Mid-term Evaluation (BS500): Intro to Biblical Studies
Virginia Union University
Dr. Yung Suk Kim
9/2/2020
Below is my mid-term evaluation of this course. After the last four weeks’ class, with many communications with you, I thought I need to clarify the course purpose, my expectations about your work, and your assignments.
This course has a focus on “biblical interpretation” in that you are learning various interpretive methods ranging from the historical-critical approach to the literary and reader-oriented approach. So, I laid out the overview of biblical interpretation in the very first class. Read my book, Biblical Interpretation, or the introduction chapter in my co-authored book with Mitzi Smith. I told you that biblical interpretation involves three layers of difficulty: text, translation, and interpretation. The first two things relate to textual criticism, which we do not cover in this course. For that matter, you need to study biblical language courses or related courses. However, I alerted you already that biblical texts you read are not based on the copy of the original text and that translation is also a hard task. While no translation is perfect, I recommended you use the NRSV for study because it focuses on a literal translation.
With these caveats in mind, our course focuses on the third layer of difficulty in biblical interpretation: “interpretation,” which means explaining a text. Even with a good secure text (Greek or Hebrew), and a good translation of a text, your job is not done because you must explain the text you are reading. This act of explaining is called “interpretation,” which involves three choices (again, read my book, Biblical Interpretation): the textual choice (how to read); the contextual choice (why do I read?); and the hermeneutical choice (what to read?). The textual choice concerns approaching methods of the text: Traditionally, we classify them variously, such as the historical-critical methods (seeking meaning behind the text), as the literary approach as in the structural criticism and narrative criticism (seeking meaning within the text), or as the reader-oriented, critical approach as in the reader-response criticism (seeking meaning in front of the text). Thus far, we have covered the first two textual approaches. For the next two weeks, we will cover the reader-oriented approach and post-modern approach. The contextual choice is seen by all interpreters; some are explicit about it while others are not. No matter what, all interpreters have ideology and interest in the text. The matter is not about whether you are objective. Regardless, even a historian may discover his or her interesting thing from the past, sometimes with biases, and most of the time from his or her perspectives. The bottom line is whichever method or approach you to employ you are contextually embedded and interested in the text. Your interest may be historical knowledge or seeking moral guidance. The hermeneutical choice has to do with the possibility of diverse lenses on a given text or theological topic. For more about this, read my book, Biblical Interpretation.
Re. Exegesis, Eisegesis, and Interpretation: Sometimes people think that exegesis is science and that trained students may get the same meaning of the text. That is an illusion. Exegesis is not science; it is an act of human interpretation, which involves various decisions, as I hinted above. In general, in biblical study, exegesis has been understood as the historical approach to the text. But nowadays, it may be understood broadly as “interpretation” whose task is to pull meaning out of the text. So, exegesis needs all methods. In my class, therefore, exegesis and interpretation are interchangeable. I would say exegesis paper or interpretation paper. On the other hand, “eisegesis” is understood in opposition to exegesis. The former occurs when the reader reads something, not in the text. While the reader’s role is important, as I stressed above, he or she cannot go beyond the text or manipulate it. In this sense, eisegesis is a thing of the past and it must be a problem. But do not be confused that I am not saying the dispassionate reading is possible. Strictly speaking, every reading is reader-engaged or interested. That does not mean his or her reading is eisegesis. Otherwise, the generally accepted good term for the reader’s act of reading a text is “interpretation.”
I expect that you will take and learn all the above seriously. In your group discussion or in your response paper or in your reading journal, and in your Group Project, finally, in your Interpretation Paper, I will love to see whether you learned all the above and applied them to your work in one or another.
It's time for you to start thinking about your group project. Read all required, assigned readings on Week 7 and prepare your individual worksheets and share them with your group members by uploading them online at “Files” on the Teams group. If you are ready and want to check with me about your paper, send me the following information via email: paper title, abstract, and outline. Your final paper must be yours, containing your words, thoughts, thesis, and arguments. Make sure about citation if you use others’ work; plagiarism of any sort is a crime in the academic world. Document your paper properly according to the guideline (Turabian manual). I need a quality paper that considers all the above matters in biblical interpretation. Also, refer to my document titled “Tips for Final Paper,” waiting for you at “Files” on the Team. I shared this with you already via email too. I am here to help you grow and learn new things or unlearn things you already know.
You may have a taste of an academic paper that I wrote in 2008. This is about Hannah. This paper represents my critical study of the text, reflecting my issues and hermeneutical lens.
