History of Biblical Interpretation

For most of Christian history the interpretation of the Bible was a pastoral activity. Drawing on basic notions of post-modern consideration of 'reader response', we will survey the pre-critical interpretation history of the Bible from a diachronic perspective as an unfolding process across history, and in key synchronic snapshots focusing on types of interpretation as specific moments in the history. How do interpretations reflect and repress the tensions, inner dynamics and problematics of the biblical texts to which they are a response? How are they responses to the needs of the community in specific places and times? We will examine theories of interpretation and also actual examples of interpretation from various periods. Broad topics will include: early Christian interpretation of texts from Leviticus and Ecclesiastes, hermeneutic approaches of Origen, Augustine, Luther and others, mediaeval readings of the book of Ruth, Luther and Calvin as archetypal Reformation readers of scripture, visual art as a form of biblical interpretation, the emergence of historical-critical models of reading, and the cantatas and Passions of J.S. Bach as instances of affective and intellective interpretation.