2016 - ICF Training Session
Pentecostal Hermeneutics
Today's topic is Hermeneutics. Dr. Schezarone Carter will discuss how we should interpret scripture.
Locations & Times
2016 ICF Training
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Thursday 8:00 AM
PENTECOSTAL HERMENEUTICS[1]
What follows is a list of the necessary elements in every hermeneutic. That is, in all systems of interpretation each of the following points is addressed in a certain way. What distinguishes one method from another is the way each point is constructed, and the priority or emphasis one point may have with respect to others.
1. Historical/grammatical exegesis and philosophy of language: Pentecostals use the same methods as other evangelicals.
2. Role of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostals view of the role of the Holy Spirit is not unique and falls within the range of views held by other evangelicals.
3. Role of the various genre: Pentecostals see the historical narratives as having greater didactic value than do most evangelicals, and they use them much more in constructing doctrine.
4. Personal experience: All interpreters intentionally or inadvertently incorporate personal experience in their hermeneutic, but Pentecostals do so consciously, intentionally, and critically.
5. Historical experience: Again, as with personal experience, all interpreters use history, but Pentecostals do so consciously, intentionally, and critically.
6. Theological presuppositions: Pentecostals bring different theological assumptions to the task of interpretation. The most important of these for its hermeneutic is a non-dispensational ecclesiology that sees a uniform continuity of God’s relation to the church along with a strong sense of identity with the experiences and practices of the first century.
[1] By Gordon L. Anderson, Ph.D., is president, North Central University, Minneapolis, MN
What follows is a list of the necessary elements in every hermeneutic. That is, in all systems of interpretation each of the following points is addressed in a certain way. What distinguishes one method from another is the way each point is constructed, and the priority or emphasis one point may have with respect to others.
1. Historical/grammatical exegesis and philosophy of language: Pentecostals use the same methods as other evangelicals.
2. Role of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostals view of the role of the Holy Spirit is not unique and falls within the range of views held by other evangelicals.
3. Role of the various genre: Pentecostals see the historical narratives as having greater didactic value than do most evangelicals, and they use them much more in constructing doctrine.
4. Personal experience: All interpreters intentionally or inadvertently incorporate personal experience in their hermeneutic, but Pentecostals do so consciously, intentionally, and critically.
5. Historical experience: Again, as with personal experience, all interpreters use history, but Pentecostals do so consciously, intentionally, and critically.
6. Theological presuppositions: Pentecostals bring different theological assumptions to the task of interpretation. The most important of these for its hermeneutic is a non-dispensational ecclesiology that sees a uniform continuity of God’s relation to the church along with a strong sense of identity with the experiences and practices of the first century.
[1] By Gordon L. Anderson, Ph.D., is president, North Central University, Minneapolis, MN