Biblical Interpretation

UNIT I: THE WORLD BEHIND THE TEXT
Chapter 1: Why Study Backgrounds? An Apology for Historical Research
Chapter 2: The Importance of Language: The Grammatical Background
Chapter 3: Reading and the World Behind the Text: The Historical and Ideological Backgrounds
Addendum A: Illustrative Methods that Focus on the World behind the Text
Source Criticism
Social-Scientific Criticism
Canonical Criticism

UNIT II: THE WORLD WITHIN THE TEXT
Chapter 4: The Bible as Literature and Literary Forms
Chapter 5: How the Hebrew Bible Communicates as Literature
Chapter 6: How the New Testament Communicates as Literature
Addendum B: Illustrative Methods that Focus on the World within the Text
Redaction Criticism
Literary Criticism
Genre Criticism

UNIT III: THE WORLD IN FRONT OF THE TEXT
Chapter 7: What Happens When We Read?
Chapter 8: What the Reader Brings to the Text: The Role of Reader Presuppositions
Addendum C: Illustrative Methods that Focus on the World in Front of the Text
Reader-Response Criticism
Autobiographical Criticism
Feminist Criticism

UNIT IV: INTEGRATING THE THREE WORLDS
Chapter 9: Mark's Gospel and the Merging of Three Worlds
Chapter 10: Conclusion: The Never-Ending Story
Appendix: Other Interpretive Methods Employed by Scholars
How Methods Affect Interpretation
Methods that Focus on the World behind the Text
Genetic Criticism
Form Criticism
Tradition Criticism
Methods that Focus on the World of the Text
Formal Criticism
Speech Act Theory
Rhetorical Criticism
Structuralism
Methods that Focus on the World in Front of the Text
Reception Theory
Deconstructive Criticism
African-American Criticism
New Historicism
Post-Colonial Criticism
Womanist Criticism/Theology
Methods that do not Fit into a Single World
Socio-Rhetorical Criticism
Ideological Criticism
Mimetic Criticism
Marxist Criticism
Narrative Criticism
Intertextual Criticism