contextual theology or a contextual approach is tautological. T. Palmer presents it in the following way: "The text influences the reader, and the reader in the text, while interpreting it, enters his own world two worldviews are combined to create a new and modern meaning of the text." Therefore, the original idea of the author of the text is not at the same time the original meaning of the text - it lies with

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    Kubat and Rikka Contextual Approach

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    john umaru rikka
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    Basically, every approach to the biblical text is contextual, so the phrases are a contextual theology or a contextual approach is tautological. T. Palmer presents it in the following way: "The text influences the reader, and the reader in the text, while interpreting it, enters his own world two worldviews are combined to create a new and modern meaning of the text." Therefore, the original idea of the author of the text is not at the same time the original meaning of the text - it lies with

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    Basically, every approach to the biblical text is contextual, so the phrases are a contextual theology or a contextual approach is tautological. T. Palmer presents it in the following way: "The text influences the reader, and the reader in the text, while interpreting it, enters his own world two worldviews are combined to create a new and modern meaning of the text." Therefore, the original idea of the author of the text is not at the same time the original meaning of the text - it lies with

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    7 views2 pages

    Kubat and Rikka Contextual Approach

    Uploaded by

    john umaru rikka
    Basically, every approach to the biblical text is contextual, so the phrases are a contextual theology or a contextual approach is tautological. T. Palmer presents it in the following way: "The text influences the reader, and the reader in the text, while interpreting it, enters his own world two worldviews are combined to create a new and modern meaning of the text." Therefore, the original idea of the author of the text is not at the same time the original meaning of the text - it lies with

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    CONTEXTUAL APPROACH.

    Basically, every approach to the biblical text is contextual, so the phrases are
    a contextual theology or a contextual approach is tautological. T. Palmer presents it in the following
    way: "The text influences the reader, and the reader in the text, while interpreting it, enters his own
    world two worldviews are combined to create a new and modern meaning of the text." Therefore, the
    original idea of the author of the text is not at the same time the original meaning of the text - it lies
    within the thematic framework of both the text itself and the context in which the text is read. Grant
    thinks similarly. R. Osborne: "This primarily means merging the contexts - the one behind the ancient
    text itself and the one we are currently in." Hence the tendency to reveal the significance of the
    reader's context and his experiences in relation to the extent to which the text influences him: "words
    often have a wide range of possible meanings, but specific meanings that manifest in a particular
    context, cannot be excluded from consideration or, at one's own discretion, be replaced by someone
    else" (W. C. Kaiser Jr. / M. Silva). Therefore, the Bible gives different answers in different situations and
    circumstances, after which it is concluded that it is the context that determines its meaning.

    Contextuality as a theological-hermeneutic phenomenon is also visible in the creation phase of biblical


    writings. An illustrative example is the writings of the Old Testament prophets. Depending on the
    context in which they acted, the prophets thought differently on the same topics. The attitude towards
    the Ninevites is radically different from Nahum and Jonah. Hosea has a different attitude towards the
    cult than Zechariah. Amos' concern for social justice and Haggai for the construction of the Temple are
    directly conditioned by the context in which they operated. The whole conception of the evangelists
    Matthew and Luke, although the material is similar, is theologically profiled by their approach, that is,
    the context in which they composed the Gospels. The different understanding of the "sign of Jonah" is
    an illustrative example of contextuality in the two evangelists (cf. Mt 12 38-42; Lk 11 16: 29-32).
    Matthew sees the "sign of Jonah" as an Old Testament prophecy of Christ's three-day stay in the earth's
    bowels. In Luke, the 'sign of Jonah' refers to the prophet being a sign to the Ninevites. It is crucial that
    Matthew addressed the Judeo-Christian community, and Luke addressed Christians from polytheism.

    Exegetical and theological contextuality is also visible in the patristic epoch, which can be seen on the
    basis of paternal comments. Examples are exegetical remarks on the prophet Jonah in the form of
    dogmatic (Dogma) treatises (Irenaeus of Lyons, Methodius of Olympia), sermons (Cyril of Jerusalem,
    John Chrysostom), commentaries (Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, Cyril of Jerusalem,
    Jerome) and ascetic answers (Maximus the Confessor). Each of the fathers emphasized some aspect of
    the text, which was conditioned by the context from which he pondered. Contextuality is also present in
    terms of the exegetical method. Early Alexandrian theologians interpreted the Scriptures allegorically
    (Allegory), which is conditioned by a broader theological and cultural context. It is especially striking
    when comparing the interpretive approaches of the Greek fathers with the Syrian ones. Basil the Great
    interprets the Six Days, relying on the philosophical and scientific knowledge of the Hellenic world.
    Ephraim the Syrian sang biblical texts in the spirit of his own tradition (Memra, Madrasha).

