ABSTRACT
Hermeneutics is an interdisciplinary study of how we interpret texts, especially biblical texts, in the light of theories of understanding in philosophy, meaning in literary theory, and of theology. This volume brings together the seminal thought of a leading contemporary pioneer in this field. Thiselton's The Two Horizons was a classic on how horizons of biblical texts engage creatively with the horizons of the modern world. The author's later New Horizons in Hermeneutics explored still more deeply the transforming capacities of biblical texts, while his massive commentary on 1 Corinthians interpreted an epistle. This volume collects many of Anthony Thiselton's more notable writings from some seven books and 70 articles, to which he adds his own re-appraisals of earlier work. It uniquely expounds the thought of a major contemporary British theologian through his own words, and includes his own critical assessments.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|50 pages
Situating the Subject
part II|100 pages
Hermeneutics and Speech-Act Theory
part III|94 pages
Hermeneutics, Semantics and Conceptual Grammar
chapter Thirteen|26 pages
Semantics Serving Hermeneutics: “Semantics and New Testament Interpretation” (1977)
chapter Fifteen|16 pages
A Retrospective Reappraisal: Conceptual Grammar and Inter-Disciplinary Research (New essay)
part IV|150 pages
Lexicography, Exegesis and Reception History
chapter Twenty-Two|10 pages
A Retrospective Reappraisal: Lexicography, Exegesis and Strategies of Interpretation (New essay)
part V|128 pages
Parables, Narrative-Worlds and Reader-Response Theories
chapter Twenty-Three|20 pages
The Varied Hermeneutical Dynamics of Parables and Reader-Response Theory (Excerpts, 1985)
chapter Twenty-Five|22 pages
The Bible and Today’s Readers: “The Two Horizons” and “Pre-Understanding” (1980)
chapter Twenty-Seven|26 pages
Reader-Response Theory is Not One Thing: “Types of Reader-Response Theory” (1992)
chapter Twenty-Eight|8 pages
A Retrospective Reappraisal: Reader-Response Hermeneutics and Parable Worlds (New essay)
part VI|160 pages
Philosophy, Language, Theology and Postmodernity
chapter Twenty-Nine|12 pages
Some Issues in Historical Perspective: “Language and Meaning in Religion” (1978)
chapter Thirty-One|26 pages
The Postmodern Self and Society: Loss of Hope and the Possibility of Refocused Hope (Extracts, 1995)
chapter Thirty-Five|20 pages
The Bible and Postmodernity: “Can a Pre-Modern Bible Address a Postmodern World?” (2003)
chapter Thirty-Six|20 pages
A Retrospective Reappraisal: Postmodernity, Language and Hermeneutics (New essay)
part VII|126 pages
Hermeneutics, History and Theology