Someone asked me this week, “Alex, what is hermeneutics?” So let me see if I can explain it briefly…
God has perfectly communicated to us through his Word, the Bible, but we are the ones that are challenged to interpret it correctly. I’m sure that this frustrates God at times because we end up getting it wrong because of our own flaws and wrong interpretations. The challenge of interpretation is exactly what hermeneutics is…the study and science of interpretation.
So, is hermeneutics is a science? I have to answer in the affirmative. Hermeneutics is based on logical reasoning. In the same way a scientist will examine the facts and come to reasonable conclusions, a biblical hermeneutical scientist (a student of the Bible) will examine the facts of the scriptures and the spirit in which they were written and come to a reasonable conclusion. Logic dictates what we believe. That is hermeneutics.
So when you read the Bible from now on think of yourself as a scientist coming to logical Biblical conclusions. You don’t have to wear the lab coats or safety glasses but it might not hurt!
The Hebrew author says…
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12. That sounds scientific to me.
