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“You Have the These As Central to Biblical Interpretation The Bible remains the main resource for faith communities. How can DOC 57/12 Documentation 57/2012 it be read fruitfully in ways that strengthen the community of readers in their faith, witness and service to the world? In what ways can convergence be found in diverse, sometimes confl icting, interpretive contexts? This collection of essays seeks to attend to these and similar questions. The focus on the three interpretive poles highlights “You have the these as central to biblical interpretation. The Gospel of John is used as a base text, read in light of different contexts and through the lens of the ecumenical, Lutheran and Reformed traditions. This of book is the fi rst in a series that will further explore the relationship between these hermeneutical poles. “You have the Words of Eternal the Words have Life” “You Words Contributors: Eve-Marie Becker; Hans-Peter Grosshans; Anni Hentschel; Martin Junge; Sarah Hinlicky Wilson; Craig Koester; ” Monica J. Melanchthon; Kenneth Mtata; Dennis T. Olson; Bernd Eternal Life Wannenwetsch; Vítor Westhelle. Transformative Readings of the Gospel of John from a Lutheran Perspective The Lutheran World Federation ISBN 978-2-940459-25-4 150, rte de Ferney ISSN 0174-1756 CH-1211 Geneva 2 LWF Switzerland The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches Doc-57-Cover-EN.indd 1 03/05/2013 11:16:46 “You have the Words of Eternal Life.” Transformative Readings of the Gospel of John from a Lutheran Perspective Edited by Kenneth Mtata on behalf of The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches The Lutheran World Federation Geneva, Switzerland Doc-57-EN.indd 1 03/05/2013 11:13:26 “You have the Words of Eternal Life.” – Transformative Readings of the Gospel of John from a Lutheran Perspective Documentation No. 57, October 2012 Kenneth Mtata, editor on behalf of The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches Copyright 2012, The Lutheran World Federation All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior permission. Editorial assistance: Department for Theology and Public Witness Layout: Department for Theology and Public Witness Design: LWF-OCS Cover photo: © Peter Williams/WCC Published by: The Lutheran World Federation 150, rte de Ferney, PO Box 2100 CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland ISBN 978-2-940459-25-4 Second print; printed in Germany. Doc-57-EN.indd 2 03/05/2013 11:13:26 Contents 5 Preface Martin Junge 7 Introduction Kenneth Mtata 23 Lutheran Hermeneutics: An Outline Hans-Peter Grosshans 47 Luther’s Relevance for Contemporary Hermeneutics Anni Hentschel 69 An Introduction to the Gospel of John and Questions of Lutheran Hermeneutics Craig R. Koester 85 Law and Gospel (With a Little Help from St John) Sarah Hinlicky Wilson 93 Political Love: Why John’s Gospel is not as Barren for Contemporary Ethics as it Might Appear Bernd Wannenwetsch 107 Exploring Effective Context – Luther’s Contextual Hermeneutics Vítor Westhelle 121 Lutheran Hermeneutics and New Testament Studies: Some Political and Cultural Implications Eve-Marie Becker 135 Bible, Tradition and the Asian Context Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon 151 The Role of Tradition in Relation to Scripture: Questions and Reflections Dennis T. Olson Doc-57-EN.indd 3 03/05/2013 11:13:26 Doc-57-EN.indd 4 03/05/2013 11:13:26 5 Preface Martin Junge Reading and the proclamation of the Holy Scriptures awaken and strengthen faith communities in their belief and practices in the world. Reading sacred texts is closely related to the ability to “read” the world, and vice versa. As faith communities sharpen the way in which they interpret both the Scriptures and world around them, their actions become increasingly refreshing and life giv- ing. In other words, biblical interpretation contributes to solidifying Christian commitment to social transformation. In 2011, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) embarked on a herme- neutics program in order to nurture this desire to “read” shared sacred texts and contexts. The Bible not only connects today’s Christians but also provides a bridge to preceding generations of faith. As such, it is vital to take seriously the witness of past interpretations and to relate them to contemporary ones. Since our contexts are interconnected, we need to find ways not only of com- municating our differences but also to use our interaction as an opportunity for mutual enrichment and challenge. The LWF decided to embark on this process in order to connect contem- porary faith communities with the rich cloud of witnesses from the past and to hear afresh God’s Word. Moreover, in view of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, it is appropriate to remember the prominence of the Bible during the sixteenth-century Reformation. The Bible remains central to the ever growing number of