Biblical Hermeneutics in Context and the Struggle for Meaning

Download or read book Biblical Hermeneutics in Context and the Struggle for Meaning written by Aliou Cisse Niang and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-10-24 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The meaningful juxtaposition of academics (“experts”) with the day-to-day lives of nonacademics (“nonexperts”) has animated Gerald O. West’s work from the beginning. Seeking to bridge this chasm, West’s approach of reading the Bible with the “ordinary people” (typically marginalized communities) became a core practice not only of his church work but of his scholarship. West has been a strong proponent of taking seriously the “ordinary reader” as a viable and legitimate contributor to our understanding of biblical interpretation. Not only does this undo the “ivory tower” elitism that tends to pervade academic halls of learning, but it also reflects a form of scholarly humility that has been a mainstay of West’s and should be perpetuated more broadly in biblical scholarship.