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Biblical Hermeneutics for the Twenty-First Century African View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Liberty University Digital Commons LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH: INTRODUCING SEVEN KEY SOLUTIONS PROMOTING HIGHER EDUCATION A Thesis Project Submitted to Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF MINISTRY By Jacqueline Blalock Montague Lynchburg, Virginia May 2014 Copyright © 2014 Jacqueline B. Montague All Rights Reserved THESIS PROJECT APPROVAL SHEET _____________________________ GRADE _____________________________ MENTOR: Dr. Charlie Davidson Director, Doctor of Ministry Program Associate Professor of Chaplaincy ______________________________ READER: Dr. David Hirschman Acting Dean, Assistant Professor of Religion ABSTRACT BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH: INTRODUCING SEVEN KEY SOLUTIONS PROMOTING HIGHER EDUCATION Jacqueline B. Montague Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, 2014 Mentor: Dr. Charlie Nathan Davidson Despite the fact that education builds knowledge, higher learning through Seminary is preached from many African American pulpits as having little merit. The author’s hope is to channel broader understanding on how the seminary experience can make a difference in accomplishing the assignment commissioned by Jesus to a postmodern society. To achieve this goal, the author divulges the importance and necessity of seminary studies from a semiotic approach. Research includes a study of the hermeneutic circle and its three parts: text, messenger, and listeners; collected data from culture analyses and statistical reports to comprise three pastoral interviews. The objective is to set enslaved convictions free by introducing seven key solutions promoting higher learning, illuminating the vital link between knowledge and hermeneutics for the twenty- first century church. Abstract length: 126 words. iv DEDICATION This research is dedicated to David, Sophi, Nicholas, and Bella with a special thanks to all the great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents that paved the way for their generation to flourish v CONTENTS ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………….………………..………….. iv DEDICATION ……………………………………………………….………..………………... v CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………..……………………… vi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................................ 2 Statement of Limitations ................................................................................................................. 3 Theoretical Basis for the Project ..................................................................................................... 4 Statement of Methodology .............................................................................................................. 6 Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER II ................................................................................................................................. 19 HERMENEUTIC CIRCLE ........................................................................................................... 19 Biblical Text...................................................................................................................... 23 Messenger ......................................................................................................................... 27 Listeners ............................................................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER III ............................................................................................................................... 42 ANALYSES, STATISTICS, INTERVIEWS, AND SEVEN KEY SOLUTIONS PROMOTING HIGHER LEARNING .................................................................................................................. 42 Solution #1: Recover the Hurt .......................................................................................... 55 Solution #2: Accept God’s Plan ........................................................................................ 56 vi Solution #3: Break the Cycle ............................................................................................ 58 Solution #4: Raise the Bar ................................................................................................ 59 Solution #5: Believe .......................................................................................................... 61 Solution #6: Emulate the Life of Christ ............................................................................ 63 Solution #7: Get Understanding........................................................................................ 65 CHAPTER IV ............................................................................................................................... 70 BEING THE LIGHT..................................................................................................................... 70 Self-Examination .............................................................................................................. 71 A Ray of Light .................................................................................................................. 75 Fannie Lou Hamer ............................................................................................................ 77 Communication ................................................................................................................. 85 CHAPTER V ................................................................................................................................ 89 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 89 Seminary and Hermeneutics ............................................................................................. 90 Seminary Experience ........................................................................................................ 92 Responsibility of Seminary ............................................................................................... 96 Personal Experience .......................................................................................................... 99 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................. 103 DRAFT COPIES OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS ................................................................ 103 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 107 vii SEVEN SERMON OUTLINES FOR KEY SOLUTIONS ........................................................ 107 Trusting God ................................................................................................................... 107 Count It All Joy ............................................................................................................... 108 Faith of a Mustard Seed .................................................................................................. 109 Can You See the Vision? ................................................................................................ 110 A Peculiar People ............................................................................................................ 111 Suffering with a Purpose ................................................................................................. 112 The End Result ................................................................................................................ 114 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 115 VITA ........................................................................................................................................... 122 IRB APPROVAL/WAIVER PAGE ........................................................................................... 123 viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION With each epoch, the landscape of church ethos is restructured by new thinkers. Entering into postmodernism has been no different. A paradigm shift in Christian thinkers has all but jettisoned the basilicas’ concrete school of thought on truth. One scholar earmarks it this way, “…even when the truth you’re standing for is quite obvious, you are typically met with clichés like ‘the truth is relative,’ ‘it depends on how you look at it,’ or ‘no one has copyright on the truth.’”1 That mentality portrays the thought of Fredrick Schleiermacher as it mimics the present, My ultimate purpose has been to exhibit and establish, in the present storm of philosophical opinions, the independence of religion from every metaphysics. It never occurred to me that my religion was in conflict with Christianity in the name of a particular philosophical conception. On the contrary I am convinced that I truly have the religion which I should proclaim—even if I have quite a different philosophy from most of my listeners.2 What impact does this thinking have on the
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