Christians. Worldwide easy access and ready availability of the Bible entail the need to develop comprehensive tools for interpretation, so that the Bible becomes a source of renewal for both the church and society. It is in this light that I commend to you this publication, which is the result of the LWF’s first, international hermeneutics consultation. Doc-57-EN.indd 5 03/05/2013 11:13:26 Doc-57-EN.indd 6 03/05/2013 11:13:26 7 Introduction Kenneth Mtata Transformative hermeneutics While “literacy” tends to be associated with the ability to read written texts, it is also helpful to look at it as a general ability to “read” texts and contexts that is, “reading” in a broader sense. On the one hand, “reading” is one’s ability to make sense and make the best of (maximize) one’s environment. “Misread- ing,” on the other, is the tendency to perceive inadequately. Reading plays a significant function in faith communities since they are endowed with sacred texts that must be read or made sense of in order to shape beliefs and model the community’s life. As such, churches have a pressing responsibility not only to read the Bible properly, but also to apply it to the shaping of the life of the believing community within itself and its relationship with those outside it. The challenge is how to read such fixed biblical texts in the rapidly changing contemporary contexts of the faith community. The difficulty not only lies in the fact the Holy Scriptures are the basis of life and faith, and hence are to be taken seriously, but how the churches, separated in space and time, can ap- propriate these texts for themselves without misreading them. Closely related to misreading biblical texts is also the misreading of the context in which these texts are being appropriated. There tend to be two extremes emanating from such a dilemma. The first is to assume that what is written in the biblical texts should be taken literally and applied directly to contemporary life. The second is to assume that, due to their antiquity, the sacred texts are too alien to be relied on for shaping contemporary faith and life. Maneuvering between these two extremes is one task of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) hermeneutics process of which this volume is the first product. The Lutheran churches subscribing to the LWF have committed themselves to “confess the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the only source and norm of its doctrine, life and service.”1 These churches of the Refor- mation locate themselves within the ecumenical tradition going back to the early church. They therefore take the three ecumenical creeds (Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian creeds) and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church, particularly 1 “Constitution of the Lutheran World Federation,” Article II, in From Winnipeg to Stuttgart 2003–2010, The Report of the General Secretary on Behalf of the Council (Geneva: The Lutheran World Federation, 2009), 146. Doc-57-EN.indd 7 03/05/2013 11:13:26 8 Documentation 57 – “You have the Words of Eternal Life.” the unaltered Augsburg Confession and Martin Luther’s “Small Catechism,” as the lens through which appropriately to interpret the Holy Scriptures.2 If the Holy Scriptures constitute the basis for “doctrine, life and service,” it becomes necessary that this function be clarified for each generation and in the specific local existence of the church. While such clarification will always at best be tentative, attempts should be made to establish some level of functional clarity of the relationship between the Bible, diversity of reading contexts and the unifying hermeneutical lens of a particular theological tradition in order to forge common action in the world today. This clarity will not only help to strengthen the unity of the churches belonging to the Reformation tradition, but also in their ongo- ing dialogue with other faith traditions and their shared witness to the world. In a bid to move toward this clarity, the LWF has embarked on the hermeneutics program, conceived against the backdrop of tensions of biblical interpretation regard- ing various ethical issues, the obvious one being that of human sexuality. While this background is instructive, the deliberately chosen overarching background of this hermeneutics program is the envisaged commemoration and celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. The sixteenth-century Reformation was characterized by a new commitment to the Holy Scriptures. The relationship between God’s Word and religious, social, political and economic renewal is not unique, but also evident in God’s speaking to Moses and the giving of the law and the discovery of the book (scroll) during Josiah’s reforms (2 Kings 22–23). Another good example is the reestablishment of temple worship after the exile; So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation.
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