Cited by 3Biblical Studies and InterpretationKarl Barth and Christian TheologyByzantine Studies and History

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The Historical-Critical Method and the Holy Fathers

Open access
Pricop, Cosmin Daniel·2014·Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

Abstract

This study aims to capture the dynamics of the recent biblical studies in the Orthodox and Western, especially Protestant, theological areas. Both the Orthodox biblical theology and the Western biblical theology are streamlined by research, which can be inspired by each other´s experience. Thus, the Orthodox biblical studies are recently shaped in receiving and developing an exegetical method, and in this sense may appeal to the Western experience, especially the historical-critical method. On the other hand, the Western biblical scholars are concerned with bringing into the present the meaning of biblical texts or their update, in a direction close to the Orthodox biblical experience. The solution to these concerns can be rediscovered in the mutual completion with ecumenical connotations.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review essay maps the mutual reception between Orthodox biblical theology and the Western historical-critical method, arguing that Orthodox exegesis lacks a developed method while Western Protestant exegesis lacks the updating/patristic dimension. It concludes that each side holds the remedy for the other's deficit, but that no concrete synthesis has yet been formulated.

Key findings

  • Orthodox biblical studies do not reject the historical-critical method categorically; its value for clarifying context, original language and pericope is acknowledged, and the main theological justification given for accepting it is "the historicity of revelation" (Oancea).
  • There is no official decision of the Orthodox Churches on critical study of Scripture, so reception remains non-unitary and individual; the hermeneutic solution identified by Orthodox Biblicists is a "harmonious synthesis" between modern biblical science and patristic exegesis, but how this synthesis can practically be made "is not explained."
  • Western Protestant scholarship shows parallel moves: Ulrich Luz's *Wirkungsgeschichte* and *Rezeptionsästhetik* (which Luz calls "sisters") aim to update the biblical text beyond its archaeological significance, and Luz presents five observations on the Fathers' hermeneutic value while defining his own position as Protestant on three grounds (his "Church Fathers" include authors declared heretical; their interpretation is not for him the correct interpretation of the Bible; their hermeneutic is not normative for him).
  • The paper documents a recurring pattern of principle-lists rather than methods: Breck's eight hermeneutic principles, four principles each from Nikolakopoulos and McGuckin, Stylianopoulos's four "principles of honesty," and Karavidopoulos's three recommendations for developing text criticism in Orthodox space.

Methods

  • Design: a literature review and argumentative/ecumenical essay, not an empirical study; the author presents the reception of the historical-critical method in Orthodox biblical studies chronologically, then examines the reception of patristic exegesis in Western Protestant scholarship.
  • Sources: published works of Orthodox Biblicists (Oikonomos, Kesich, Stylianopoulos, Nikolakopoulos, Karavidopoulos, Oancea) and Western Protestant authors (Luz, Reiser, Crisp, McGuckin), including reports from the 2003 Holy Cross symposium published in *Greek Orthodox Theological Review* and the 1998 Neamţ Monastery meeting of Western and Eastern exegetes.
  • Analysis: comparison of hermeneutic principles and methodical steps, with the author's own "preliminary conclusions" sections (a–h for the Orthodox side) and proposals for mutual approach.

Limitations

  • Stated by the paper: the presentation of Orthodox reception "remains limited because, for one thing, it expresses a Romanian Orthodox theologian's perspective, and, for another, it is impossible to have access to absolutely all the Orthodox biblical studies, irrespective of the language in which they were written."
  • Stated by the paper: the "harmonious synthesis" advocated by Orthodox Biblicists is not practically explained, and the question "What must an Orthodox do in order to interpret a biblical text scientifically?" remains unanswered.
  • Evident from the text: the study offers no new method or empirical test of its proposals; its conclusions rest on the author's reading of selected representative authors, and the proposals in section 4 are programmatic rather than demonstrated.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2478/ress-2014-0129

Cites

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

18 Sources not found · 18 Own interpretation · 10 Own result · 5 No basis given

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 32
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 11
36 of 36
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The absence of an original Orthodox method of biblical interpretation is a serious problem.

    “Part of the explanation for this serious lack could be the fact that in the Orthodox biblical theology, a necessary distinction between hermeneutics and exegesis or method has not been made.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The historical-critical method is a single, well-defined method that can be discussed as a unified approach.

    “the landscape of the Western biblical studies remains dominated by the auspices of the historical-critical method, which gradually acquires symbolic value.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Orthodox space is characterized by a totally different approach to the biblical text, especially at the level of concrete church life.

    “It is still an unanswered question whether a concept developed in a space and a tradition differing from the Orthodox one can find the necessary resonance in the Orthodox space, characterized by a totally different approach to the biblical text, especially at the level of concrete church life.”
3 of 3

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

The publisher hasn’t deposited this paper’s reference list.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. G. Florovsky, Bible, Church, Tradition, p. 21. 64 See: V. Kesich, The Gospel Image, pp. 11-12.

Metadata

Authors
Pricop, C. D.
Affiliations
PhD, Teach. Assist. at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology Justinian the Patriarch in Bucharest. Address: Str. Trifoi, 15, 030698, Sector 3, Bucuresti
Corresponding author
Pricop, Cosmin Daniel
Venue
Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu
Published
2014-12-01
Volume
6
Issue
3
Pages
354-377
ISSN
2065-5940 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1980553423
Cited by
3
References
0
Citations by year
2022: 2 · 2021: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Review of Ecumenical Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Karl Barth and Christian Theology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Classics › Byzantine Studies and History
Keywords
historical criticism, biblical exegesis, ecumenism, Church Fathers

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