    In the last few decades, biblical exegesis has been in crisis since many assumptions have been
    questioned. The assumption that the text must be understood within its historical context and in a
    sense, it had towards the recipients to whom it was addressed in the background contains the fact that
    the reader's context determines the meaning and measure of the influence of a certain text. The focus
    of interpretation is now shifting from the text to the reader or to the community of readers. This
    approach pays special attention to the topic of identity, especially the hermeneutics of ethnocultural
    identity, where a separate group of individuals looking for the backbone of identity is observed. They,
    therefore, seek to find ways in which the Bible will be culturally relevant and influence the community in
    question. S. Baba thus concludes that "the context of the interpreter determines how he will read and
    interpret the Scriptures." It is a prevalent approach in Africa, Asia, Latin, and North America. This school
    of interpretation feels that Western theologians and interpreters' historical-critical schools of
    interpretation impose their own model on it. Because of that, she created a tendency to get rid of that
    influence and made her own method of reading and interpreting the text, whose new measure is the
    context in which the text is read and interpreted.

    There are many contextual approaches, of which we will emphasize only the most important: 1)
    Approach liberation theology - this approach is placed in the perspective of social injustice and argues
    that "everything that is not in line with the social context and ideological agenda of liberation from
    injustice should be rejected", which can also be assessed as an interpretation of biblical texts in the light
    of society's problems, such as poverty, racism, injustice, inequality, etc. Representatives of this approach
    often emphasized the experience of the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 6: 1–7 25), and the prophets'
    reinterpretation of the Law from the perspective in which they faced the socio-economic and socio-
    political circumstances of their time (Am 2 6; 5 1-25; Is 1 23; 5 23; 29 21, etc.); 2) The approach of black
    liberation theology - J. H. Cone is the creator of liberation theology in North America, which later
    spread to developing countries. This approach focuses on the liberation of the oppressed, identifies with
    the oppressed, the rejected, and the poor in society, and holds its reading, interpretation, and practical
    application of the Bible in that light; 3) Approach inculturation/enculturation - the interest of this
    approach is based on the issues of ethnocultural identity of a people to which the text and the context
    of interpretation are directed. "Thus, they compare religious worldviews and sociological and cultural
    parallels between [for example] Africa and the Holy Scriptures. In other words, there is physical contact
    between the text and modern society. "This form of contextual approach sees the possibility of dialogue
    between the text, and its reader, which is a method called the creative response of the reader since the
    reader reacts to the text as he understood it. From this raises the possibility of the existence of several
    different meanings of Scripture.

    REFERENCES :, O. Y. S. Baba, History and Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics, Ilorin 2012; K. Bediako,
    Theology and Identity: The Impact of Culture upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and Modern
    Africa, Oxford 1992; L. Caldwell, "Towards the New Discipline of Ethnohermeneutics: Questioning the
    Relevance of Western Hermeneutical Methods in the Asian Context", Journal of Asian Mission 1/1
    (1999): 2-43; Mr. Goldsworthy. Gospel-centered Hermeneutics: Challenges & Possibilities in Text and
    Context in New Testament Hermeneutics, Nairobi 2004; W. C. Kaiser Jr. and M. Silva, Introduction to
    Biblical Hermeneutics; The Search for Meaning. Nottingham 2006; R. G. Osborne, The Hermeneutical
    Spiral, Downers Grove 2006; R. T. Palmer, Biblical Exegesis Handbook, Bukuru 2013; H. Schilling,
    Handbook of Bible Interpretation, Bukuru 2012; A. J. Smith (prr), Test and Context in New Testament
    Hermeneutics, Nairobi: Acton Publisher, 2004; S. J. Ukpong, Contextual Hermeneutics: Challenges &
    Possibilities in Text and Context in New Testament Hermeneutics, Nairobi 2004; D. Patte (prr), Global
    Bible Commentary, Nashville 2004; R. Kubat, In the Footsteps of Scripture II: The Old Testament -
    Reception and Contexts (BBG 4), Belgrade 2015.

    R. KUBAT / J. UMARU RIKKA

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