BENEFITS THAT RESULT WHEN BACKGROUND AND EPIGRAPHY

ARE CENTRAL TO NEW TESTAMENT HERMENEUTICS

 

In this brief investigation we have seen evidence of lexical commonality between building contracts of the ancient world and two Epistles of the New Testament.  Against these findings, some have proposed that the discipline of biblical backgrounds and epigraphy may not be necessary for proper interpretation and application of texts—even applying the ‘slippery-slope’ argument that this work could lead the exegete to question historic orthodoxy.  Yet, throughout this study the author has maintained that an investigation of background and Epigraphy is essential, not peripheral, for proper interpretation of the New Testament.  Perhaps summary thoughts on the present study would not be complete without a concise extrapolation of benefits that result when background and epigraphy are central to New Testament hermeneutics.

 

Appreciation of the Practicality of Theology

First, it may be that the proposed course of study will help believers to see the practicality of theology.  Although written under consideration of only the epigraphy in Ephesus, Horsely’s comments may be valid for the general argument of this paper,

 

Here are realia which offer the opportunity to arrive at a solid appreciation for the social and political context in which the first two or three generations of Christians coexisted with their friends and neighbors, and in which they tried to come to terms with the implications for their lives of their new adherence.  This opportunity is only for those who will take the time to work through the material systematically.[1]

 

Understanding the Immanence of God

Second, these exegetical disciplines may provide assistance for understanding the immanence of God.  That God inspired writers to explain Christian truth through the realia of their day should cause one to consider the intimacy God wishes to have with them.  As Grant Osborne has written,

 

Since Christianity is a historical religion, the interpreter must recognize that an understanding of the history and culture within which the passage was produced is an indispensable tool for uncovering the meaning of that passage…While semantic research and syntactical analysis can unlock the literary dimension, background study is necessary in order to uncover that deeper level of meaning behind the text as well as within it.[2]

 

Protection from Postmodern Hermeneutics

Finally, the study of backgrounds and epigraphy may be able to protect the Church from postmodern hermeneutics.  By showing forth some historic parallel evidence for a particular text of Scripture, we are reminded that God wrote to people in real-time.  Thus, real-time and biblical text must be investigated coherently if we are to correctly gather the meaning of a passage of the Word of God.  In the end, study of epigraphy and backgrounds may be a powerful weapon against the pluralistic-hermeneutics forces of our age, as D. A. Carson states,

 

    However it be defined, theology is inescapably bound up with handling texts.  For the Christian, the primary text is the Bible.  How, then, are biblical text most likely to be handled by those who have drunk deeply from the well of the new hermeneutic, of radical hermeneutics, and of deconstruction?…Theoretically, the new hermeneutic might teach an interpreter to be a little more aware of his or her cultural location, and thus engender humility and increased interpretive sensitivity.  In reality, it is increasingly common to assume that all interpretations are equally valid, and the excitement and value of the exercise depend on the novelty and perceived appropriateness (read ‘faddishness’) of the ‘insights’ thereby gleaned.  The ego asserts itself ever more strongly.”[3]