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LESSONS FROM THE REFORMATION FOR HERMENEUTICS TODAY

by HENK VAN DEN BELT in Vol. 4 No. 2 / Oct 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35285/ucc4.2.2018.art6



Abstract
Recent views of the hermeneutical process, including philosophical speech-act theories, challenge Scripture’s authority and emphasize the author’s intention rather than a historical-grammatical view. Relating theological issues to philosophical views is legitimate, provided that the results do not contradict the spiritual authority of Scripture. The following hermeneutical principles of the Reformation can help maintain this adherence: 1) Scripture is the first principle and ultimate norm for all theology; 2) Scripture is the living and powerful Word of God; 3) the sovereign Spirit binds himself to the Word; and 4) the Spirit-breathed Word begs for a spiritual and clear explanation. In the (post)modern context, we need to approach hermeneutics from pneumatology and test it by God’s Word.

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Other Articles in
Vol. 4 No. 2 / Oct 2018

Editorial: Did Arminius Win? by Paul Wells
On Serving God in Our Generation by DAVID MCKAY
Transgender: Trans-ition to Nowhere by PETER JONES
Sexuality and the Lost Proletariat by NOEL WEEKS
Genesis 2:24 and the New Covenant: A Profound Mystery by COLIN HAMER
Unio cum Christo and Reformed Complementarity by NATALIE BRAND
Lessons from the Reformation for Hermeneutics Today by HENK VAN DEN BELT
The Theology of the Canons of Dort: A Reassessment after Four Hundred Years by ARNOLD HUIJGEN
Election: The Father’s Decision to Adopt by JASON VAN VLIET
Abundant Sufficiency and Intentional Efficacy: Particular Redemption at the Synod of Dort by LEE GATISS
The Documents of the Synod of Dort (1618–1619)—A New Edition by DONALD SINNEMA
The Perennity of Anselm’s Proslogion by YANNICK IMBERT
Pierre Viret: A Pastor and Ethicist for the Twenty-First Century by TIMOTHY BLOEDOW
John Calvin and Philip Melanchthon’s Sum of Theology by PAUL AND ALISON WELLS
Puritans on the Family: Recent Publications by JOEL R. BEEKE AND PAUL M. SMALLEY
Interview with Peter Opitz by PETER A. LILLBACK
Book Review: Robert Sherman. Covenant, Community, and the Spirit: A Trinitarian Theology of the Church by DONALD E. COBB
Book Review: Herman Selderhuis. Martin Luther: A Spiritual Biography by EUNJIN KIM
Book Review: Jonathan Willis. The Reformation of the Decalogue: Religious Identity and the Ten Commandments in England, c. 1485–1625 by HARRISON PERKINS
Book Review: Matthew Barrett. The Grace of Godliness: An Introduction to Doctrine and Piety in the Canons of Dort by JEONG KOO JEON
Book Review: David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson, eds. From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective by THOMAS HAVILAND-PABST
Book Review: James P. Eglinton, ed. and trans. Herman Bavinck on Preaching and Preachers by SINCLAIR B. FERGUSON