Biblical hermeneutics is a specialized domain of hermeneutics, which itself extends into many different disciplines. While the majority of biblical students and even scholars do not venture outside of works on biblical hermeneutics, one can benefit greatly from reading more widely in hermeneutics. The new Cambridge Companion to Hermeneutics will provide the reader an overview of the current state of the field.
In this volume, scholars from philosophy, literature, history, legal studies, and theology discuss how hermeneutics relates to their discipline. The editors intend for the coverage to demonstrate how interdisciplinary considerations will enhance one’s grasp on hermeneutics. Since there are already many volumes covering the history of hermeneutics, or the hermeneutics of individual figures, the editors wanted to focus on movements, traditions, and debates.
The introduction provides an overview of hermeneutics and the disciplines it affects, while also tracing especially German lines of development starting with the Protestant Reformation. The editors describe briefly the influence of major figures such as Herder, Schleiermacher, Heidegger, Gadamer, Sartre, Ricoeur, Derrida, etc.
The chapters then examine the use of hermeneutics in theology, nature, Romanticism, German Idealism, history, positivism, Nietzschean approaches, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, critical theory, Francophone approaches, non-western approaches, literature, law, and the human sciences. There are fifteen chapters in all.
The chapters cover scholarship broadly, but unfortunately using endnotes (at the end of the chapters), which especially makes it difficult for those who are not familiar with the discipline being read about. In any case, there are a number of essays and sections of essays that will benefit the biblical student greatly. Christoph Bultmann opens the volume with a chapter on hermeneutics and theology, which details the beginnings of biblical hermeneutics in the early modern period and very helpfully, the influence of philosophy on biblical hermeneutics. John Zammito discusses hermeneutics and historical inquiry, which is relevant to recent to historical research on the Bible as well as to considering the validity of narrative approaches. Paul Katsafanas covers a “hermeneutics of suspicion,” which Ricoeur used to label Nietzsche and which pervades some work in biblical studies nowadays (pp. 160-164).
Other chapters, however, will be of less interest to biblical students. And indeed, only some chapters will be of interest to most readers. Perhaps that is one of the frequent problems with companion volumes: they attempt to cover so much ground, in so many areas, that the reader is not likely to be interested in even half of the chapters. The format of this volume does emphasize how hermeneutics has a place in many disciplines, but without having a grasp on the disciplines discussed, it is difficult to appreciate the editors’ project as they designed it.
This volume would be best approached after getting a firm grasp on the history of hermeneutics, perhaps from the textbook by Anthony Thiselton. His approach is certainly that of a theologian, but his engagement with the philosophical material is top-notch. Of course, one could also engage the major works for oneself after working through Thiselton’s textbook. At that point, this Cambridge Companion may become a helpful volume to survey how hermeneutics has impacted other disciplines.
